Decentralized Arts #0 | August 16

Bankless DAO Weekly NFT and Crypto Art Newsletter

Aug 16, 2021

You're reading BanklessDAO's inaugural weekly NFT and crypto art newsletter!

As a media and culture DAO, one of our first initiatives was to showcase talented crypto artists with a weekly auction. The project's success has exceeded our wildest expectations, but we want to take it to the next level.

This new publishing initiative serves to give more voice to the artists - their motivations, lived experiences, values, and their path to exploring the world of crypto and NFTs.

Welcome to Decentralized Arts.

Authors: Bankless DAO Writers Guild (Grendel, Kouros)

This is the official NFT newsletter of the Bankless DAO. If you were a Premium Member of the Bankless Newsletter as of May 1st 2021 you have been subscribed to this newsletter at launch. To unsubscribe edit your settings here.

Artist of the Week

🧑‍🎨 Artist: Sergio Occhipin (hybridcode)

🏦 Auction Type: Open edition

💰 Price: 0.3 to 1 ETH

Hybrid Code is a polyhedric artist: he is a painter, sculptor, and musician. The son of an artist, HC was exposed to nuanced artistic techniques from an early age and crafted his unique approach to art. Starting in physical form, Hybrid Code works meticulously to digitize his work and incorporate musical elements into his crypto-inspired pieces.

His inspiration is to show what is not visible, to mediate information through images. His methods include working with the continuous accumulation of images and information to modify their meaning and value.

Nothing really stands still before the creator's eyes.

Tell us how you became a crypto artist

It all happened by chance. I have friends who develop on blockchain and they asked me why not think about experimenting with NFTs ... and I accepted!

Define what crypto art is for you

Crypto art has its foundation in technology, but its implications go beyond the message of the artists and the work itself. The sense of identity and applied technology is what resonates with me the most and marks the importance of crypto art.

It's a feeling of participation in a movement that, like an encompassing wave, washes over everything. But it's equally true that no one knows all the consequences.

What evolution do you see in the world of crypto art?

I haven't the faintest idea, and that's exactly why I'm here.

What do you think about the combination of crypto art and DAOs?

The impression is that both prove that the underlying code does not exist only to create speculative universes for financial gain. For a person like me, very suspicious of the world of finance and capital, this intertwining initially seemed like something that could scare me. I therefore understood that we must first investigate the intentions of the communities before making judgments.

Tell us about the artworks you created

I'll be honest, I can hardly achieve the goals that I had set for myself.

I am lucky enough not to control everything that happens to me, especially as a creative. In this case, however, I almost immediately imagined very clearly how the relationship between the images could be represented.

I love Icons, but at the same time, I'm restless for a Symbol that releases the same force.

The creation of "Burning New Monolith" is based on this subtle balance.

Curated NFT News

Fractionalized NFTs

One of the most debated issues on NFTs is that of fractionalization. How are the ERC721s to be divided: into other ERC721s or in ERC20? And once broken down, can they be reassembled? Are they just a speculative tool or can they actually lead to democratic access to the art world?

NFTs for governance

Some DAOs are experimenting with access and governance by using NFTs instead of fungible tokens. The NFT becomes a unique element in order to be considered an effective member and to be able to exercise one's participation and voting rights. One of the most interesting cases is perhaps that of Orca Protocol.

SuperRare: The Art Royalty Revolution

In July, SuperRare unveiled its new royalty program for collectors, whereby collectors can earn a royalty every time a qualifying work of art is resold in the secondary market. In August SuperRare announced the expanded eligibility for collector royalties.

Cryptoart in Italy, Artists, and Movements ft. Skygolpe

Crypto art has grown unevenly around the world: unrepresented in some countries, and very present in others. This phenomenon is loosely debated, as the immediate and distributed usability of works of art throughout the world has led to seeing crypto art as global in nature, without precise roots.

The impression was reinforced in several ways:

Artists and works are presented and sold through NFT marketplaces, often without a defined geographical location.
The monolingualism in which practically all crypto art is represented: English.
Frequent collaborations between artists from different countries, who often met only through the network.

Looking more closely, however, it is immediately noticeable how crypto art has found more stimulus in some countries rather than others. The reason is often determined by the presence of one or more successful crypto artists, who have created and led others, or by a creative environment stimulated by blockchain technology.

In order to understand the deep relationship between crypto art and Italy, we spoke with, Skygolpe, a celebrated artist whose work has been represented on the cover of one of Italy's best-selling newspapers.

But who is Skygolpe, how is a crypto artist born?

"Skygolpe was born from the need to investigate the invisible side of existence. Hidden frequencies communicate with each other, allowing a subjective understanding of reality. My work is an attempt to challenge my cognition".

Among the countries in the world where crypto artists operate, Italy is one of the most represented. Names such as Hackatao, Federico Clapis, DotPigeon, Skygolpe, Fabio Giampietro, Dangiuz, Giovanni Motta, Mattia Cutini, and many others are certainly known to collectors and crypto art enthusiasts. In the artist's opinion, "Italy is certainly not famous for innovation and technology. We must push for greater curiosity and alternatives to properly understand NFTs and their markets". However, cryptoart can take its own paths. As Skygolpe says, "there are a few exceptions, but you really need to dig in and try to absorb every little knowledge before you get started in this field. Surprisingly it is one of the most active scene".

Skygolpe can be seen as one of the most representative Italian cryptoartists: one of his NFTs was published on the cover of the magazine of the best-selling newspaper in Italy, the Corriere della Sera. Could this increase the visibility and knowledge of crypto art in Italy? Well, "it is difficult to give an opinion in such a short time. Certainly, exposure like this will bring more attention to the world of decentralized art. Generally, we are a very conservative country, but the number of Italian crypto artists signals that the desire for experimentation is very much alive within our country".

Leaving the Italian context, there are many characteristics of cryptoart and cryptoartists that can be identified, characteristics that are immediately perceptible as different from the canons of traditional art. Skygolpe goes on to say:

Since crypto art is still an extremely young movement, it contains a very interesting mash-up of styles and influences. In the traditional art circuit, the division by genre and style represents normality. This often does not allow for collaboration to flourish as the sectorial competition is very strong. Crypto art stands on the contrary, with ideal conditions for cross-pollination and the union of different styles. Furthermore, in digital art, as with music, the union of 2 artists makes the final product very attractive for the collectors' market.

Skygolpe will have its next launch on Nifty Gateway on August 27th. In the fall he will have some physical shows around the world, as he works to solidify the bridge that connects the digital to the physical.

Bankless DAO NFT Updates

Last week's weekly showcase numbers and donation

The Ultra Sound Bat NFT has been a huge success, generating over 23.5 $ETH in sales, making it our biggest NFT sale to date! This was a collaboration between BanklessDAO, Ultra sound money and the artist Rodrigo_5*. 25% of proceeds have been donated to Coin Center This donation will help fight for crypto regulation in the U.S.

Midweek showcase

Last week we showcased a piece by the creators of @KatanaNSamurai, too. Their art demonstrates the traditional Japanese style in honor of our DAO and the launch of the $BED Index. The piece has been split into two halves, each selling over 80 editions.

Media partner in one of the first NFTs TV sales

On August 13, one of the first, if not the first, television broadcasts featuring NFT sales occured in Italy. The broadcast was received well from the public and saw the sale of all pieces on display, made by Willow, an Italian artist. Turinglabs and Grendel, members of BanklessDAO, participated as NFT consultants, making BanklessDAO a media partner with ArteInvestimenti. ArteInvestimenti is also working with technological partners to create a future metaverse called Martix.