How it Went: Opening of Scoletta dell’Arte: Digital Reform Exhibition in Venice

On April 18th, TAEX welcomed guests and friends in Venice, at Scoletta Dell’Arte Digital Reform exhibition opening. The visitors were invited to experience pieces that visualise the process of learning to make digital art and its direct links with the History of Art in a playful, yet profound way.

<h4 dir="ltr">On April 18th, TAEX welcomed guests and friends in Venice, at Scoletta Dell&rsquo;Arte Digital Reform exhibition opening. The visitors were invited to experience pieces that visualise the process of learning to make digital art and its direct links with the History of Art in a playful, yet profound way. Scheduled to run until the 15th of September, the show features works by renowned digital artists &mdash; <a href="/artist/14" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shu Lea Cheang</a>, Francesco D&rsquo;Isa, <a href="/artist/32" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MAOTIK</a>, <a href="/artist/33" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Funa Ye</a>, Andrea Meregalli, Accurat &mdash; alongside a collection of artworks by old masters &mdash; Theodore Gericault, Abraham Bloemaert, George Rouault, Kazimir Malevich.</h4>
<img src="/storage/news-image/cols9i2rprek5an8ouag.png" width="692" height="461">
<pre>Andrea Meregalli, You Are Making Art, Installation</pre>
Emerging from the wind and intermittent rain of Venice, people from all ways of art streamed towards the ornate gates of the former scoletta-turned-digital-art-hub, where TAEX proudly presented its truly foundational exhibition. Despite the unstable weather and the art events overload, <a href="/news/21/scoletta-dell-arte-digital-reform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scoletta dell&rsquo;Arte: Digital Reform</a> garnered a crowd of renowned guests (even the busy Hans Ulrich Obrist paid a brief yet curious visit) &mdash; art collectors, gallery and museum directors, artists of La Biennale.&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/cols9qarprek5an8oubg.png" width="691" height="460">
<pre dir="ltr">The busy entry to Scoletta</pre>
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Greeted at the front by the curator <a href="/curator/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr Antonio Geusa</a> and TAEX Team, the visitors began their journey with a glass of champagne and an interactive installation by Andrea Meregalli. The work, which invited guests to generate their own artworks with their presence, produced over 400 images and many conversations that night.
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<img src="/storage/news-image/colsa4qrprek5an8ouc0.png" width="695" height="463">
<pre dir="ltr">Opening guests interacting with Vera AI</pre>
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The evening began at 4 pm and went very much over time, with guests packed tightly across the 3 levels of the exhibition. Vera &mdash; TAEX&rsquo;s text-to-image AI software garnered a queue of users, eager to generate their own images in the 4 genres of digital art.
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We would like to thank our wonderful guests for their precious time during the La Biennale opening days and of course, the stimulating conversations that keep us going.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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Please enjoy the full event image archive <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19MUl_xsNi-jA_AYJ9ChHud9-Ppu5uKgJ?usp=share_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Kindly note that any reproduction of the photographs must be credited.
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<h4>Location&nbsp;</h4>
Scoletta Battioro e Tiraoro di Venezia
Salizada San Stae, 1980, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy
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<h4 dir="ltr">Opening times</h4>
19 April - 15 September
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am - 6pm, Mondays closed
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">For any inquiries please contact:</h4>
TAEX Head of Development&nbsp;
Stefanie De Regel&nbsp;
stefanie@taex.com
&nbsp;

Continuum by Krista Kim at London Digital Art Week

TAEX presents Continuum, a one-day exhibition by the renowned artist Krista Kim at Outernet London on April 26th, 2024

Continuum is a digital Zen landscape created by Krista Kim in response to the disconnection and distraction pervading society today due to technology overuse. Krista sought to transform digital screens into spaces for mindfulness rather than distraction. Continuum Collection includes 10 unique segments from the whole Continuum artwork, featured at the Outernet during London Digital Art Week.
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The artwork consists of subtle gradients on the screens that gradually shift over time, creating an ever-evolving tranquil scene. Krista&rsquo;s inspiration came from her time spent in the serene Ryoanji Temple Garden in Kyoto combined with seeing the potential of digital interfaces as portals to peace.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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Krista Kim&rsquo;s intention is for Continuum to serve as a bridge between digital and human - a place for us to reconnect with our presence and tranquillity. This guided meditation we are about to embark on is meant to transport us into that state.
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Krista Kim is a contemporary artist and a founder of the Techism movement. Having an interest in both digital and physical realms she developed her signature technique that involves a wide range of media including digital software, light, video, glass and plexi. Kim focuses on the concept of digital consciousness and the effects produced by digital technology on human perception, media, social structures, and communication.
Krista is a contributing Metaverse Editor for Vogue Singapore. She is a cultural leader at the World Economic Forum (2023) and a member of the Meridian Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Kim is a keynote speaker of major metaverse conferences all over the globe.
Kim&rsquo;s works are featured in the permanent collections of Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris (2023), LACMA museum in Los Angeles (2022). Her works were shown at major art events such as Triennale di Milano (2022), Times Square Arts (2022), Venice Architecture biennale (2021), Paris biennale (2018) and art fairs. Kim&rsquo;s exhibition list includes significant museums and galleries in Europe, US, Canada, China and Singapore. Among her artistic collaborations with brands are projects for Louis Vuitton, Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz AMG and Lanvin.
Kim&rsquo;s artworks were featured on the cover of Bazaar Art, Vogue Hong Kong, and featured in AD, Artnet, NYT, Dezeeen, Vogue (UK, Singapore), FT, The Times, Forbes, New York magazine, The Art Newspaper and many others.
Kim holds a master's degree in fine arts at the LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore (2014) and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Toronto (2001).
Kim has been featured in UNESCO's list of &ldquo;50 Minds for The Next 50&rdquo; and recognized as &ldquo;the new digital Rothko&rdquo; by Forbes. Her name appears in the ranks of top 30 Most Influential People of the Metaverse by Read and Write Magazine (2021), top 100 by Architectural Digest (2021), and top 50 &ldquo;NFTy50&rdquo; by Fortune Magazine (2022). Kim won the Excellence in Digital Art prize from the Createurs Design Awards (2024).
Krista Kim is currently based in Los Angeles.
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Outernet is a global media and entertainment company. They create connected city-centre entertainment districts where music, film, art, gaming and retail experiences come to life in new breath-taking ways courtesy of our unique creative and technical capabilities.
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Digital Art Week centres on bringing digital experiences to life in exciting spaces and iconic locations. Powered by NextGen technologies, they bring brand storytelling to life through experiential digital arts.
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Screening of Continuum will happen twice every hour in the Outernet space.
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<h4 dir="ltr">Date</h4>
&nbsp;
April 26th, 2024
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<h4 dir="ltr">Screening Times</h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">&nbsp;</h4>
10:00, 10:31, 10:39, 11:08, 11:25, 11:45, 12:15, 12:35
12:51, 13:08, 13:34, 13:43, 14:08, 14:25, 14:45, 15:15
15:36, 15:52, 16:08, 16:34, 16:41, 17:08, 17:25, 17:45
18:15, 18:36, 18:52, 19:08, 19:37, 19:44, 20:08, 20:25
20:45, 21:15, 21:36, 21:52, 22:08, 22:37, 22:44, 23:08
23:25, 23:44
<h4 dir="ltr">&nbsp;</h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">Location</h4>
&nbsp;
Charing Cross Rd, London WC2H 8LH
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">For any inquiries please contact:</h4>
&nbsp;
TAEX Head of Development&nbsp;
Stefanie De Regel&nbsp;
<a href="mailto:stefanie@taex.com">stefanie@taex.com</a>
&nbsp;

TAEX Presents Scoletta dell'Arte: Digital Reform exhibition at the peak of the 60th Venice Biennale

Exhibition at the peak of the 60th Venice Biennale

TAEX Presents Scoletta dell'Arte: Digital Reform

<h3 dir="ltr">TAEX is delighted to announce the exhibition Scoletta dell'Arte: Digital Reform, dedicated to digital art in a truly foundational way.&nbsp;</h3>
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Taking place at Scoletta dell&rsquo;Arte dei Tiraoro e Battioro &mdash; an 18th-century college of the guild of artisans who produced gold threads and leaves &mdash; the exhibition provides a journey through digital craftsmanship. By observing the works of contemporary digital artists, the pioneers of the genre, and some of the most notable old masters, the visitors are invited to experience pieces that visualise the process of learning to make digital art and its direct links with the History of Art.
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Curated by digital art researcher Dr Antonio Geusa, the exhibition restores the old building to its original role as an informal school &mdash; gold threads and leaves replaced by lines of code and audio-visual artefacts. Yet, the learning process is nothing but conventional. The visitors are invited to grasp the most important skill &mdash; of looking at, contemplating, and enjoying digital art oeuvres. Among the artists involved are TAEX&rsquo;s Shu Lea Cheang, MAOTIK and Funa Ye; alongside new artists to the platform with a very established past: Andrea Meregalli, Francesco D&rsquo;Isa, and Accurat.
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The route of learning begins with an interactive installation by Andrea Meregalli You Are Making Art, which places the viewer in the role of both the art maker and the art piece with the help of an artist-programmed AI platform constantly producing new images throughout the 6 months of the show. The roots of this installation go back to the mid-60s of the last century, when artists began to produce performative situations to bring the process of dematerialisation of the work of art to its maximum. You Are Making Art takes up this mission, updating it with the use of AI and problematising the very idea of the authorship of the digital work of art.&nbsp;
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From a conceptual work, we move towards an analytical one centred around the rules of governing aesthetics. Francesco D&rsquo;Isa&rsquo;s Errors consists of a set of digital prints and an interactive installation. In both works, the artist comments on the subjective nature of what constitutes a mistake in making art in collaboration with artificial intelligence. Using text-to-image programs available on the Internet, the artist composes custom prompts that generate bugs in the system, causing unexpected answers that disrupt the original request yet maintain internal consistency. Here, the artist works as a human psychoanalyst, trying to probe the complexity of the machine's subconscious.
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MAOTIK's immersive installation is the next &ldquo;class&rdquo; in our school. It channels those pivotal chapters in Digital Art History about the work of those artists (who were also skilled engineers) who, since the mid-1960s, built special equipment and created custom programs to help them find a &ldquo;new visuality&rdquo; for their contemporaneity. Accordingly, the artist has written original software and programmed the multi-channel installation to create a total, direct, and gripping audio-visual experience for the viewer with the digital work of art.
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The exhibition continues with an &ldquo;exhibition within exhibition&rdquo;, filled with sketches of the old masters that have a direct connection with the process of learning and the nature of the digital. Featuring the works of Theodore Gericault, Abraham Bloemaert, George Rouault, Kazimir Malevich, among others from the private collection, this section showcases the process of making: from sketching to structuring; from classical craftsmanship to breaking with convention.&nbsp;
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Jumping a few centuries ahead we meet Neo-Mastr Portraits by Funa Ye, a work that speaks about technology and identity. This series of unique pieces, made using GAN technology, delves into the multifaceted identity, culture, and aesthetics of modern China through AI-driven artistic representation. Looking much like a wall filled with old portraits, the project analyses online images of Chinese ethnic minorities and the selfies of Smart &mdash; a well-known subculture in China that has a very distinct sense of identity &mdash; to create distinct avatars.&nbsp;
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Approaching the end of the exhibition, moving towards the windows overlooking the Grand Canal, visitors are presented with a research installation by Accurat &mdash; an Italian studio which practises Data Humanism approach to analysing information. This is a work that questions the role of &ldquo;landscape painting&rdquo; today and how it can be rethought and reinterpreted in the digital age. Using a data-driven approach and the city of Venice as subject, Accurat creates a new &ldquo;painting&rdquo; which is the visual representation of metadata related to the city morphology and its social functioning made by a plotter behaving like a human painter.
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Last, but not least, each method has its discontents, which often come from misuse. This is the topic of Shu Lea Cheang&rsquo;s work UKI Virus Rising, which brings the process of learning to the level of a warning. Unquestionably, an essential admonition when new technologies are taken into account. This action-filled animated story is a cautionary tale about the dangers of using/abusing technology when not mediated by reason, in the form of a digital animation.
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Two special projects devised by Dr Antonio Geusa and TAEX are also included in the exhibition to enrich the learning experience even more. At the disposal of the exhibition&rsquo;s visitors, there is a computer running Vera, TAEX&rsquo;s custom text-to-image program. With the help of AI that has been specifically trained on a database of images of works belonging to the History of Digital Art, users can turn their prompts into original artworks that they can eventually own.&nbsp;
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For those who fancy a more analogue investigation into the reliability of artificial intelligence when it comes to the knowledge of art history, there is a quiz card game that visitors can play by themselves, in couples, or in groups. All questions and answers are given by AI, which was asked to make a quiz game. Each card presents a question, 4 possible answers, the right one according to AI, and a much-needed explanation when the machine does not get it right.&nbsp;
 
<h4 dir="ltr">Featured Artists</h4>
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Andrea Meregalli is an Italian artist and architect. He is involved in design at different levels. He has always developed research projects through painting, drawing, printing techniques, digital technologies and the creation of one-off books. He worked for years without showing anything, then, almost by chance, he processed his grief and began to make his work public.
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Francesco D&rsquo;Isa is an Italian philosopher and artist. He has exhibited his works internationally in galleries and contemporary art centres. He debuted with the graphic novel I. (Nottetempo, 2011) and has since published essays and novels with renowned publishers such as Hoepli, effequ, Tunu&eacute;, and Newton Compton. His notable works include the novel La Stanza di Therese (Tunu&eacute;, 2017) and the philosophical essay L&rsquo;assurda evidenza (Edizioni Tlon, 2022). Most recently, he released the graphic novel Sunyata with Eris Edizioni in 2023. Francesco serves as the editorial director for the cultural magazine L&rsquo;Indiscreto and contributes writings and illustrations to various magazines, both in Italy and abroad.
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Funa Ye is a Chinese artist exploring the relationship between the realities of everyday life and the perceived connection between authority and social life. Her practice studies the different power structures, ethnic groups, and the fictional space of propaganda striving for the concept of &lsquo;perfection&rsquo; within an ideological system, and a utopian landscape.​
She has been an artist-in-residence at K11 Foundation (Hong Kong), Pro Helvetia Swiss Council 2018 Studio Residency (Bern) and exhibited her work internationally.
 
MAOTIK (Mathieu Le Sourd) is a French digital artist, who creates work at the intersection of art, science, and technology &mdash; immersive environments, interactive installations, digital architectural sculptures, and audiovisual performances. MAOTIK uses generative tools to create a mirror-like synergy between the real and digital worlds, coding algorithms inextricably inspired by nature. He creates audiovisual sculptures that can breathe, move, and change shape; a mixture of nature, science, and technology that brings unique and unrepeatable experiences to the audience.
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His works were exhibited at Art Basel, Frieze London, FIAC Paris, the British Film Institute and recently at the Digital Art Fair in Hong Kong with TAEX.&nbsp;
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Shu Lea Cheang is a Taiwanese-American artist and filmmaker, working with net art, participatory multi-player performance, video, and installation. Having an extensive background in art activism, her work promotes freedom of expression and critiques political oppression, technological, and environmental issues.
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As a multimedia artist, she gained recognition for her net art piece BRANDON (1998-1999), the first-ever Guggenheim Museum&rsquo;s web art commission. One of Cheang&rsquo;s most recent and extraordinary commissions is the solo exhibition 3x3x6 for the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), where the artist represented Taiwan.
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TAEX is a digital art platform that is building a new community of collectors who shape the future of art. We showcase and co-produce works by leading artists with critical acclaim, selected by qualified curators.
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The exhibition will be open from April 19, 2024 till September 15, 2024, with a private view on April 18th, 2024.&nbsp;
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<h4 dir="ltr">Location</h4>
&nbsp;
Scoletta Battioro e Tiraoro di Venezia
Salizada San Stae, 1980, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Opening times</h4>
&nbsp;
19 April - 15 September
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am - 6pm, Mondays closed
 
<h4 dir="ltr">For any inquiries please contact:</h4>
TAEX Head of Development&nbsp;
Stefanie De Regel&nbsp;
stefanie@taex.com
&nbsp;

Multimodality: The Audiovisual Avant-garde

TAEX cordially invites you to an exhibition and special event at London Digital Art Week celebrating the work of artist and musician Massimo Magee on the 24 April 2024.

Music event and exhibition by Massimo Magee and TAEX at London Digital Art Week

<h3 dir="ltr">TAEX cordially invites you to an exhibition and special event at London Digital Art Week celebrating the work of artist and musician Massimo Magee on the 24 April 2024.</h3>
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Staged at Cromwell Place in London, the exhibition is centred around the installation 3 Colours in 3 Modes, a group of three pieces from <a href="/drop/32" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Audiovisual Digital Abstraction</a> Collection by <a href="/artist/34" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Massimo Magee</a>, alongside 6 digital art pieces curated by <a href="/curator/5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aurora Garrison</a>, which are designed to sound together, live in the room. Each of the pieces, in its audio reading, has a slightly different length, which over time alters and evolves the sonic image of the exhibition. The pieces are shaped from audiovisual data, creating an immersive world of static colours and shifting electronic tones, all within a unique harmonic framework referred to as the Superformula. The visual reading of each piece is presented on aluminium.
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The event will feature a first-time live performance of a composition for string quartet by Massimo Magee, also derived from the Superformula harmonic framework, called Quartet Derivation, which will be performed several times throughout the evening, against the changing electronic backdrop of the audiovisual installation.&nbsp;
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Quartet Derivation is a contemporary classical piece&mdash;written to accompany 3 Colours in 3 Modes as part of a larger, ongoing electroacoustic project&mdash;that combines an avant-garde approach with unexpectedly Romantic-era undertones. Although it is an acoustic, classically-notated work for a string quartet, it was created using very digital techniques such as glitching and MIDI degradation, making for an intriguing contrast of the traditional and the cutting-edge.&nbsp;
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The piece will be performed by the world-renowned contemporary classical music ensemble Apartment House, which has been performing vital new music from revered contemporary classical composers for nearly 30 years. Massimo will also perform live on the alto saxophone.
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Massimo Magee is an artist, writer, and musician. He creates avant-garde digital art that challenges traditional perceptions and representations by interweaving sound and visuals into a single file. Magee authored Manifesto (New Unities) in 2017 &mdash;a seminal call to action passionately advocating for a radical new approach to creating and consuming art. Magee&rsquo;s call to action embodies his oeuvre's innovative spirit and relentless experimentation.&nbsp;
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Moreover, Magee's work as a recording artist on the esteemed New York label 577 Records has garnered him a dedicated following within the experimental music community. Massimo Magee is based in London, UK.
 
<h4 dir="ltr">Agenda</h4>
&nbsp;
The event commences at 4 pm, open for general admission till 6pm, followed by 3 15-minute performances from 7 pm till 10 pm.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Date</h4>
&nbsp;
April 24, 2024 at 5 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE
&nbsp;
Ticket reservation via <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/multimodality-the-audiovisual-avant-garde-music-event-and-exhibition-tickets-877978837337?aff=erelpanelorg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eventbrite</a> is required.&nbsp;
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For more information and press inquiries contact:
TAEX Head of Development Stefanie De Regel events@taex.com
&nbsp;

Dezeen on the Neogene Collection by Alper Derinboğaz

"Architect Alper Derinboğaz has used artificial intelligence and research data to create Neogene, a series of 3D artworks created to resemble the mineral bismuth."

<h3>"Architect Alper Derinboğaz has used artificial intelligence and research data to create Neogene, a series of 3D artworks created to resemble the mineral bismuth."</h3>
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We are excited to share with you this article <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2024/03/27/alper-derinbogaz-neogene-3d-artefacts-taex/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Dezeen</a>, the world&rsquo;s leading design and architecture magazine, dedicated to TAEX&rsquo;s presentation of the Neogene collection at <a href="/news/22/how-it-went-nft-paris-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NFT Paris 2024</a>.
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The piece features an exclusive comment by our COO Vlada One, &ldquo;The synergy fostered by this partnership propels us towards visibility and transparency in the inner mechanisms of architectural practices, especially in the nuanced integration of data, like in Neogene.&rdquo;
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Read full article via <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2024/03/27/alper-derinbogaz-neogene-3d-artefacts-taex/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the link</a> and explore the Neogene collection <a href="/drop/35/neogene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on TAEX</a>.
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Ornamentation in Crypto Art

In the meta-universe, an artist can create ornamentation out of anything. In the case of crypto art, the question is, how and why artists may use it? 

<h3 dir="ltr">In the meta-universe, an artist can create ornamentation out of anything. Moreover, AI makes it quite easy to do so. Ornament could be a way to demonstrate the infinity of space and time. In the case of crypto art, the question is, how and why artists may use it? And does ornamentation have the potential to become a medium itself in this particular field?</h3>
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From a purely decorative element to a conceptual centre, the role of ornament in an artwork may vary. In sacred art, ornamentation serves to express fundamental ideas such as the world's infinity and divine omnipresence, where &ldquo;harmony is central&rdquo; as Daud Sutton <a href="http://islamicmanuscripts.info/reference/books/Sutton-2007-Design/Sutton-2007-Design-00-33.pdf">wrote</a>. Instead in geek aesthetics glitch art, that uses software errors as a medium, artists may create vivid ornaments from the point of computer program mistakes and disruption, in other words, out of something opposing the very idea of harmony.
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When it comes to crypto art, we see that anything could become an element of a pattern and could be turned into an ornament. An artist can pick any kind of data in order to construct an ornament. And then express it in various forms. Repetitive visual, textual or music loops can show a perpetual expansion of space and time. The curiosity towards ornaments is expanded towards commercial crypto art presented by luxury jewellery brands such as <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/emeralds-rubies-and-nfts-inside-bulgaris-new-era-high-jewellery">Bulgari</a>.&nbsp;
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<h4 dir="ltr">From optical illusions to quirky kaleidoscopes</h4>
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cnuq5parprevf54j1kh0.png" alt="Tyler Hobbs - Fidenza #58" width="960" height="1151">
<pre>Tyler Hobbs, Fidenza #58 </pre>
Some crypto artists as Tyler Hobbs (b. 1987) <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/grails-part-ii/fidenza-479">prefer</a> minimalist and abstract patterns, some stick to letter or geometric forms as the pioneer of generative art Vera Molnar (b. 1924). Inspired by organic patterns of crystals, natural stones or microscopic images of cells, certain artists as Jason Sims (b. 1981) <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/jason-sims">explore</a> the limits of optical illusion and the perception of space.
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London-based artist Funa Ye took the elements of Chinese &lsquo;Smart&rsquo; (or &lsquo;Shamate&rsquo;) subculture and state propaganda to create utopian and campy landscapes, ornamentation plays a significant role. In her <a href="/artist/5">Neo-Mastr series</a> members of the Smart community and the visual elements that surround them make up a quirky kaleidoscope where ideology and underground culture are combined. Ornament here is the way to show the social complexity and the existence of an individual in modern China and the simultaneous presence of various aesthetic elements in everyday life.
&nbsp;
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cnuq6c2rprevf54j1khg.png" alt="Funa Ye - Neo-Mastr Portraits" width="670" height="486">
<pre>Funa Ye, Neo-Mastr Portraits, Available for purchase on TAEX via <a href="/drop/31" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the link</a></pre>
&nbsp;
How ornaments may affect identity? Jason McGrath sees digital multitudes as something that &ldquo;begins with sameness&rdquo; in the contrast to mass human ornaments that aim, as he <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43492533">writes</a>, to &lsquo;make what are organic and different&mdash;individual human bodies&mdash;look, as much as possible, mechanised and identical&rsquo;. However Funa Ye&rsquo;s NFT drop is neither of those things. She uses ornamentation as the tool to show agency of the members of a subculture community.
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Ornamentation has always been associated with decorative art i.e. applied art. Which by many may still be considered as secondary or even not art at all. For Victoria Salinger &lsquo;the argument that beautiful or interesting patterns are not art&mdash;along with the corollary idea that &ldquo;mere ornamentation&rdquo; is not art, not valuable, and not interesting&mdash;lies at the heart of discussions of abstract art from the early twentieth century, including from the very artists so many 1960s and 1970s computer artists showed interest in and emulated, such as Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee.&rsquo;.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Ornament as a result of labour or observation</h4>
&nbsp;
Thanks to several generations of female artists, finally such media as embroidery or needlework, which previously were often labelled as secondary or considered as &lsquo;female crafts&rsquo;, have taken their rightful place among other techniques and are less and less questioned. Hopefully ornamentation as an idea will follow the same path and all the prejudices will stay aside. Salinger <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/grey/article-abstract/doi/10.1162/GREY_a_00207/10736/Writing-Calculations-Calculating-Writing-Hanne?redirectedFrom=fulltext">argues</a> that the process of calculation may and should be perceived as a kind of human labour. She suggests looking at numerous handwritten tables of numbers created by a German conceptual artist Hanne Darboven as a &lsquo;consciously political choice, engaged with questions about the changing nature of labour, authorship, and responsibility in the information age&rsquo;.
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/cnuq7sirprevf54j1ki0.png" alt="Hanne Darboven" width="981" height="682">
<pre>Hanne Darboven, Section of the Century Calender</pre>
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Most of the ornaments that we see in crypto artworks are software generated, however there is always a place for &lsquo;found patterns&rsquo;. Moreover crypto art may be seen as a source of a &lsquo;new organic&rsquo;, i.e. in Mat Collishaw in his project &lsquo;Heterosis&rsquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/04/17/haroon-mirza-mat-collishaw-nft-projects-ethereum-eco">offers</a> collectors to cultivate animated digital flowers, by combining floral genetic coding with computer algorithms. The collector can impact the final result, but Collishaw aims to encourage collectors to interact with each other through cross-breeding digital flowers with each other. The artist has laid down recessive genes that can produce unpredictable results in certain combinations. This opens a participative potential of crypto art and manifests how synthetic can transform into organic and backwards.
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How it went: TAEX at NFT Paris 2024

On the 23-24th of February TAEX joined an inspiring crowd at the 3rd edition of NFT Paris to present a new collection Neogene by world-renowned architect Alper Derinboğaz featured on our platform.

<h3 dir="ltr">On the 23-24th of February TAEX joined an inspiring crowd at the 3rd edition of NFT Paris to present a new collection Neogene by world-renowned architect Alper Derinboğaz featured on our platform. Throughout two rainy days in Paris digital art collectors and leaders of web3 were exchanging about the future of industry at Grand Palais &Eacute;ph&eacute;m&egrave;re, right in front of the Eiffel Tower.</h3>
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TAEX proudly presented <a title="Neogene Collection" href="/drop/35/neogene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neogene</a> &mdash; the first digital art collection by Alper Derinboğaz. A globally-thinking architect, he expanded his interdisciplinary approach towards digital art using the tools of big data analysis and artificial intelligence. As someone who had been using technologies as the founding base for the future constructions of his architectural projects, Alper perfectly anticipates the future merge of ideas, art and technology.
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cnsqo0arprevf54j1kfg.png" alt="" width="701" height="1052">
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cnsqoj2rprevf54j1kg0.png" alt="" width="698" height="465">
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Dedicated to one of the oldest metals on Earth &mdash; bismuth &mdash; Neogene shows its geological transformation throughout the existence of our planet. In a couple of minutes we witness the dynamics of bismuth over tens of thousands of years. Ten unique 3D artefacts were presented at the TAEX booth with black mirrors that were reflecting the artwork and inviting the visitors to contemplate the flux of time inside a huge temporary building&mdash;Grand Palais &Eacute;ph&eacute;m&egrave;re.
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cnsqmd2rprevf54j1kf0.png" alt="" width="705" height="470">
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TAEX together with Makerspace hosted a Collectors Club dinner in order to share ideas and get fully ready for the NFT Paris fair, uniting art collectors curious about the perspectives of digital art.
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cnsqov2rprevf54j1kgg.png" alt="" width="698" height="465">
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We would like to thank our partners MakersPlace for the outstanding collaboration!
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<h4 dir="ltr">Please enjoy the full event image archive <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1b5kXvfrUAkbyDSY3TapzyBcZHGaaUmBj?usp=share_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Note, that any reproduction of the photographs must be credited.</h4>
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TAEX Presents Neogene by Alper Derinboğaz at the 3rd Edition of NFT Paris

TAEX Presents Neogene by Alper Derinboğaz at the 3rd edition of NFT Paris

<h3 dir="ltr">TAEX joins the 3rd edition of NFT Paris to present the Neogene collection by award-winning architect and artist Alper Derinboğaz.</h3>
&nbsp;
Neogene is a collection of works by the renowned architect and artist Alper Derinboğaz. The series consists of 3D artefacts, generated using Data Morphosis methodology, based on simulations of geological formations from prehistoric times. The collection aims to transfer the geological time markers of our planet into a digital archive, as the continuity of our existence is more and more debatable with the emergence of AI technologies and environmental threats. Each artefact has a unique pairing of generated 3D forms and earth-based material qualities. This collection reminds us that humankind exists on the Earth just for a singular moment of its global history. However, our limited perception of temporality poses a significant threat to human existence, within the realms of architectural and geographical issues. The collection is curated by Dasha Shkel.
&nbsp;
The first release of the collection features the White Mass series, re-morphed from bismuth &mdash; a mineral that has been present since the formation of the Earth and changes with time. While observing the object&rsquo;s alluring transformation, we witness the entire human life on Earth only in a single frame of animation. This material is a unique visual spectacle exhibiting a spiral, stair-stepped structure, deceiving the observer&rsquo;s time perception. By the end of each loop, the time passed corresponds to 19 quintillion years.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Alper Derinboğaz is an architect and artist known for his focus on seeking communal relationships between the environment and spatial elements through scientific strategies. His projects range from cultural institutions, including the upcoming Istanbul City Museum, to architectural installations and masterplans. As a Fulbright Scholar and winner of dozens of prestigious awards, including the Europe 40 under 40 by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, Alper showcased his research at notable events like the Venice Architecture Biennale.&nbsp;
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Explore the Neogene collection online and visit our booth G at NFT Paris from 23rd to 24th of February 2024.
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<h4 dir="ltr">General Admission</h4>
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February 23-24, 2024
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<h4 dir="ltr">Location</h4>
&nbsp;
Grand Palais &Eacute;ph&eacute;m&egrave;re, Champ de Mars,
2 Pl. Joffre, 75007 Paris
&nbsp;
For any inquiries please contact:
TAEX Head of Development&nbsp;
Stefanie De Regel&nbsp;
<a href="mailto:stefanie@taex.com">stefanie@taex.com</a>
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TAEX Presents Angelo Plessas at Art Dubai Digital 2024 

TAEX is delighted to present a new series of interactive websites by the pioneer of Internet art Angelo Plessas.

TAEX presents Angelo Plessas at Art Dubai Digital 2024 

<h3 dir="ltr">TAEX is delighted to present a new series of interactive websites by the pioneer of Internet art Angelo Plessas.</h3>
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In his new series of interactive websites uniting spirituality and technology, Angelo Plessas opens three portals for the formation of a new cosmic consciousness. He engages the viewer in a step-by-step process of TechnoShamanistic healing &mdash; through meditation, blessing, reflection, and rebirth.&nbsp;
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The websites were created within the long-term project The Noospheric Society, which Angelo has been running since 2017. The term &lsquo;noosphere&rsquo; here embodies a sphere, which has advanced from the biosphere into a new layer of global human intelligence. The booth will also feature a selection of physical works by Angelo &mdash; neon sculptures and anthropomorphic quilts.
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The first website &mdash; QuantaMirage.com &mdash;inspired by shamanic and tantric iconography sets a celestial landscape where users are invited to explore the symbiosis of ancient wisdom with algorithms. This website is becoming a TechnoShamanic tool for healing, blessing, and meditating.
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The second portal &mdash; CycleOfEndlessRebirths.com &mdash; envisions an altar of forgotten cosmogonies and computer-generated symbolisms, inspired by ancient and cybernetic symbols which usually adorn plates and heraldry. While the user is tapping or clicking on the screen the organic forms are being re-arranged and re-constructed endlessly.
 
The final website &mdash; BehindTheSolarGlow.com, transforms each movement of your cursor into a melodic crescendo, turning the luminous mandala strings into a celestial harp. While this celestial curtain unfurls, the pulsating heart of a solar eclipse is being revealed.
 
Angelo Plessas (b.1974) is an artist investigating the ambiguous approach of spirituality with technology and exploring different cosmologies which connect ancient, folk and cybernetic histories. Since the early years of the Internet, Plessas&rsquo; research has been focused on the fluid relationship between online and offline worlds and has been initiating communal experiences between beings, symbols, and machines.&nbsp;
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His activities range from performances to artist residencies; from self-publishing books to interactive websites; from quilted sculptures to live-stream events; and from neon installations to educational projects. Recently his practice has expanded to teaching, writing, curating, and different forms of healing.&nbsp;
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Angelo&rsquo;s work has been exhibited internationally in recent shows such as the 8th Thessaloniki Biennale, the Onassis Foundation (Athens), the 8th Biennale of Gherd&euml;ina (Val Gardena), the Serralves Foundation (Porto), and the 13th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. Other projects have also been exhibited in documenta 14 in both Kassel and Athens, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), the Jeu de Paume (Paris), the DESTE Foundation (Nea Ionia), and the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens).&nbsp;
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He is the founder of the independent space P.E.T. Projects in Athens, a Fulbright alumnus, and the recipient of the DESTE Foundation Prize in 2015.
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<h3 dir="ltr">Art Dubai Digital</h3>
&nbsp;
Madinat Jumeirah, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud St, Al Sufouh 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
&nbsp;
VIP Previews&nbsp;
28-29 February 2024
&nbsp;
Public days&nbsp;
1-3 March 2024
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<h4 dir="ltr">For more information or press inquiries please contact <a href="mailto:stefanie@taex.com">stefanie@taex.com</a></h4>
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3 Questions: Artist Joey Holder

Questions to unlock Joey’s projects, practice, and ethos.

Three Questions: Artist Joey Holder

Answers that unlock the artist's projects, practice, and ethos.

Acronyms:
TAEX &mdash; TX
Joey Holder &mdash; JH&nbsp;
&nbsp;
TX: How was the Selachimorpha project born?&nbsp;
&nbsp;
JH: The project takes a particular scene from the 1975 film Jaws to look at the ways in which manipulated images are appropriated and circulated by Internet culture as &lsquo;fact&rsquo;.&nbsp;The scene, which shows a shooting star flaring behind the hero Roy Schneider, has become a fodder for conspiracy theories. The ease of &lsquo;adapting&rsquo; and then distributing images &ndash; such as deserts, outer space, and oceans &ndash; offers a rich breeding ground for the fictional and make-believe. Taking its name from a scientific classification for sharks, this project morphs between factual and fictional images, symbols and memes; exposing the continually shifting belief systems we use to define our world. With the increased use of image and video generation platforms using AI, we are discovering all the more mutations and monsters lurking here.
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<img src="/storage/news-image/cmgn8jqrpreuojp51a70.png" alt="Joey Holder, Selachimorpha: Squaliformes" width="1000" height="888">
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TX: What themes do you explore in the project and how have they evolved in your current artistic practice?&nbsp;
&nbsp;
JH: For me, the sighting of a UFO/shooting start in this particular film is of some poignancy. Like space, the ocean is a largely unexplored territory, and therefore a rich breeding ground for myths and conspiracies. Mistakes about marine life have ranged from inaccurate assumptions about the behaviour of known species to fanciful depictions of animals that "might" exist. It's a fact that most lifeforms on earth remain undiscovered by humans, our world is made up mainly of that which remains hidden, and our western systems of classification fall short in their attempts to categorise them.
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<h3 dir="ltr">"We live in a time of &lsquo;hyperpolarisation&rsquo; where we think that people with different political or religious beliefs live in different worlds."</h3>
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TX: What research and methods were used in the creation of the project?
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JH: I am interested in examining the nature of belief in today&rsquo;s climate and particularly how belief can be 'manufactured' online. We live in a time of &lsquo;hyperpolarisation&rsquo; where we think that people with different political or religious beliefs live in different worlds. Our beliefs are reaffirmed in social media echo chambers whereby abstract manipulation occurs through background algorithmic processes, pulling us further into rabbit holes and making atomised groups. These times of predicted and customised media have resulted in a landscape rife with conspiracy theories &mdash; if you want to believe something you just type it into Google to have it confirmed and connect the dots.&nbsp;
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<h4 dir="ltr"><a title="Selachimorpha NFTs by Joey Holder" href="/drop/15" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Explore Joey's drop</a></h4>
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Prestige Magazine Interviews MAOTIK 

"How do you turn boring data into stunning art? Prestige asked French digital artist MAOTIK, whose work was showcased in Hong Kong at the recent Digital Art Fair."

Following the success of MAOTIK&rsquo;s collection MATERIA at <a href="/news/13/dafa23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Art Fair Asia 2023</a>, the artist has spoken to Astor Chan about his art, changes, and plans.
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<h4 dir="ltr">Read the full article via <a title="MAOTIK in Prestige Online" href="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/lifestyle/painting-by-numbers-meet-digital-artist-maotik/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the link</a>.</h4>

TAEX at Digital Art Fair Asia in Hong Kong

Through the Looking Glass exhibition featuring MAOTIK, Andrea Bonaceto, and Funa Ye opened at the Prestige Zone

Through the Looking Glass exhibition opened at the K11 Art & Cultural Centre

<h3 dir="ltr">TAEX is delighted to present an exhibition Through the Looking Glass featuring Andrea Bonaceto, MAOTIK, and Funa Ye curated by Caterina Licitra, Kim Randall-Stevens, and Dasha Shkel.</h3>
<h3 dir="ltr">&nbsp;</h3>
The booth shows a true convergence of AI and artistic creation, where machine intelligence collaborates with human ingenuity to push the limits of what is possible. Through the use of computer-generated algorithms, artists have crafted immersive environments that transport us into alternate realities akin to stepping through the proverbial looking glass.
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On-chain artwork by Italian artist Andrea Bonaceto is followed by three off-chain pieces People, Masks, Outside my window, and Self-portrait #1&mdash;fruits of artist&rsquo;s reflection on visual art, poetry, and technology. Andrea has showcased his artworks across the globe, and high-profile auction houses such as Christie&rsquo;s and Phillips have featured and sold his pieces.
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Neo-Mastr Portraits by Funa Ye, based in London and Beijing, continues <a href="/drop/8">her drop</a> previously published on TAEX. By using GAN technology, Ye delves into the multifaceted identity, culture, and aesthetics of modern China through AI-driven artistic representation. Neo-Mastr series analyses the portraits of Chinese ethnic minorities and the selfies of Smart &mdash; a well-known subculture in China that has a very distinct sense of identity &mdash; to create avatars for the Smart community.
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MATERIA by French digital artist MAOTIK (Mathieu Le Sourd) project explores the different transformations of matter, embodying each process in a living, dynamic work of art. Generative visuals and sound design are synchronised to express the passage of one state to another, a continuous metamorphosis. The experience goes through the four fundamental states of matter &mdash; solid, liquid, gas, and plasma, transforming our perception of space. &lsquo;Materia&rsquo; lies at the intersection of art, science, and technology, reflecting on the eternal and the natural.
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Apart from the booth in the Prestige Zone of DAFA 2023, TAEX took part in the Inspire Series at the Digital Art Fair Asia 2023 Asia Edition with a panel talk by Andrea Bonaceto in conversation and TAEX's Head of Development Stefanie De Regel. Bonaceto shared his insights about crypto art perspectives with a traditional art approach, the milestones of his artistic journey, and creative inspirations.
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<h4 dir="ltr">DIGITAL ART FAIR ASIA 2023</h4>
&nbsp;
Dates
19 - 23 Oct 2023
&nbsp;
Location
Prestige Zone
K11 Art &amp; Cultural Centre, K11 MUSEA
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">FAIR OPENING HOURS</h4>
&nbsp;
Private Opening
19/10/23&nbsp;
12:00-22:00 pm
&nbsp;
VIP Days
20-21 Oct, 2023
11:00-21:00 pm
&nbsp;
Public Days
22-23 Oct, 2023
11:00-21:00 pm
&nbsp;
For any inquiries please contact TAEX Head of Development Stefanie De Regel <a href="mailto:stefanie@taex.com">stefanie@taex.com</a>
&nbsp;
Press:
<a title="Meet Digital Artist MAOTIK &mdash; Interview at Prestige Magazine Hong Kong" href="https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk/lifestyle/painting-by-numbers-meet-digital-artist-maotik/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Painting by Numbers: Meet Digital Artist MAOTIK &mdash; Interview for Prestige Magazine</a>
<a title="DAFA returns to Hong Kong &mdash; Tatler Asia" href="https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/arts/digital-art-fair-2023-guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Art Fair&rsquo;s Asia edition returns to Hong Kong &mdash; Tatler Asia</a>
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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>
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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.
&nbsp;
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;
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<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;
&nbsp;
<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)
&nbsp;
<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
&nbsp;
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>
&nbsp;

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

Art Evolution in the Era of New Technologies

Panel talk at Cryptoart Seoul and Frieze Week Seoul

Art Evolution in the Era of New Technologies - TAEX

TAEX panel talk at Cryptoart Seoul and Frieze Week Seoul

<h4 dir="ltr">September 6th | 8pm &mdash; till late</h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">Panel discussion duration: 40 minutes followed by a Q&amp;A</h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">Location: Alver (34 Gangnam-daero 102-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea)</h4>
&nbsp;
What vectors will the art be developing in the future? How does it evolve in the era of new technologies? CEO The Art Newspaper Nick Sargent and TAEX Head of Development Stefanie De Regel will be debating on the future of art and its heritage, media art and the challenges of AI towards it. The discussion will be moderated by an Executive Director Maison Suri / Suri Paris Su Park.
&nbsp;
By contributing to the art industry from different angles&mdash;media, theory, curation&mdash;the panellists will reflect on new trends that bring art into a new chapter with AI, new media and NFT and share their thoughts on the place of the Korean art scene in this ecosystem. How do curators and art critics perceive their criteria and their responsibility towards the art community today?
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Participants:</h4>
&nbsp;
Nick Sargent is the CEO of The Art Newspaper &mdash; an online and print newspaper that covers the international art world, was founded in 1990 by Umberto Allemandi and Anna Somers Cocks on the original concept of Il Giornale dell'Arte, founded 1983.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
The Art Newspaper International Edition has offices in London and New York. Its unrivalled news and events coverage is fed by a network of sister editions, which together have more than 50 correspondents working in more than 30 countries, with editorial offices in Paris, Moscow and Shanghai.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/information/about">The Art Newspaper International</a> enjoys complete editorial independence; its reputation as the journal of record for the art world, and the bible of the art industry, depends on this.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Stefanie De Regel is Head of Development at TAEX. She has always had a foot in art, starting out as an art lawyer with the specific focus on the digital renaissance that came with blockchain. She has been involved in numerous art projects across Europe and Asia that combine art and digital technologies &mdash; from AR or NFTs.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Moderator:</h4>
&nbsp;
Su Park is an executive director of Maison Suri / Suri Paris. Based in Paris, Seoul, and New York. Passionate about cross-cultural exchange, she works in various international projects to create memorable experiences and bring together the best of both worlds, between the East and the West. Su oversees private collection and alternative asset management serving as an international director at a family office in Korea.
&nbsp;
Su directed the newly opened Paris branch of Kukje, nation-leading Korean gallery, and earlier in the same year introduced immersive exhibitions highlighting Korean contemporary art to a global audience during the inaugural Frieze Seoul in 2022. Previously she has worked as a corporate partnership director of hospitality projects for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and as an assistant producer of art &amp; culture programs at Arirang.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

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.
&nbsp;

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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
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>
&nbsp;
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;
&nbsp;
<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;
&nbsp;
<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.
&nbsp;
<img src="/storage/news-image/chqijiirpregllo73pe0.png" alt="TAEX Exhibition View" width="100%" height="auto"> 
&nbsp;
<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>
&nbsp;

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>
&nbsp;
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.

Jill Miller’s Collection on Artnet

“Ariel Pink Used an Artist’s Image on an Album Cover Without Her Consent. She Responded With a Series of Blistering NFTs”

We are excited to share the feature of Jill Miller&rsquo;s collection Ariel Stinks (50 Alternative Album Covers to Thrash and Burn) on Artnet! A big thank you to correspondent Min Chen for such exemplary storytelling of Jill Miller&rsquo;s collection.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Read the full article via <a title="TAEX Collection on Artnet" href="https://news.artnet.com/market/ariel-pink-jill-miller-ariel-stinks-nfts-2248167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the link</a>.&nbsp;</h4>
&nbsp;

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;
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<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>
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<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;
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<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>
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<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>
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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;
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<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>
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<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>
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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;
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<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>
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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.
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<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>
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<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>
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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.
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<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>
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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.
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<h3 dir="ltr">&ldquo;By growing NFT economy we can show that a bigger collector audience exists.&rdquo;</h3>
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<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>
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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;
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<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>
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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?
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<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>
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<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>
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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".
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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;
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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.
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<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;
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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.

How it went: TAEX at NFT Paris 2024

Please enjoy the full event image archive here. Note, that any reproduction of the photographs must be credited.