TAEX presents Neogene by Alper Derinboğaz at the 18th Contemporary Istanbul

At the peak of the Contemporary Istanbul art fair TAEX is thrilled to present an award-winning architect and artist Alper Derinboğaz, whose drop curated by Dasha Shkel will be featured on the platform in early October.

September 23rd
İstanbul
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<h3 dir="ltr">At the peak of the Contemporary Istanbul art fair TAEX is thrilled to present an award-winning architect and artist Alper Derinboğaz, whose drop curated by Dasha Shkel will be featured on the platform in early October.</h3>
&nbsp;
In the Neogene Collection Derinboğaz continues his research by compiling geographical data through generative AI and transforming it by algorithmic modelling tools. The NFT drop consists of 3D generated&nbsp; artefacts based on simulations of geological formations from the distant past. The &lsquo;Data Morphosis &rsquo;methodology allows the artist to transfer ancient layers of our planet into the digital realm and to reconstruct the earth's crust in blockchain.
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Each artefact of the Neogene Collection possesses a unique pairing of generated 3D-forms and earth-based material qualities. TAEX&rsquo;s preview of the collection features the White Mass series, named after the etymological starting point of the word &ldquo;bismuth&rdquo; &mdash; a metal that has been present since the formation of the Earth. Bismuth has the longest known alpha decay half-life, implying that only a minuscule fraction, approximately less than one-billionth, of the original bismuth has transformed through radioactive decay since the formation of the Planet Earth, putting the time-scale of human existence into perspective.
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The realms of architectural and geographical issues have been the core of Alper Derinboğaz&rsquo;s work as an artist and architect for decades. He explores the relationships between the environment and spatial elements through scientific strategies. Derinboğaz&rsquo;s projects range from cultural institutions, like the eagerly awaited Istanbul City Museum, to architectural installations and masterplans.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
А Fulbright Scholar, selected architect at &lsquo;Europe 40 Under 40&rsquo; by the European centre, recognized by Arkitera and Achdaily, the winner of over twenty awards, including Green Good Design, The Plan, Architizer A+A, World Architecture Awards, and the German Design Award, Derinboğaz had showcased his research in notable events like the Venice Architecture Biennale.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a title="TAEX Curator Dasha Shkel" href="/curator/4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dasha Shkel</a> is a TAEX curator and interdisciplinary artist based in Istanbul, Sofia, and Berlin. She explores the many relationships between technology, culture, and society by using various methods from immersive socio-cultural experiments, immersive practices to live audio-visual performances.
&nbsp;
Explore the Neogene Collection&nbsp;and visit our booth at Contemporary Istanbul from September 27th till October 1st.&nbsp;
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<h4 dir="ltr">Opening hours</h4>
&nbsp;
At First Sight
26 September 2023, 4 pm - 8 pm
&nbsp;
VIP Preview
27 September 2023, 11 аm - 3 pm
&nbsp;
General Admission
27 September 2023, 3 pm - 8 pm
28 September - 1 October, 11 аm - 8pm
(Please note that the fair will end at 7 pm on the last day)
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<h4 dir="ltr">Location</h4>
&nbsp;
<a title="Google Maps Directions to Tersane Istanbul" href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/fwdSt73CMsfSYbpB6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tersane Istanbul</a>, Hali&ccedil; Camii Kebir Mahallesi Taşkızak, Tersane Cd. No:5, 34440 Beyoğlu, Istanbul
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For any inquiries please contact TAEX Head of Development Stefanie De Regel <a title="Email" href="mailto:stefanie@taex.com?subject=Contemporary%20Istanbul%202023%20Inquiry">stefanie@taex.com</a>
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Call for Artists:  Natively Digital

TAEX presents a unique open call for artists to create original works with the specific intention of transforming them into captivating NFTs. We invite those who are eager to explore and express the profound shift towards natively digital thinking.

Exploring New Frontiers in NFT Artistry

<h3 dir="ltr">We invite artists of all disciplines from around the globe to submit their original, previously unpublished digital artworks for an exciting opportunity to collaborate with TAEX &mdash; a platform for research, production, and co-creation of innovative forms of digital art.&nbsp;</h3>
&nbsp;
TAEX presents a unique open call for artists to create original works with the specific intention of transforming them into captivating NFTs.&nbsp;We invite those who are eager to explore and express the profound shift towards natively digital thinking. Just as digital natives effortlessly navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology, we seek artists who can capture this mindset in their work. Whether you're a painter, sculptor, photographer, or any other creative mind, join us in shaping a project that celebrates the seamless integration of art and technology, bridging the gap between the analogue and the digital in ways that will inspire and captivate audiences. Our open call aims to embrace the limitless possibilities of the digital age, where innovation knows no boundaries and creativity finds new ideas and dimensions.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Juror: Daniel Peace - TAEX Curator, Founder of SIILK gallery</h4>
&nbsp;
Daniel Peace is the founder of SIILK gallery and curator, with a special interest in virtual art spaces. He has organised and curated exhibitions internationally as well as designed and developed immersive virtual reality experiences with artists digitally. Working with artists who challenge the traditions of art with their provocative, incendiary, and seductive vantage points, Daniel Peace promotes originality in aesthetic and the freedom of artistic expression.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">What TAEX Offers</h4>
&nbsp;
TAEX is your partner in this creative journey. As you focus on crafting your masterpiece, we take care of the digital intricacies, making the transition to the NFT realm seamless. We handle all aspects of blockchain publishing, including creating a unique smart contract, covering the expenses for NFT publishing, and promoting your work in dedicated press and on our social media.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Submission Guidelines</h4>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr">Artists of all disciplines and nationalities are welcome to apply.</li>
<li dir="ltr">The work must be an original digital creation, which was not previously exhibited.&nbsp;</li>
<li dir="ltr">We do not accept works that are digital scans of physical pieces: sculptures, paintings, photographs, etc.&nbsp;</li>
<li dir="ltr">Our focus is on fresh, unexplored ideas with the potential to captivate the digital art audience.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">How to Apply</h4>
&nbsp;
Please send your artwork or artwork proposal, alongside project description that outlines your creative concept and how it aligns with the NFT medium, your bio, and links to personal website and/or social media as a single PDF (10 MB max.) to daniel@taex.com by October 16th 2023, 6 pm GMT. Don't miss this opportunity to reshape the future of art with TAEX team and curator Daniel Peace by your side!
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Important Dates</h4>
Submission Deadline: October 16th 2023, 6 pm GMT
Winners Announced: November 13th 2023
&nbsp;
For inquiries, please reach out to daniel@taex.com

How it went: TAEX x Spark event and drop presentation for NFC Lisbon

On the 8th of June TAEX & Spark welcomed the participants and guests of Non-Fungible Conference Lisbon at the event ART + NFT: True Love or an Arranged Marriage?, which featured a panel discussion, a pop-up exhibition and a DJ set by Thierry Tomas. Here is how it went.

<h3 dir="ltr">On the 8th of June TAEX &amp; Spark welcomed the participants and guests of Non-Fungible Conference Lisbon at the event ART + NFT: True Love or an Arranged Marriage?, which featured a panel discussion, a pop-up exhibition and a DJ set by Thierry Tomas. The side event of NFC 23 took place at the waning end of the last day of the conference at NINHO &mdash; XIXth century palace that unites programmers and leaders of creative industries in the heart of Portugal.</h3>
&nbsp;
Which phase of the relationship between NFT and art are we witnessing right now and to which extent we are able to develop it? How do we distinguish a true masterpiece in the ocean of crypto universe? Should we continue our attempts to unite art and cyber poles? How do we see the future of media art and the pros &amp; cons of technology? How to establish thriving NFT communities? TAEX curators <a href="/curator/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Antonio Geusa</a> and <a href="/curator/4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dasha Shkel</a> invited digital artist MAOTIK, CEO of Spark Vitali Dervoed, and Spark&rsquo;s software engineer Alexey Nagorny to share their reflections on the topic and decades of professional background, inspired by vibrant and extensive Non-Fungible conference lineup. Intense wind from the ocean coast and rain outside the NINHO windows only encouraged a thoughtful discussion.
&nbsp;
Among the highlights of the evening was the announcement by the world-famous French digital artist <a title="MAOTIK Website" href="http://www.maotik.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MAOTIK (Mathieu Le Sourd)</a> who shared the news about his very first NFT drop that would be exclusively presented on TAEX in the following months. As the sun went down our guests plunged into soundscapes of DJ Thierry Tomas and a showcase of TAEX artists: <a href="/artist/14">Shu Lea Cheang</a>, <a href="/artist/16">Joey Holder</a>, <a href="/artist/27">Kaikhan Salakhov</a>, <a href="/artist/21">Farid Rahimi</a>, <a href="/artist/10">Riitta Hakkarainen</a>, <a href="/artist/4">Cadie Desbiens-Desmeules</a>, <a href="/artist/12">Angelo Plessas</a>, <a href="/artist/1">Othmane Kandri</a> (of Zaha Hadid Architects), <a href="/artist/3">Oğuz Emre Bal</a>, <a href="/artist/6">Massimo Grimaldi</a>, Natalia Fedorova, <a href="/artist/8">Laura Brothers</a>, and, obviously, <a href="http://www.maotik.com/">MAOTIK</a>.
&nbsp;
We would like to thank our partners at Spark, Non-Fungible Conference for a chance to gather such an inspiring crowd of colleagues, entrepreneurs, and leaders of NFT, NINHO Lisboa for hosting the event, TAEX&rsquo;s Stefanie De Regel for moderating the panel talk, and our guests for insights and questions that keep us going forward.
&nbsp;
Please enjoy the full event image archive <a title="TAEX x Spark at NFC Lisbon Event Image Archive" href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1v8FHz8W1n19PWq2yMPBv9kuhwN3AOCSs?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a> Note, that any reproduction of the photographs must be credited.
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ART + NFT: True Love or an Arranged Marriage? 

TAEX x Spark event and drop presentation for NFC Lisbon

Press Release: ART + NFT: True Love or an Arranged Marriage? 

<h3 dir="ltr">On June 8, 2023, TAEX and Spark are inviting friends and colleagues to an action-packed event in Lisbon celebrating the Non Fungible Conference 2023 and its primary subject &mdash; NFT.&nbsp;</h3>
&nbsp;
Set in a XIXth century palace with a secret garden, the event will unfold in 3 stages and involve a series of short panel discussions, long drinks, top artist showcases, and a drop presentation. Join in and discuss with us the topic that has been tearing at the hearts and minds of art and blockchain experts alike: are NFT and Art really meant for each other? Was it love at first sight, or is it an abusive relationship? Most importantly &mdash; will there be a happy ending?
&nbsp;
The event will commence at 7 pm, followed by the first act of the night at 7:30 pm: the notable digital art theorist and TAEX Curator Dr. Antonio Geusa will put art history &ldquo;under the microscope&rdquo; in his talk Contemporary Art and NFT Technology: A Transparent Love Story to examine the romance between contemporary art and NFT tools. Next, the curator and artist Dasha Shkel will discuss the future of media art and its rocky relationship with technology, followed by the cherry on top of our cake, the presentation of an exclusive TAEX drop by the world-famous digital artist MAOTIK with a Q&amp;A. To conclude our lineup of talks, CEO of Spark Vitali Dervoed and Software Engineer Alexey Nagorny will share their invaluable experience in building sustainable and thriving NFT communities.
&nbsp;
After the short round of talks, we invite our guests to enjoy the exhibition of works by TAEX artists, curated specifically for the event. Our lineup includes digital art pioneer Shu Lea Cheang, Joey Holder, Kaikhan Salakhov, Farid Rahimi, Riitta Hakkarainen, Cadie Desbiens-Desmeules, Othmane Kandri (of Zaha Hadid Architects), Oğuz Emre Bal, Massimo Grimaldi, Laura Brothers, and, of course, MAOTIK. We are also excited to be joined by Dr Natalia Fedorova, who kindly provided us with her generative poetry project.
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To set the atmosphere, the evening will feature soundscapes by DJ Thierry Tomas, signature cocktails, small foods, and, of course, the majestic interiors of NINHO Clubhouse.
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The event will take place from 7 pm to 12 pm at Rua J&uacute;lio de Andrade 5, 1150-225, Lisbon.&nbsp;
 RSVP essential. For more information and registration check out <a href="http://lu.ma/bhrhlnxk">lu.ma</a>

How it went: One Night Between Heaven and Hell

<h3 dir="ltr">On the 18th of May TAEX joined the busy lineup of Frieze NYC side events with a private show and a cocktail reception, packed with our curators, artists, and their works.</h3>
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Assembled by our Senior Curator&nbsp;<a href="/curator/1">Dr Margarita Kuleva</a>, the show had just about every method of digital reproduction: old-school TVs, projections, screens and even an accidental 3 metre tall image reflection onto the opposite building (courtesy of the narrow streets of New York). As you can guess &mdash; the show focused on the coexistence of digital and physical realms, and the way they manifest within the digital canvas of a big city such as New York &mdash; heavenly for some (like our guests) and infernal for the others (like the Gallery&rsquo;s electricity bill). Jokes aside, this one night only event showcased the fruits of TAEX critical practice and inquiry into crypto art via the works of our artists and the visions of our curators &mdash; dreams and nightmares as they come.&nbsp;
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<img src="/storage/news-image/chqiffirpregllo73pbg.png" alt="TAEX Exhibition in New York: Metaverse D&eacute;rive" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre>Artworks of the <a href="/drop/1">Metaverse D&eacute;rive: NFT Cities</a> drop by <a href="/artist/3">Oğuz Emre Bal</a>, <a href="/artist/1">Othmane Kandri</a>, and <a href="/artist/2">Jessica Baldivieso</a>. Available to purchase. </pre>
<img src="/storage/news-image/chqij2irpregllo73pd0.png" alt="Joshua Goode for TAEX" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre>Artworks by J<a href="/artist/11">oshua Goode</a>. Available to purchase. </pre>
The exhibition featured a curated selection of artists and architects who engage with symbiotic landscapes, raw materials of architectural dreams, and mix the indigenous and the contemporary, standing at the forefront of speculative and digital architecture &mdash; <a href="/artist/3">Oğuz Emre Bal</a>, <a href="/artist/1">Othmane Kandri </a>(Zaha Hadid Architects), and <a href="/artist/2">Jessica Baldivieso</a>. Furthermore, we dived into a critical view of crypto currencies as institutions through the eyes of the artist <a href="/artist/10">Riitta Hakkarainen</a>; as well as the works of Lyndsey Walsh and Dr Natalia Fedorova with their eccentric bio art creatures. The digital gothic was also reflected in the practice of <a href="/artist/11">Joshua Goode</a>, who ingeniously fuses popular culture with the aesthetics of the ancient world, and, notably, was the only artist to mould his dreams (or nightmares) in bronze.&nbsp;
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<img src="/storage/news-image/chqii2qrpregllo73pcg.png" alt="Artwork by Lyndsey Walsh for TAEX" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre>Artwork by Lyndsey Walsh </pre>
To culminate the event, a renowned media theorist <a href="/artist/29">Dr Lev Manovich</a> introduced his latest project with TAEX, which creates connections between his investigations into modernism with his work on Hieronymus Bosch&rsquo;s divine nature of architecture.
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chqih4arpregllo73pc0.png" alt="" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre>Artworks by <a href="/artist/29">Dr Lev Manovich</a> and J<a href="/artist/11">oshua Goode</a>. Available to purchase.</pre>
&nbsp;
We would like to thank our wonderful guests for their dedication to TAEX in the face of so many Frieze events, our curator <a href="/curator/1">Dr. Margarita Kuleva</a>, our talented artists, and The Untitled Space for making this event possible.
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<img src="/storage/news-image/chqijiirpregllo73pe0.png" alt="TAEX Exhibition View" width="100%" height="auto"> 
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<img src="/storage/news-image/chqijs2rpregllo73peg.png" alt="An issue of The Art Newspaper International with TAEX advertisement" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre>The latest issue of The Art Newspaper International with the fragment of artwork by <a href="/artist/29">Dr Lev Manovich</a> on a TAEX sleeve. Artwork available to purchase.</pre>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">You may download the full event image archive <a title="One Night between Heaven and Hell &mdash; Photo Archive" href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CuW02yKmstr9dU4AexlfGEsOG2BzJsQV?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Please note, that any reproduction of the photographs must be credited.</h4>
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TAEX celebrates the launch of Collectors Club in Venice

<h2 dir="ltr">On the 17th of May we celebrated two exciting occasions &mdash; the opening of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale and the launch of <a href="/collectorsclub">TAEX Collectors Club</a> &mdash; with our closest friends and guests at Palazzina Grassi.&nbsp;</h2>
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To mark the occasion, our Senior Curator <a href="/curator/1">Dr. Margarita Kuleva</a> prepared a private exhibition, featuring works from all our drops, and one of the artists &mdash; <a href="/artist/1">Othmane Kandri</a> (of Zaha Hadid Architects) &mdash; managed to join us from London despite the stormy weather in Italy.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Intricate digital architecture of&nbsp;<a href="/artist/3">Oğuz Emre Bal</a>, <a href="/artist/1">Othmane Kandri</a> and <a href="/artist/2">Jessica Baldivieso</a> interwoven with the real-life beauty of Venice (and, of course, a cocktail reception) made for some exciting conversations about art and its future, led by our Business Development Manager Stefanie de Regel and our founder Inna Bazhenova.
&nbsp;
We would like to thank our wonderful artists and our Senior Curator&nbsp;<a href="/curator/1">Dr. Margarita Kuleva</a> for their work, art, and dedication; as well as our guests for attending and giving our <a href="/collectorsclub">Collectors Club</a> an amazing start!&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<pre dir="ltr"><img src="/storage/news-image/chogb6qrprehq0fln9q0.png" alt="Artworks by Alex Arzt and Oğuz Emre Bal. Available for purchase." width="100%" height="auto"> Artworks by <a href="/drop/28">Alex Arzt</a> and <a href="/artist/3">Oğuz Emre Bal</a>. Available for purchase. <img src="/storage/news-image/chogbu2rprehq0fln9qg.png" alt=" From right to left: TAEX Founder Inna Bazhenova and Curator Daria Shkeleva" width="100%" height="auto"> From right to left: TAEX Founder Inna Bazhenova and Curator Daria Shkeleva <img src="/storage/news-image/chogcdqrprehq0fln9s0.png" alt="From left to right: TAEX Business Development Manager Stefanie de Regel, Theo Bellanger, Mathias Bensimon, Othmane Kandri" width="100%" height="auto"> From left to right: TAEX Business Development Manager Stefanie de Regel, Theo Bellanger, Mathias Bensimon, <a href="/artist/1">Othmane Kandri</a></pre>
<pre dir="ltr"> <img src="/storage/news-image/chogdcarprehq0fln9sg.png" alt="Artwork by Joey Holder. " width="100%" height="auto"> Artwork by <a href="/drop/15">Joey Holder</a>. <img src="/storage/news-image/chogdrarprehq0fln9t0.png" alt="Artworks by Oğuz Emre Bal and Shu Lea Cheang." width="100%" height="auto"> Artworks by <a href="/artist/3">Oğuz Emre Bal</a> and <a href="/drop/18">Shu Lea Cheang</a>. </pre>
You may download the full event image archive&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1a6RQblhKPwlk-50ZhGBColCMDtsQ9EAv?usp=share_link">here</a>. Please note, that any reproduction of the photographs must be credited.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Antonio Geusa: How do we conceptualise NFT?

Acronyms:
Dr Antonio Geusa &mdash; AG
Anastasiia Spirenkova (TAEX) &mdash; AS
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">AS: Antonio, as an expert and historian of digital art, how did you react when you first heard about NFT?&nbsp;</h4>
&nbsp;
AG: It was not love at first sight, to be honest. When the media frenzy started, a few years ago, I was not impressed by what was making the news. I could not see anything that I would call art. Surely, I was misled (and a bit annoyed) by the fact that a lot of bad works were advertised as art to the wider public.&nbsp;
Working with digital art means always being on the lookout for new stuff. I spend a lot of time reading all sorts of on- and offline literature about it. At one point, I bumped into a couple of NFT projects that solicited my interest because they were not about 'the looks'; they were more about the messages conveyed. And I started digging... One can say that my interest in NFTs started through critical analysis of the works, rather than by seeing something and immediately falling for it. I might be old-fashioned, but a text is often my starting point in getting interested in an artwork (and not only). My first university degree is in philology, after all.&nbsp;
Finally, my digging helped me find very strong works. Then, my curiosity grew by the day, and I started to see great potential in the technology. I&rsquo;m not speaking about sales and big numbers. The potential I saw was in relation to the way NFT technology can be an ally to art. The time had come to see whether or not I could contribute to this somehow.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">AS: Has the vector of your curatorial work changed in terms of temporality&mdash;from the past to the future? NFT is a cutting-edge technology, so are your curatorial NFT projects fully focused on the future, or is that not the case?</h4>
&nbsp;
AG: I have published a lot on the history of video art. When I started my research in video art, it was indeed an archaeologist&rsquo;s job. I was after old works, sometimes forgotten by their own authors, that had to be literally unearthed.&nbsp;
In the case of NFTs, it was more like going to a thrift shop where you have to ransack for nice things. Everything is already there in the store, but you have to look for the nice stuff hidden amongst heaps of rags. In other words, art was there piled amongst works that are not art at all. When I was carrying out my research on video art, I spent a lot of time and energy persuading artists to open their vaults and storage rooms and look for the forgotten videotape. With NFT I am asking artists to create something new with this new technology.&nbsp;
With video art, I was busy writing about the history of the medium. With NFT, I am worried about how I can contribute with a text and with my assistance to a work that is destined, hopefully, to live in the future. Frankly, I am a bit concerned that NFT art started with very little theoretical support and no serious analysis of the interrelationships between art history and the blockchain.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">The current phase is a very exciting one for NFT.</h3>
&nbsp;
The current phase is a very exciting one for NFT. We are all aware that the market has not performed well lately. Paradoxically, it is a great moment for people like me, who are interested in the way technology influences the constituting qualities of a work of art. We have reached that point in the NFT timeline when we can analyse what has happened in the last five years and contextualise it in the bigger discourse of contemporary art. It is time to get out of our crypto ghetto. I&rsquo;ve spent decades reading, analysing, and writing about art made with new technologies. It is unhealthy to make it look as if it is a parallel story, separated from the rest of contemporary art history. The way I see it, when crypto art is compared and contrasted with what happened in the history of digital and contemporary art, we can discern the &ldquo;good&rdquo; from the &ldquo;bad&rdquo;.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Technology is new, but art is not.</h3>
&nbsp;
When we talk about NFT, we cannot stay away from those avant-garde expressions that had been in the past about the &lsquo;art of the future&rsquo;.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">&nbsp;</h3>
<h3 dir="ltr">We are still pioneers regarding the theoretical analysis of what&nbsp;crypto art is all about.</h3>
&nbsp;
We are now in a good phase as far as NFT production is concerned, but we are still pioneers regarding the theoretical analysis of what NFT art is all about. By drawing parallels with what has already become part of the history of digital and contemporary art, we will better understand the true value of NFT technology for art. Before writing a text for a new drop, I need to understand how the artist sees his/her work in relation to works from other artists.&nbsp;
When we speak about new technology, we do not have to lose the connection with the past. Never. Yes, technology is new, but art is not. About 60 years ago, video was a new technology, but the works that have become part of art history are those that went beyond the medium as a mere instrument. Technology alone is never art.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">AS: What challenges are facing artists while they are working with NFT?</h4>
&nbsp;
AG: The more you study NFT art, the more you understand that it is not so different from the offline art world. One of the main reasons why artists are attracted to NFT is that it would free them from the yoke of gallery owners and art dealers. The point is, online and offline artists have the same problems when it comes to selling their works. It is not easy to get yourself known in the offline world as well as in the crypto world. Despite the hype, NFT does not guarantee one to gain the visibility that he/she deserves. In both worlds, one has to understand how the system works. And that it is not an easy task. My advice to artists is &lsquo;make works, make works, make works&hellip; and be patient&rsquo;. Many artists, especially the young ones with a very small portfolio, don't have the gift of patience. They want to be known right away, and they think that cyberspace is the key to quick success.&nbsp;
Sure, NFT technology frees you from the art dealer, which is a good thing, in many ways. However, you are not free from the system itself. You still need to promote yourself, to gain attention, to &ldquo;become viral&rdquo;. If sales do not come along, does it mean that one is a bad artist? In the offline world, it usually takes about five years (after graduation) and dozens of works to get noticed. With NFT, the wait might be shorter, but the amount of work to be done is not less.
Good art comes from understanding and conceptualising technology.&nbsp;
Of course, as an artist, you must make an NFT only if you think that it is the right technology for the work you have in mind. You must feel within yourself that it is the technology for this specific project. If you are just going to make a digital copy of a physical work, you are using the technology, but you are not making art. &ldquo;Good&rdquo; art comes from understanding and conceptualising the technology (old or new) you are using. It should always be &ldquo;NFT for the sake of NFT&rdquo;; in other words, art made for the art world. If you take it outside, it would stop making sense the way it does for art. As you will not find Duchamp&rsquo;s &ldquo;Fountain&rdquo; at the plumbing store. There, it would be just a urinal, a useful object for a bathroom. Nothing more, nothing less.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">AS: What drops are you preparing for TAEX?</h4>
&nbsp;
AG: I am very grateful to TAEX for their patience in allowing me the opportunity to help artists make new work and for supporting me write a guide about NFT and contemporary art. It took me a while to prepare the basis for my drops. You can call me a "slow curator" if you want. I had to investigate, research, probe the ground, and play with the rules of the game. I am very proud to present my first drop as a curator very soon. It would be followed by the Guide, a little book explaining what NFT can do for art and what art can do for NFT.
Hopefully, it will help those people who are curious about the technology better understand how NFT and art are related. As both a curator and an art historian, these two projects are just a slice of paradise for me, because it gives me the privilege of presenting a work of art that I helped take shape and a guide on art &amp; NFT that I wrote.
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chh8102rprellmq7bsq0.png" alt="A Guide by TAEX and Dr Antonio Geusa" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre class="Book_title__mtDMc"><a href="/special_projects/book" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What NFT can do for art. What art can do for NFT: A short guide.</a></pre>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">AS: What were your criteria for selecting the drops for TAEX? Did you initiate all the projects, or did you choose some from existing ones?</h4>
&nbsp;
AG: As usual, I'm very interested in problems. I like works that question the system in which a certain technology thrives rather than play along. No problem, no art, isn&rsquo;t it? One of the NFT drops I am curating consists of a part that is online and a part that is physical (at the discretion of the collector). It asks the buyer to perform a certain action in the offline world to complete the artwork. As if that wasn't enough, the result is something that one cannot show in the metaverse. It is still a full-fledged NFT, though. The combo of buying an NFT and exhibiting it in the metaverse does not work in this case. It is these deliberate impediments that make a work interesting to me because in doing so we better understand the nature, advantages, and limitations of the art exhibition space in the metaverse. Moreover, this work also problematizes the meaning of what constitutes a body in the physical and digital spaces. Which is something that has always fascinated me when working with digital art.&nbsp;
As we all know, NFT art is very visual. Words often have a secondary role in most NFT artworks on view in marketplaces. However, I cannot help it. I am in love with words. For my second drop, I have been working with a famous writer, based in Italy. We are going to publish as NFT a poem from a collection of about 30 poems that he never published before, despite having been asked to do so many times. Under the terms of the contract the author undertakes not to use or perform any actions with other poems from that collection or materials used to create such poems. I like to curate projects that have a story behind them, and, in this particular case, works that build a bridge with Conceptual art and with Concrete Poetry in particular.
&nbsp;
The best perk of being a curator is having the chance to listen to the stories that artists tell you, episodes from their lives. In 99% of cases, artists have an art piece that at some point disappeared or was destroyed, lost for good. For another project I'm curating for TAEX, I have proposed that artists recreate the lost work as an NFT version. Here, once again, the concept of what constitutes a body in a work of art is central, given that NFT technology will provide a digital body to a work that does not have a physical body anymore.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">So, I just give them a conceptual room for them to work in.</h3>
&nbsp;
I never commission artworks. What I do is suggest a concept, the outline of an idea, and then the artist may agree or just say no. So, one can say that I just give the artists a conceptual room for them to work in. As a part of my curatorial contribution to TAEX, I am also going to implement some educational programs. What I admire most in TAEX&mdash;and in this, it greatly differs from other NFT art platforms&mdash;is the support it gives to education and critical analysis and the way it looks at NFTs not as something purely new, but as an evolution of art history.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">AS: NFT is still perceived by many as a marginalised field, some people tend to ridicule it. Why is that? And why do we need a new NFT platform?</h4>
&nbsp;
AG: Well, people have all the right to do that, to doubt it, or even to laugh at it. Most of the time, it should indeed be ridiculed. Some of the NFT works that have made the news for being sold for huge amounts of money are worth such reactions. The truth is that there are still so many people who are not aware of the good stuff.&nbsp;
If you look back, for example, to the history of cinema, you will immediately see that most of the films that were shot at its very beginning were done purely for entertainment purposes. Only 10 of the 50,000 films that were made back then left their mark on the history of cinema. This does not mean that cinema is bad technology, it means that most of the films that were made at its start had nothing to do with art. That is why we need platforms like TAEX, which help to analyse the system, explain how it works, and showcase art that is in dialogue with the larger discourse on contemporary art.

Dr. Margarita Kuleva: on equality, cultural production, and the future of art in decentralised paradigms

On equality, cultural production, and the future of art in decentralised paradigms

TAEX Interview: Dr. Margarita Kuleva

Acronyms:
Dr. Margarita Kuleva &mdash; MK
Sofya Chibisguleva (TAEX) &mdash; SC
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">All meetings with Margarita Kuleva are informal by nature, be it a lecture, a panel discussion, or an interview. The formats cannot confine her playful air of presence, which in my opinion, is best described as an atmosphere of an engaging midnight kitchen debate, minus the intoxication. Although, her ideas and the almost graspable flight are surely viral for the mind. Our conversation started effortlessly, yet quickly thickened and started simmering. </h3>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Let's begin with the first question. Could you start with some words about yourself, namely, how would you describe your curatorial and artistic self in 3 words.</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: That is a challenging one, I would say collectivity, or even conviviality, different entities that are able to exist together. Also, singularity, then attention to the socio-economic condition to cultural protection, which is not one word really. Then, again, they are connected, specifically to the feminist approach and de-centralisation. They are important to me because of the way I was educated and shaped as a curator and thinker.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: It is one phrase so I think we can let it slide. Where and what did you study?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: My background is rather interdisciplinary, I started as a philosopher, but I was really into literature as a teenager. So, I was a poet, a young teenage poet. I first looked at the Moscow Literary University, but then I checked out their description more closely, changed my mind and went to the Faculty of Philosophy at Saint Petersburg State University. I studied aesthetics for about a year and a half but then I realised that the university was rather conservative, and I became a philosophy dropout. Now that I am in the US it sounds so interesting, because this is what Steve Jobs did. He was a philosophy dropout.&nbsp;
I guess I always had an interest in the arts. Both of my parents are artists, and I literally grew up in an art studio, which has some issues because it is always a little bit more disorganised than the usual house. Early I became rather independent, and my parents gave me a lot of freedom, which I think shaped my personality a lot. After dropping out from the Faculty of Philosophy, the most important thing which happened to me was ... well I met my first advisor. She was a philosopher and a film critic with an interest in psychoanalysis, but close to poststructuralism and feminism. Then I entered my next degree, which was in the Smolny College (Bard College and St. Petersburg State University), which is the only liberal arts college in Russia.
I graduated as a Sociologist because I changed my subject while studying. I wanted to be opened to different kinds of art, so I chose sociology with a strong attachment to art. I have always been thinking about the social context of art: how to open it to more people and to dissolve the boundaries that sometimes art would construct? Here, in the US it is called "social practice". At that time, I didn't know the term. Later, when I did my PhD I wrote about these boundaries and the cultural labour in the UK and Russia, and what I found striking was a case of one commercial UK gallery. I asked a gallery assistant, who was responsible for buying bottled water for the gallery, and he was tasked with buying 3 kinds of water &mdash; the very expensive one for the collectors, the less expensive ones for the honourable guests, and cheap water for the openings. Tap water was for the rest.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Seems like there is a hidden water hierarchy in the art world!</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: Exactly! Recently there was a clear turn to openness in the rhetoric, especially in the US with the BLM and Me Too movements, and the fight against cultural appropriation. But I think that we need to do more work on the hidden hierarchies. Especially in application to new kinds of art, like NFT, which isn't exactly new, but the NFT platforms are. We have so many problems with the existing art world, we must not copy and paste them into this new space.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Speaking of the transferring which occurs between IRL art spaces, like biennales, galleries, etc. into the NFT spaces, have you already observed any cases of such copy-pasting of biases and stigmas? And do you believe that the NFTs and the metaverse eradicate some of them simply due to their nature?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I think there is a struggle going on. NFT started as non-institutional, but then people from the traditional art world saw opportunity in it and there are multiple agencies which are trying to &ldquo;normalize&rdquo; it. Also, there is the fact that a lot of people are annoyed with NFTs. There are many reasons for that, especially in terms of sustainability, and the fact that people try to make NFTs out of basically anything, and obviously because there was an issue of hype. I think that everything that brigs that much hype will annoy people. NFTs are media and every media can be used differently. We are to decide what kind of benefit it can bring to the community. Perhaps the dynamic of the NFT market would be better with less interest from people who just want to make money. Let's see what is going to happen, but for me personally, art collecting, and the possession of art are a long-term thing. It is a decision that should be made very carefully and should be sustainable.&nbsp;
If we are to go further with this topic of why NFTs are annoying, it is also because people believe that artists who work with NFTs do not invest their creative talent, time, and energy and as a result create something like the Bored Apes. That is such a wrong attitude! Sure, there are a lot of cases where &ldquo;effortless&rdquo; artworks became successful, but there are also a lot of cases where artists experimented with NFTs and didn&rsquo;t acquire success immediately, but made complex art. This situation reminds me a bit of the fame of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism">the minimalist artists</a> of the 60s or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_British_Artists">the YBAs</a> in the 1990s. Artists like Tracey Emin or Damien Hirst gained very quick success because they used very unusual media provocations. The annoyance around them was enormous. People would focus on specific artists and artworks which became famous very quickly. The broader public is annoyed by the quick fame and refuses to dig further, and I hope that our platform can show that there is so much more to the technology, as well as bring the approach of institutional critique to show how the change is possible through slow and thoughtful action.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chh3a8irprellmq7bslg.png" alt="My Bed by Tracey Emin" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre dir="ltr">My Bed (1998) by Tracy Emin, a member of the YBAs</pre>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: It seems that the general link between the immediacy of the success of the Bored Apes and the YBAs is provocation. There is a certain provocative effect not in the works themselves but also in the media. NFTs themselves are also very provocative because they are linked to money and money is a very sensitive topic in the art world in general.</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I think that this is very true, money issues are very problematic in the art world, and it has been like that for many years before NFTs came. However, fundamentally the issue lies in unrecognition of creative work as work. I was just talking with a colleague here in Berkeley about NFTs and I quite liked what she said, that it is not that easy to support an artist you like, especially if you are based in different countries and with everything that is going on in the world. I think that NFTs can be a platform of support for artists. By supporting them people may support other physical works for artists to create. For example, our <a href="/drop/24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drop by Pavel Brăila</a>, who works within an intersection of art and sport, aims to ideally save one of the Soviet stadiums, which is about to be demolished soon, or if not to save than to commemorate the architecture. He wants to donate part of the commission to save the stadium and build a better campaign for that. NFTs can serve different needs, socially driven too. I hope there will be more projects like that, especially in terms of the de-globalisation of the art world.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chh444qrprellmq7bsm0.png" alt="Javelin Throw by Pavel Braila" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre><a href="/drop/current/24/token/93" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Javelin Throw by Pavel Brăila</a></pre>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Do you think that NFTs can help the world to finally come to an acknowledgement that art work is work and that as any other labour it has to be paid for?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I think we need an enlightenment of NFTs, to show that it requires a lot of work to create. Behind the drops which we've created so far at TAEX, there is a whole team. It is a product of our creative activity, and it is not a "nothing created in a second". It takes time and energy. That is also a good example of the invisible labour discourse.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: To circle back a little bit &mdash; a significant part of NFTs is comprised of digitised works, like paintings, collages, even 3D scanned works. I know that in your first drop <a href="/drop/1">Metaverse D&eacute;rive: NFT Cities</a> the "NFT stage" of digital architecture and 3D modelling is the original, moreover, it has already been a part of the professional process for so many years. Digital form is natural for architecture. What do you think about physical works that make the crossover into the digital realm? Do they become some versions of Joseph Kosuth's works or should they not be digitised altogether, as some critics suggest?</h4>
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chh3a8irprellmq7bsl0.png" alt="Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (1965)" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre dir="ltr">Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (1965)</pre>
&nbsp;
MK: I think it is completely the right of an artist to choose whether to digitise their work or not, because it is their intellectual or creative property. But the materiality of a painting, for instance, is not its only feature, there is also its presence and the presence of an artist within the work. In regards to the architecture, I would go theoretically to Walter Benjamin, and then to John Berger, his original BBC show <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dtnvm">Ways of Seeing</a> from the 1970s. In it he noted that it is revolutionary that art can travel from apartment to apartment via a TV. Physical art has been existing digitally for such a long time. Today, we can find copies of artworks in print. I think, what NFT does here is affix artistic value onto the digital versions of painted objects, sculptures or so on. The other thing is that sometimes we do not have the physical opportunities to ship monumental paintings, but it can come to your apartment in a form of a projection.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">&ldquo;We need to be thinking of ways to store and display an NFT collection. NFT collectors must be creative, there is simply no other choice.&rdquo;</h3>
&nbsp;
When you go to a colleague's or a friend's house and see art there, how much of it is media art? Personally, I have seen permanently installed media art in a house only twice. Which devices can we use to display digital art? A screen or a tamagotchi, perhaps? NFT collectors must be creative, there is simply no other choice. What I like about new technologies is that they bring up new issues.
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chh4b1irprellmq7bsmg.png" alt="Going up by Jessica Baldivieso" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre dir="ltr"><a href="/drop/current/1/token/6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Going up by Jessica Baldivieso &mdash; an artist of Metaverse D&eacute;rive: NFT Cities</a></pre>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Do you believe that media art in general and NFT specifically will shift the collectors from the consumer role of into the role of a co-creator? A similar shift has been happening with the spectator-participant dynamic too. You have mentioned how much easier it is to exhibit international art digitally and your first drop with us is indeed very international. How does it benefit the concept and the integrity of the drop?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I would always go for plurality of experience. I met all artists personally before, with some of them I have worked in the past and I think I personally would go for building professional connections with those people who have experienced cultural transfers. I wouldn't say that it is very typical for an artist to be on the move all the time, especially during COVID-19, but I'd rather think that this is something that makes the experience more special. The experience of travel teaches the artist to constantly search for alternatives and to build their own. The three works are a good combination, but they are very different from each, yet the question they are trying to address is the same.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: In general, why did you pick architecture and the situationists? Why did these subjects resonate with you in connection to NFTs and the metaverse?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I was always interested in mixing different genres and disciplines, and I thought that maybe we need to expose the more flexible borders of architecture, art, and their intersection. There are not too many shows concerned with this issue and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9rive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">d&eacute;rive</a> is something that I am a big fan of. I practise it a lot personally and with my students. I thought it would be a very interesting and engaging experience for the artists and the collectors who want to see how we can put these images of a city together in a digital d&eacute;rive. It is a stress on critique of capitalism because a lot of people would say that NFT is the most capitalist way of seeing and producing art. I thought that it would be ironic and subversive to bring logic of d&eacute;rive into NFT cities.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">&ldquo;By growing NFT economy we can show that a bigger collector audience exists.&rdquo;</h3>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Going back to Sociology, NFTs have been around for many years before they went viral. Have you encountered any interesting NFT projects in terms of sociological analysis, or have you analysed the behaviour of NFT consumers?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: It is a big question. I would say that the process of institutionalisation of NFTs is something that bothers me a lot. Speaking of the social factors and dimensions of NFT, interestingly it brought many different people to art collecting. Sometimes what attracts people is not fine art, bit things like Pokemons and other phenomena of contemporary culture and here I see an opportunity for democratisation. It is a provocation towards fine art and collecting. By growing the NFT economy we can show that a bigger collector audience exists. Myself, I see art as a social good, but sometimes having money in a certain industry is not a bad thing.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: At the beginning you have mentioned that you are interested in collectivity and singularity and I think it resonated a lot with your remarks on the process of institutionalisation of NFT. If we were to imagine right now a big bright world of the future, where the NFTs and the art world are more pluralistic and diverse, which types of projects and technologies you think might emerge. What is a utopian future for NFT?</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I would say my dream is that it would give a piece of art multiple chances to be created and to be affiliated with an institution. For example, I would go to different workers of an institution to inter-create art. The other thing would be to open new genres of NFT, for example, NFT performance in the metaverse. Right now NFT is more of a product, than a process. Could there be an NFT of goodness, an NFT of cleanness, NFT of cats? How can we make it into an engaging process? Another question for the future is: how can collectors and visitors change NFTs?
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">&ldquo;Could there be an NFT of goodness, an NFT of cleanness, NFT of cats? How can we make it into an engaging process?&rdquo;</h3>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: Going into the close future of TAEX, what are you planning next? Could you give us any hints, a cloud of influences perhaps?&nbsp;</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I would like to bring more feminist art to the platform, as well as something organic in terms of digital, to experiment with how the digital and the biological can be intersected. For example, our next drop is by an American artist who makes digital rocks and digital cabbage.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">SC: To conclude, during this interview you have mentioned a lot of interesting and quite important pieces of literature, which could be a perfect after-interview dive for a curious reader.</h4>
&nbsp;
MK: I have already mentioned&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-World-Sarah-Thornton/dp/039333712X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RCI921Q8E4JU&amp;keywords=7+days+in+the+art+world&amp;qid=1665721385&amp;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjE4IiwicXNhIjoiMS4wNyIsInFzcCI6IjEuMzgifQ%3D%3D&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=7+days+in+the+art+worls%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C259&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton (2009)</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ways-Seeing-Based-Television-Penguin/dp/0140135154/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GRKDEPL6LT01&amp;keywords=ways+of+seeing&amp;qid=1665721737&amp;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjk2IiwicXNhIjoiMC4zNyIsInFzcCI6IjAuMzgifQ%3D%3D&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=ways+of%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C258&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ways of Seeing by John Berger (1990)</a>. In terms of cultural analytics, there is a fantastic book by<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262037105/cultural-analytics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Lev Manovich called Cultural Analytics (2020)</a>. Also, there is a brilliant<a href="https://shop.barbican.org.uk/products/ai-more-than-human-exhibition-catalogue" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> catalogue</a> of the AI: More than Human exhibition at Barbican, which has an interesting collection of essays.

Decentraland dérive

The fruitful frustrations of exhibiting art in the metaverse

<h3 dir="ltr">On August 27th TAEX curator Dr. Margarita Kuleva gathered friends, colleagues, artists, and visitors of Decentraland&rsquo;s Museum District for a first metaverse performative lecture &mdash; a tour of the exhibition Metaverse D&eacute;rive: NFT Cities. The walk started with a virtual booth tour and continued with a drift around the Museum DistrictDistrics. Our observer <a href="mailto:sofya@theart.exchange">Sofya Chibisguleva</a> reflects on the results and the frustrations of the event.</h3>
&nbsp;
Sudden sound effects, flashy partner booths, disoriented-looking humans bumping into each other &mdash; to an unfamiliar user Decentraland's Metaverse Art Week looked more like a Christmas fair, rather than the Exposition Universelle it was envisioned to be. The familiar users shared this impression too. The reason &mdash; a paradoxically bodily exhausting experience of trying to find oneself in cyberspace. Literally. If Franz Kafka was to write his famous novel "The Castle" in 2022, he would surely title it "Decentraland".
&nbsp;
As our guests and virtual exhibition curator Dr. Margarita Kuleva frantically explored the Museum District in search of the before mentioned exhibition, they couldn't help but feel the nostalgic tug inside their chests. "The visuals, the bugs, the endless searching sent us back in time, to the days of early computer quests&rdquo;, says Margarita.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Coincidentally (or not), the TAEX exhibition title "Metaverse d&eacute;rive: NFT Cities" calls for a drift of its own kind, a bit less frustrating one. However, back in the 1960s it was precisely the frustration which brought a group of architects, urbanists, and creative practitioners together in search for better, more intuitive urban solutions. The situationists were fed up with the predetermination and limited affordances of urban environments. So, they embarked on walks with no particular destination or goal in an aim to discover the fabric of urban speculation, from which cities of the future may be woven.
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chh2sv2rprellmq7bsk0.png" alt="The City of The Future by Othmane Kandri" width="100%" height="auto">
<pre><a href="/token/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The City of the Future by Othmane Kandri</a> </pre>
&ldquo;In a d&eacute;rive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there,&rdquo; Guy Debord wrote. Even though our Museum District drift was facilitated more by software limitations, rather than visual attractions, it is symbolic that the history of spatial experience is circling back to frustration &mdash; a primary driver of innovation.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Finally, the visitors of our virtual talk who persisted found themselves in the TAEX exhibition. "An art show in such an environment prompts questions, such as whether we can embed contemporary art in games and other interactive environments, beyond the trivial 'virtual exhibitions'. The socialising which occurs in live gaming environments and its potency is what makes this thought especially exciting for me", noted Dr. Margarita Kuleva. "Who we are, where we are, and what 'space' and 'interaction' are in the metaverse expanse?" These are the questions no one will answer. Until extremely annoyed, of course.

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