simondlr #28 - Restoring An Always On Sale Artwork + NFT Expansion Packs
Boy. What a crazy few weeks it has been in the NFT space?! Definitely jarring to have it suddenly go from being something only a handful of weirdos in a small room cared about, to suddenly the talk of the entire internet.
In many ways, it’s been immensely rewarding seeing the dreams we conjured years ago, coming to fruition: creatives earning a living. That being said, it also attracted a sudden, large swathe of apprehensive creators.
Yes, the crypto space has its current drawbacks. Many in the existing industry see NFTs as just another hot potato with commentaries like: “What’s your exit strategy?”, as if the goal is to speculate. That’s an unfortunate reality, and the current wave of hype definitely has the same flavour of grifters circling about looking for a quick bite of the froth.
And yes, better consensus mechanisms exist. We can definitely leave high-energy use of PoW mining behind for equally, if not more secure mechanisms.
At the end of the day, whether this current hype dies down, the same weirdos will still be having fun: going to art galleries in cryptovoxels, playing with on-chain generative art, and exploring how to allow creators to create more.
As for me: on the 2-year anniversary of “This Artwork Is Always On Sale” (https://thisartworkisalwaysonsale.com/), I managed to restore the v1 that a bug in it. It was a fun experience and I write a story on it.
https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/the-story-of-restoring-a-digital-artwork-that-is-always-on-sale
Secondly, I wrote about “NFT Expansion Packs”, exploring ways to create new experiences with NFT. One of the great features of NFTs are that they come with an open, programmable API. This allows for novel creations and expansions. The possibility space is still massive and large.
https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/exploring-nft-expansion-packs
In addition, I minted an NFT souvenir of my art project called “Is This Prediction Market, Art”, which can be collected on Zora. Proceeds, if sold, will be donated to public goods funding on Gitcon.
I almost made an appearance on ‘Digitally Rare’. I love Matt & Jonathan and their work, so it was a privilege to talk to them. I’ll happily don the title of “Mad scientist of Crypto Art”.
I was also interviewed by Jessica Zartler from Commons Stack.
Links!
African Artists
One of the great things about the rise of NFTs is that opens the market for artists anywhere, to sell to the entire world. Lethabo made short thread detailing some art. She is worth a follow to get deeper into art made by fellow South Africans (and other amazing Africans).
Commons Simulator
While NFTs have hogged the limelight for now, I want to showcase some of the continuous great work being to use this technology to build new commons and public goods. Check out the Commons Simulator built by Commons Stack team! And, donate to Gitcoin Grants!
Nexus Mutual Bonding Curve Upgrade
Bonding curves can be tricky things, especially when you deal with limitations of maths in smart contracts. Dan Octavian from Nexus Mutual went through their improvements.
David Rudnick & Primacy on Interdependence
I feel like I keep posting links to Interdependence from Mat Dryhurst & Holly Herndon. The discussions is so good, and the tools they provide to navigate the current cultural moment is priceless. The discussion with David Rudnick was particularly meaningful in explaining some of the likely backlash against NFTs. It depends where one forms one’s primacy. Definitely worth a listen.
Ujo Days
At Ujo, we drove a lot of early experimentation with collectibles. In 2017, we create the collectible RAC badge. Jack Spallone has been sharing a host of threads detailing some of our thinking: some that saw the light of the day, and some that didn’t. And then, if you are interested in seeing more music + NFT exploration, check out Catalog Works.
Either way. It’s been a hugely exciting time for this industry. But, there’s still so much to build and explore and experiment with. Let’s continue creating and empowering creators. Let’s also continue improving the tech such that we can include more people.
Enjoy a great sunset!
Cheers,
Simon
