In the beginning, there was a statement.
Embedded in the Genesis block of the Bitcoin blockchain, a message.
Blockchain and Art | New medium. New message.
If art is a statement, Satoshi Nakamoto was the first blockchain artist. (Or collective?)
A block named ‘Genesis’. A gap of six days before the second block. A community that reveres Satoshi with almost religious devotion.
Nakamoto’s intention to announce the Second Coming of money may be inferred, but there can be no objective truth to their statement. It may be a timestamp. The six days may be a coincidence. The fervor around Bitcoin may yet prove to be misplaced.
The subjectivity of the viewer dictates the meaning of the artist in their absence.
The world’s first blockchain artwork remains memorialized in a hardcoded block that may, as we will explore later this week, be the first piece of truly permanent human artistic expression.
Celebrating the artists who have adopted blockchain and the crypto revolution, we’ll explore the intersection of the technology and the state of the art in this week-long series of features, culminating in an invitation to visit a curated virtual exhibition featuring artists from around the globe.
We hope you enjoy it.
The First | Blockchain Artist?
Visit A Virtual | Art Exhibition
What We're Exploring
Articles will go live each day!
YELLOW LAMBO
by Kevin Abosch
Yellow Lambo sold for $400,000.
A 10 feet wide neon sculpture consisting of 42 alphanumeric characters corresponding to the blockchain contract address of the unique crypto-token YELLOW LAMBO (symbol: YLAMBO).
“The Lamborghini motorcar emerged as a a tongue-in-cheek symbol of success-identity amongst the crypto community… a proxy.
With the unique ERC-20 token YLAMBO I created on the Ethereum blockchain, a secondary proxy serves to distill the emotional value of the crypto-zeitgeist, but then through a third proxy, a yellow neon sculpture YELLOW LAMBO is brought from the virtual realm into the physical.
I think of it as triple-distilled value.” — Kevin Abosch
It was purchased by the former COO of Skype, Michael Jackson.
Photo courtesy Studio Kevin Abosch
The Citadel 6.15 Virtual Art Exhibition
Curated by Coldie – Hosted in the Cryptovoxels Virtual World
The Citadel 6.15 art experience was created out of necessity, due to the coronavirus.
As a featured artist at the postponed 2020 Bitcoin Conference art gallery, crypto artist and collector Coldie decided to create a virtual art experience and scheduled it for the same weekend.
This free, three-day virtual world experience features a curated collection of artworks by artists from around the world, many of whom were slated to be at that show.
All art is available for bidding and purchasing — both as digital and physical assets. 100% of sales commissions go to the artists, as this event’s goal is to bolster the overall crypto art movement and expose it to a wider audience of art lovers.
Citadel 6.15 is built in the Ethereum-based Cryptovoxels world.
This three-building virtual art show brings together a collection of talented artists working in both the digital and physical spheres, who create Bitcoin-themed hard work.
Even though Cryptovoxels is not built on Bitcoin, this is a symbolic chance for all crypto communities to come together in a unified effort to enjoy the visual art of this profound movement, and get to know each other while we are all practicing social distancing in real life.
You don’t need any special software to visit the exhibition – simply click on the links as they go live this week.
Stay home, but get out and visit an art exhibit!
Building Guide
(All links go live Friday 27th March)
Building 1
Courtyard auto exhibit by Cryptomotors
Entry center with assorted artworks
Rooftop car exhibit by n0shot, wearables gallery and crypto art collection
Building 2
SuperRare group art exhibit
Async group art exhibit
Rooftop Josie Bellini art installation
Building 3
Assorted artworks
Coldie’s art vault
Rooftop JOY art installation
Featured Artist
Josie Bellini
Josie Bellini has been creating crypto art since 2017.
“Formerly in finance, forever in crypto.”
She creates art that tells the story of the crypto ecosystem: a story she is uniquely positioned to tell with her background in finance and passion for technology.
Not only does Josie utilize canvas and paint in her work, but she also releases digital art and augmented reality scenes to fully immerse her viewers.
She now exhibits artwork at conferences across the country such as Consensus, NFT NYC, Bitcoin 2019, and Satoshi Roundtable.
You can learn more about her work by following her on Twitter at @josiebellini and visiting her website https://josie.io/.
