Wow, truly appreciate your support both here and on Twitter.
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Best of luck, dear Chikai!
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Thank you for your support, Yon!
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1. Space name / team name: DMINTI
2. Name of primary contact: QuHarrison Terry
3. Names of additional Space admins: Carola Jain, Beth Fiore, Ilana Wharshavsky and Jason Losh
4. SuperRare username(s) of everyone who will be a Space admin: @quharrison
5. Short bio of you and/or your team: Led by the renowned museum curator Nancy Spector, Chief Strategy Officer QuHarrison Terry, and supported by Artistic Director Colborn Bell, founder of the Museum of Crypto Art, our team brings significant experience across the traditional art world, cryptoart, tech/programming and marketing
6. SuperRare URL: @DMINTI
Founding and Advisory
DMINTIâs founding team and advisory board capture the full range of expertise needed to succeed in the NFT space. Serial entrepreneur Shalom Meckenzie is building on his history of success in the tech world and Richard Rosenblatt brings his extensive knowledge of the media and entertainment industries while Carola Jain adds her comprehensive marketing and strategy background. Jennifer Stockman, Dominique LĂ©vy, and Christopher âCJâ Jones are leveraging their power of lessons learnt in the art world to ensure DMINTI leads by being fully artist-centric. DMINTIâs advisory board includes film producer and cultural commentator Franklin Leonard, Crypto Banter Media founder and host of CNBCâs Crypto Trader series Ran Neuner, and Stanford Law School director and IP expert Mark Lemley.
Curatorial and Technical
DMINTIâs world-class curatorial and technical team is well positioned to execute the mission of the agency, creating an unparalleled array of NFTs that will have an impact in both the legacy and cryptonative art worlds. Our talented team of curators is pushing DMINTIs content production while partnering with leading and emerging artists who are eager to explore the medium.
Led by the renowned museum curator Nancy Spector and Chief Strategy Officer QuHarrison Terry, and supported by Artistic Director Colborn Bell, founder of the Museum of Crypto Art, our team brings significant experience across the traditional art world, cryptoart, tech/programming, and marketing. Our talented Artist Liaisons Beth Fiore and Jason Losh bring their considerable expertise in technology and art production to the process while overseeing the implementation of groundbreaking artistsâ NFTs.
Founders:
Shalom Meckenzie - Tech Entrepreneur
Jennifer Stockman - Film Maker, Museum Board Chair
Dominique LĂ©vy - International Gallerist
Richard Rosenblatt - Tech Entrepreneur
Christopher Jones - Art Dealer
Carola Jain - Marketing Executive
Advisors:
Mark Lemley - Leading IP Expert
Franklin Leonard - Cultural Commentator
Ran Neuner - Crypto Expert
Internal Leadership:
Carola Jain - CEO/Co-Founder
QuHarrison Terry - Chief Strategy Officer
Colborn Bell - Advising Artistic Director
Nancy Spector - Curator
Beth Fiore - Artist Liaison
Jason Losh - Artist Liaison
Rob Anders & Oren Moshe
NIIO Animation and Display Partnership
7. Website & Social Media Links: dminti.com (will be launched this month) all of our social info will be found there as well
8. Summary/manifesto of your Space. What is the unique value prop/elevator pitch?
DMINTI is a cultural agency that partners with the worldâs leading contemporary and emerging artists in the digital and legacy art worlds to curate, produce, and position impactful NFT art. Our projects are unique, highly relevant to key audiences, and significant within this fast-changing cultural context. DMINTI brings NFT art and crypto fluency into the traditional art world, providing white-glove service to legacy art collectors who wish to acquire digital art on the blockchain. DMINTI is also strongly positioned to engage directly with the crypto art community, engendering occasions for creative collaboration between crypto native artists and legacy artists who might be at the beginning of their exploration journey in this new digital realm. Using innovative new protocols such as KSPEC, DMINTI will ensure that the NFTs it creates adhere to museum-level standards for documentation and preservation.
9. What type of art will you focus on? How will your Space stand out among the crowd?
DMINTI is working with some of the most celebrated visual artists and designers in the international contemporary art world today. DMINTI will be producing, displaying, and marketing these artistsâ first NFTs, thus bringing a new infusion of creativity (and with that, art collectors) onto the blockchain. The NFTs will range from videos to layered animations to experiments in AR, VR, and AI. No other entity, including that of commercial galleries attempting to mint their own NFTs, has access to such a broad range of talent in the legacy art world.
10. Describe you/your teamâs experience curating and promoting artwork:
DMINTIâs curatorial team has over 50 years of collective experience in working with artists within the museum and gallery context, producing major exhibitions, commissions, and publications. DMINTI also has deep knowledge and experience in the production, collection, and display of crypto art.
11. Describe you/your teamâs experience organizing exhibitions, making art sales, running auctions, networking with collectors, etc.
Colborn Bell, Founder of the Museum of Crypto Art is setting new paradigms for the display of NFT-based art in the metaverse.
Nancy Spector, former Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the Guggenheim Museum won five International Art Critic Association awards for her exhibitions and Tribeca Film Festivalâs Disruptive Innovation Award for her collaboration with Google/YouTube.
Carola Jain, former Marketing Executive at Spartan and Senior Director at Interbrand, distinguished art collector, philanthropist of guaranteed income, digital ethics, and higher education finance initiatives.
Jennifer Stockman, collector and former President of the Guggenheim Museumâs Board of Trustees, produced the award-winning documentary on the contemporary art market, The Price of Everything.
Dominique Levy, world-renowned gallerist with a rich network of international artists and collectors.
Beth Fiore, founder of an innovative cultural agency working with top-tier and emerging artists. Guest cultural curator at Tumblr contracted advisor for Ebayâs partnership with Sothebyâs.
Jason Losh, Director of Business Development for a top art logistics company, NFT artist, art podcaster, Project Manager for David Zwirnerâs online art sales website Platform.
12. Are there new artists youâd like to bring into the Space in the first six months? What is your relationship to them?
DMINTI is in dialogue with numerous artists and designers about producing NFTS, including David Salle, Richard Prince, Ron Arad, Jacqueline Humphries among others. DMINTI team members have in-depth relationships with artists in both the legacy art world and crypto sphere that we will leverage going forward to continue to innovate in this new space.
13. Are there any artists already in the CryptoArt space that you are planning to work with for this Space? Have they committed to participating yet?
DMINTI is committed to cross-cutting collaborations that push the global creative consciousness. We recognize that the incumbents of this space have reimagined the creative economy and sparked a revolution for the benefit of all artists. We invite all parties interested in our work to contact DMINTI to find ways in which they can participate.
14. Please provide any additional details you can about how you plan to operate this Space; e.g. cadence of exhibitions, auction strategy, number of artworks, other ideas for promoting your art and artists, etc.
DMINTI fully intends to create a robust community around our content through our Discord channel and participatory, decentralized engagement with select NFTS. We will hold strategically timed auctions in step with IRL art world business cycles and digitally native events relevant to our artists. We will create social media takeovers for each of our artists, place stories in top news outlets for art and cryptocurrency. We will create promotional video interviews and behind-the-scenes content for each artist in the DMINTI sphere. There will be giveaways, rewards, and an inclusive attitude in messaging across all platforms. The DMINTI website will link to SuperRare and all relevant content will be shared.
15. How do you plan to structure commission rates for the artists who release in your Space?
DMINTI is focused on producing the most impactful work in this new medium. We finance the work of the artists upfront and artists take home the lionshare of the revenue (all projects and commission structure varies by artist and their projects)
To you, what is the importance of NFTs as a medium/technology? Where do you see the NFT and CryptoArt space in five years?
As curators and collectors dedicated to the history of conceptual art, we also see fascinating analogs to the NFT in its function as a âcertificate of authenticity,â yet understand its potential for generative art in that it is so much more than a mere identifier. We are here to help usher in a new history, using museum-level protocols and entrepreneurship to support artists in this new, creative ecosphere powered by the blockchain.
A similar area of potential over the next five years is using NFTs for funding artistic projects such as newsletters, movies, comic books, etc.
There are the majorly popular ones like ON1 Force (funded a comic book through NFT characters) and Stoner Cats (funded an animation series through NFT characters).
While ON1 did a great job rallying the NFT community through their roadmap and artwork, Stoner Cats tapped into star power to sell NFTs by featuring the likes of Mila Kunis, Jane Fonda, and the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik, in their animated series.
These projects have shown Hollywood the blueprint for crowdfunding projects via NFTs. And weâre likely to see a lot more like them in the coming months. However, theyâll need to tap into features like rev-share to really entice future collectors.
Similarly, Dirt is the worldâs first newsletter funded by an NFT sale. Itâs a daily entertainment newsletter that had a solid following but wanted to unlock some funding to continue operating the project.
And so they strategically drop NFTs every 2-3 months to fund a âseasonâ of newsletters. Their first season sold out and raised 12 ETH, which they use to pay writers and designers.
What we love about this model, is that if they donât perform in the months between drops, people wonât buy the next season of NFTs. Itâs a perfect feedback loop for content creators.
We envision a lot of artists leaving their positions to start their own âart companiesâ funded by their collectors. Furthermore, a very interesting use case we havenât seen unlocked yet is the idea of a Decentralized Autonomous Studio (DAS).
Similar to a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) which is essentially a company run entirely by its funders, DAS would allow their funders to dictate what art projects they want to be explored or art they want to be created.
Nonetheless, we are seasoned fine art professionals with deep roots in global artistic communities and weâre bullish on NFT projects that create value through their community.
Yet we are also futurists. Our groundbreaking work in real life would not have had traction had we not constantly experimented and took major risks. NFTs showcase a new frontier for creativity, empowering artists, and reshuffling the art worldâs famously stacked deck.
Regardless of medium, in five years art will continue to be art. NFTs will become as common as a paintbrush, just another tool in an artistâs repertoire. We believe in the digital transformation of humanity and recognize the pivotal role that NFTs have already validated a market for digital art. DMINTI will be a support mechanism for artists and collectors, and a bridge to ensure that there is a fluid exchange of ideas, culture, and values between all players.
16. If your Space were a cocktail or a dish, what would it be and why?
Bulgogi Tacos, No one knows how these ingredients linked up, but when they did, umamiâs Google Keyword rallied.
Michelada, spicy, good for day and night, only a matter of time before Sam Sifton declares it the new Bloody Mary, here to make you think twice about your self-declared foodie title. If you canât take the heat, itâs time to expand your palette, not whine about flavorful strong drinks.
The Foundry
MoCDA, The Museum of Contemporary Digital Art
- Space name / team name:
The Foundry
- Name of primary contact:
Serena Tabacchi ([email protected])
- Names of additional Space admins:
Anastasia Pineschi ([email protected])
Bruno Pitzalis ([email protected])
-
SuperRare username(s) of everyone who will be a Space admin: @mocdacollection
-
Short bio of you and/or your team:
Serena Tabacchi: Co-founder and Director at MoCDA. Events coordinator at the Blockchain Game Alliance and Head of Publishing at The Sandbox Game. Curator, entrepreneur, public speaker.
Anastasia Pineschi: Head of Collections at MoCDA, Artist Residency Manager, digital art curator.
Bruno Pitzalis: Auctions coordinator and NFT sale advisor. Communications and brand awareness at MoCDA.
The Museum of Contemporary Digital Art provides digital art and technology education to artists, collectors, institutions and art lovers. First and foremost, MoCDA is a museum that exhibits digital artworks for the purpose of documenting, collecting and advancing the position of digital art.
MoCDA provides a foundation for understanding digital art in its own context, rather than as a mere by-product of the larger art world. The MoCDA platform offers a space for everyone to connect, discover and learn more about digital art. Our focus is on education and the endorsement of contemporary digital art in a way which is inclusive and future-oriented, encouraging engagement from a diverse audience with an artist-first approach.
The MoCDA team is highly experienced in working with art and technology. Our expert team of curators have collaborated with Tate, Sony Entertainment, SuperRare, KnownOrigin, CADAF, the Blockchain Game Alliance, Decentraland, Arium, and The Sandbox Game, among others. We are proud to present the talents of the brightest minds in this emerging sector.
Although the digital art space has seen the development of provenance registries, galleries, and marketplaces, we are yet to see a museum dedicated to educating and curating digital art for a broad audience. This remains a persistent hurdle within both the art sector and the technology sector, as concerns over lack of access, diversity and censorship grow. At MoCDA, we aim to satisfy this need by setting industry standards to make the process of creating, buying, collecting, exhibiting and viewing digital art smoother, safer and more inclusive.
- Website & Social Media Links:
https://www.instagram.com/mocda_/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mocda/
Decentraland:
https://play.decentraland.org/?island=I2j4b9&position=-22%2C114&realm=loki
- Summary/manifesto of your Space. What is the unique value prop / elevator pitch? What type of art will you focus on? How will your Space stand out among the crowd?:
MoCDA as an organisation is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of digital art. Through our programming and ongoing projects, we collaborate with artists that have proven themselves visionaries of a new digital age.
The Foundry, as an extension of our organisational practice, will codify our unwavering dedication to an academic understanding of the role that digital art now plays in our world. Set apart from other Spaces through careful curation and a focus on education, the Foundry will not just focus on high-profit artworks; instead, we aim to represent a wide range of perspectives from artists, especially those we feel represent the current and future trends of the industry.
The Foundry will support a monthly digital Artist Residency as part of the MoCDA programme from which artists will be invited to participate. All artists from the Foundry can apply to the residency, and one will be selected each month through the MoCDA DAO. In addition to having their work featured in this SuperRare space, the Artist in Residence will also have their work displayed in a metaverse gallery space, created in collaboration with the Artist in Residence and Arium, as part of a solo show curated by MoCDA or guest curators.
We are confident this residency will encourage artists to develop their practices in new and exciting ways by offering the opportunity to design a custom-made gallery space, utilise tailored curatorial and marketing advice, and promote curated NFT drops.
- Describe you/your teamâs experience curating and promoting artwork:
Our team has curated a number of virtual and IRL art shows since early 2019. MoCDA exhibitions were presented at Tate Modern, CADAF Miami and online, GAD (Giudecca art District) during the Venice Architecture Biennale, Factory Berlin, UCL University College of London and at the MEET Digital Cultural Center in Milan.
The museum has also designed, built and curated exhibitions in the metaverse (Decentraland, Arium and Spatial). In addition, we have supported artists in curating NFT drops and auctions by collaborating with crypto art platforms and established auction houses.
Every exhibition we curate is thought of as a collaborative journey between our curators and the artist. We are known for supporting artists during their creative process, from crafting a concept to implementing the final stage of their creation. For every show we also host, we moderate live talks and tours in conversation with the artist, during which we present their work to the public. Our core activity focuses on the education, promotion and accessibility of digital and crypto art while discovering and consolidating the establishment of talented artists on the market.
For the launch of the Foundry we are creating a gallery space in Arium and in The Sandbox where we are planning to show the artworks, host curatorial tours and events. We aim to present the Foundry art collection to collectors and patrons in the metaverse as well as in IRL to engage with audiences through exhibitions and curatorial insights.
- Describe you/your teamâs experience organising exhibitions, making art sales, running auctions, networking with collectors, etc.:
MoCDA has curated solo exhibitions, retrospectives and collective exhibitions. In our workflow we always intend to create a strong bond with artists that continues beyond each individual exhibition or sale.
The exhibitions we have produced start with a close study of the works we will be showcasing, continue with an exhibition design and research on the body of works of the artist and various references and culminate in the opening of an art show, which may go on tour. In some cases, we also assist with the promotion and sale of the works, both online and IRL.
In March 2021 we curated an exhibition and auction in collaboration with CAMBI auction house in Milan (Italy) and with SuperRare. The collection Dystopian Visions was exhibited both in Milan and in the metaverse and it currently counts a total of $124K in sale.
For Dystopian Visions as well as for other curated drops featured on KnownOrign (Spaced Painter + Crypto Spector) and on Nifty Gateway (Hackatao + Skygolpe, Render Fruit, Frenetik Void, Federico Clapis), we engaged with collectors from the NFT and crypto scene as well as with collectors from more traditional backgrounds.
Through our continued presence in the space, we have built a contact list of collectors and patrons and sponsors who support and have an appetite for digital art. We make sure to share relevant information with our contacts prior to exhibitions and curated drops, connecting audiences that are fond of the art and the artists we present while always respecting the privacy of our collectors and patrons.
- Are there new artists youâd like to bring into the Space in the first six months? What is your relationship to them?:
Through this Space, we are interested in working with artists that represent unique perspectives within the digital art world through their identity, practice or worldview. Through interviews, collection building, and other types of public programming, our organisation has already worked with many artists in the digital art scene and, upon the issuance of a new SuperRare space, we would be delighted to contact them with the opportunity to join us on this platform. Adding to their visibility through this space would be an excellent way to encourage diversity within the digital art community and collections all over the world.
Most of the artists we have already shortlisted were selected for their unique perspectives on their art practise, background and innovation. Building upon the partnerships we have created in the digital art community, we have begun conversations with several artists to facilitate the creation of ad hoc works for the Foundry space on SuperRare.
- Are there any artists already in the CryptoArt space that you are planning to work with for this Space? Have they committed to participating yet?:
Our artists selection brings together crypto artists, contemporary digital artists and emerging artists. Our aim is to show, curate and amplify their artistic voices through the museumâs Foundry. We are going to connect established crypto and emerging artists in a virtual hub that provides them with a space to exhibit, explore and discuss their work in context with the audience.
Throughout our projects we have fostered rich partnerships with established and emerging artists, and several have expressed to us interest in deepening their involvement with our organisation. Upon the acceptance of our application, we would begin the process of contacting these artists to invite them to join the Foundry. Then, they will be able to start creating unique digital works for the public to enjoy and collectors to support.
We are going to invite the following artists to join the Foundry and residency in the course of the upcoming months: Mattia Cuttini, Kevin Abosh, Render Fruit, Federico Solmi, Fabio Catapano, Skygolpe, AurĂšce Vettier, Manuel Gardina, Hande and Arda (WeAreHaar), Cibelle Cavalli Bastos, Thato Tatai, Gordon Berger, Lenny Forster, Gabriel Rud, Frenetik Void, Lans King, Teresa Manzo, Matt Kane, Nacho Frades, Mari K, Andrea Chiampo, Die with the most Likes, Miss Al Simpson, Sofia Crespo and Feileacan McCormick, Robbie Barrat, Fabiano Speziari, Ola Volo, Giselle Florez, 105 Collective, Daniel Ambrosi, Nacho Frades, Annibale Siconolfi, Caep, Angie Taylor and many others!
- Please provide any additional details you can about how you plan to operate this Space; e.g. cadence of exhibitions, auction strategy, number of artworks, other ideas for promoting your art and artists, etc.:
The Foundry is going to have a curated NFT art drop each month. Every drop will consist of 3 to 6 artworks which will be curated and exhibited in the Arium metaverse and open to the public to visit throughout the duration of the month. The artist/s or collective that The Foundry will present for each drop will have the opportunity to work with the MoCDA curators, our communication manager and our auction advisor to best showcase and present their artworks to the audience.
We are looking to develop a tailored auction strategy to introduce collectors and patrons to each artwork, to invite them to join private views and to meet the artist in Arium (or in IRL when possible). The artworks will be 1/1 and accompanied by a curatorial text and art talk. In this way, we hope to provide a unique artistic experience that is an educational and yet commercially viable way to support the museumâs operations.
- How do you plan to structure commission rates for the artists who release in your Space?:
Our commission rate will be split between the museum and the artists in order to support their creative practise and create sustainability for the museumâs curatorial and exhibition space.
Our commission rate model is:
65% Artist
30% The Foundry
5% SuperRare
- To you, what is the importance of NFTs as a medium/technology? Where do you see the NFT and CryptoArt space in five years?:
Over the past few years, NFTs have exposed the power of micro-economies and the sustainability of a new artistic system, one that favors the artistâs autonomy over the validation of a slow-moving gallery space. The importance of this autonomy can not be overstated; by democratising access to artistic platforms and providing a built-in model for secondary sales, the CryptoArt scene has introduced a revolutionary way to prioritise the artists of this emerging medium. This shift will likely have knock-on effects in other industries as they adopt new ways of building collections, paying for art, and redefining art as a product of new technology. Additionally, the fact that NFTâs have simplified the concept of digital scarcity is an accomplishment that can not be overlooked. From transparency with the use of blockchain to new forms of governances based on DAOs, the CryptoArt space has ushered in a brave new time for digital art.
- If your Space were a cocktail or a dish, what would it be and why?:
The Foundry, if compared to a dish, would be close to the Japanese food concept âumamiâ. Recently discovered in the early 20th century, it is the fifth of the basic tastes and is known for its deliciousness. Its extremely balanced savoury flavor is responsible for the production of critical molecules which trigger a pleasurable response in all the receptors of the tongue and mouth. In the same way as our Space, it is a thought-provoking and mouth-watering taste no one can resist.
- Anything else youâd like the community to consider?
Whatâs The Foundry:
The Foundry is a community space created for the digital art community by artists and the museumâs curators. The Foundry exists to connect contemporary artists with the digital and crypto art scene with the goal of exploring digital tools and new economies in a creative and meaningful way.
The Foundry community is open to all to join and it lives and connects artists, curators and the public through the MoCDA Discord channel. Everyone can participate in the Foundry and express their interest in taking part in the museumâs artist residency program. During each residency we will be looking to invite guest curators to run a session with the artist/s in residence and to develop artworks and exhibitions together for the Foundry space on SuperRare.
MoCDA in the Press:
Radio:
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I think Chikai is truly deserve to win this space race, he is one of the best collectors and supporters in the community, I donât know anyone like him, he is just here for us, artist that are trying to fit in this place. And I personally very grateful for his support to me and other artistđ
Space name / team name:
Blackbird
Name of primary contact:
Greg Rook
Names of additional Space admins:
None
SuperRare username(s) of everyone who will be a Space admin:
@gregrook
Short bio of you and/or your team:
Iâve been a practising artist since 2000, enjoying a fair degree of success, with museum group shows and international solo shows, but at the end of 2016, one of my collectors asked me to help him build a collection of contemporary art, and Greg Rook Advisory was born. I have since built a successful art consultancy, working with private collectors and businesses. Iâve also taught Fine Art, consulted for galleries and auction houses and written about contemporary art for newspapers and magazines. Earlier this year I joined SuperRare as an artist and as a curator of featured group shows.
Website & Social Media Links:
https://www.instagram.com/gregrookadvisory/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/gregcorbeau?lang=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-rook-abaa8936/?originalSubdomain=uk
https://www.instagram.com/greg_rook/?hl=en
Summary/manifesto of your Space. What is the unique value prop / elevator pitch? What type of art will you focus on? How will your Space stand out among the crowd?
I come from the traditional contemporary art world â the world of physical galleries and physical works â paintings and sculptures and videos shown on screens in darkened spaces. And I love that world. Iâve made, taught, written about and sold contemporary art for decades. But now, there are NFTs and a new audience for contemporary digital art and Iâm fascinated by the variety and difference and possibilities of this new format, with this new audience.
So, my intentions are twofold: firstly, to bring the best traditional contemporary artists to this new world in order to see what they can do and what creativity they can bring; and secondly to bring all the collectors that I work with (and all the collectors who work with the artists that I bring) to SuperRare and to the world of collecting NFTs.
I am interested in working with artists (whether emerging or established) whose art I admire and respect, who have a thoughtful practise away from the world of digital art, but who are looking to see how to make links across the genres. I fully understand that it is not a given that even the most celebrated traditional contemporary artists will necessarily be successful in making the switch to a digitally native format, or immediately produce work of real significance and interest. And I appreciate that the collector base that has already invested in the NFT space might not be impressed by traditional art world celebrity, but, Iâm approaching people who I believe will bring something progressive and idiosyncratic to SuperRare and there is real excitement in this being a forum for brilliant experimentation.
It would be easy to turn old images into jpegs and mint them as NFTs, but as thoughtful contemporary artists, I will work with those who are interested in seeing this as an opportunity to make work that reflects the enormous possibilities of the new tools. Looking around the NFT space and you can see the incredible talent, knowledge and creativity on display, and so we would work hard to make sure that new NFTs are reflecting both the best of the traditional art world and the new tools and format available. They would not be offering digital versions of previous work but would be using the platform to reimagine and to take their work in unexpected directions. On the whole successful traditional contemporary artists are successful because they are thoughtful, bright and creative, and I look forward to seeing what they will produce.
And to the second part â introducing collectors. Most of the pieces minted by artists I have introduced through the two featured SuperRare shows have sold to collectors that I, or the other artists, have introduced to the space. Each time an artist is brought to this world, they bring with them dozens of past collectors â wealthy collectors invested in contemporary art. I look forward to continuing to merge the worlds and bring new investment and enthusiasm to the space.
Describe you/your teamâs experience curating and promoting artwork:
In the last five years, I have worked with dozens of emerging and high-profile contemporary artists in the UK and around the world. I have curated nearly two hundred individual artist presentations, and monthly modern and contemporary online art auctions since January 2020. More recently I curated two contemporary art NFT exhibitions on SuperRare.
I have also written extensively on art for newspapers and journals, and I have taught and run a contemporary Fine Art BA degree course since 2003. I am adept at discussing and explaining contemporary art to a wide variety of people. I have used social media (as you can see from my profiles above) to promote the artists Iâm working with and to find new collectors.
After 20 years working within the art world as an artist, university lecturer, writer and consultant, I have unique access to artists and their studios, and a deep critical, historical and practical understanding of what constitutes progressive art. As a poacher turned gamekeeper, I have offered collectors intelligent, peer-reviewed art before it has become eye-wateringly expensive.
I promoted all the NFTs and artists in the SuperRare shows I curated, and they all sold those NFTs, as well as most of the subsequent drops.
Describe you/your teamâs experience organizing exhibitions, making art sales, running auctions, networking with collectors, etc.:
I have been involved in the artworld commercially as an artist since 2000, and since late 2016 with direct contemporary art market experience as an art consultant and dealer. I have built the business from one collector in 2016, to near 60 collectors actively buying or searching now, and just under 1000 on the advisory mailing list.
As an art advisor with a background as an artist and university lecturer, and with no âstockâ to sell, I have presented only the art that I know to be critical and from artists of real merit. I have placed over 300 works of credible contemporary art with private collections and businesses during the past five years. Many of the artists that I presented early in their careers are now highly sought after by investors and critically acclaimed with multiple museum shows.
Since January 2020 I have also worked with an online auction house based in New York. I curated and organised half a dozen separate London based auctions as well as working on consignments for their New York auctions. More recently I have also been liaising with collectors on broader websites like 1stDibs and Printed Editions
Are there new artists youâd like to bring into the Space in the first six months? What is your relationship to them?:
As the months have passed more and more artists have approached me about inclusion in the SuperRare NFT space and Iâve been contacting others who Iâd love to work with. As with my advisory, I will always be conscious of ensuring that Iâm inclusive and international in my approach.
Just two examples of artists who Iâve had conversations with so far are:
Marcus Harvey gained recognition when his painting of serial killer Myra Hindley was included in the âSensationâ exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (1997). He has since been classed as a Young British Artist (YBA), though he is driven by his enduring interest in materials and technique, not shock value. Since the YBAs came to prominence, he has continued to pursue painting and sculpture, and, more recently, the crossover between them. As he explains: âThere is a [kind of] painting that releases a charge that goes to your thumb. It makes you want to pull the painting into the world. And there are sculptures whose fluidity make you want to celebrate the urge to paint.â Working figuratively, and with subjects ranging from porn to politics, Harvey foregrounds the lush physicality of art making in everything he produces and is now interested in taking this sensibility to a digital format.
Jem Finer (a founding member of the band The Pogues) is an artist, composer and musician with a background in mathematics and computer science, dating back to the ICL 1900 mainframe computers of the early 1970s. An enduring fascination with deep time and space, self-organising systems and long-durational processes has been the impetus behind much of his work including his Artangel commission, Longplayer, a thousand-year-long musical composition playing since the last moments of 1999, Cosmolog, a two-year-long artists residency in the astrophysics department of Oxford University and the 2005 PRSF New Music Award winner, Score For a Hole In the Ground, a permanent, self-sustaining musical installation in a forest in Kent, which relies only on gravity and the elements to be audible. Recent work focuses on these interests and includes Kung Fu Pinball, a pinball machine modified to auto-compose music, Slowplayer, a 3 r.p.m. sound system and Spiegelei, a 360-degree spherical camera obscura. Supercomputer found Finerâs âpost-digitalâ thinking come full circle in the form of a sculptural machine of a computational process, indebted as much to Jean Tinguelyâs MĂ©tamatics as to John Conwayâs Game of Life. Current work includes Sonic Ray, the music of Longplayer encoded in a beam of light and projected across the Thames from Trinity Buoy Wharf lighthouse to Richard Wilsonâs Slice of Reality.
Are there any artists already in the CryptoArt space that you are planning to work with for this Space? Have they committed to participating yet?
All the artists who participated in the first two shows that I curated on SuperRare will continue to work with me in a new space. Those shows were:
https://superrare.com/features/a-lot-of-what-im-about-to-tell-you-is-made-up
https://superrare.com/features/from-can-see-to-cant-see
James Scott Brooks
@jamesscottbrooks
https://www.jamesbrooks.co.uk
Rebecca Harper
Ansel Krut
@anselkrut
https://www.saatchigallery.com/artist/ansel_krut
Andy Holden
@andy_holden
Elizabeth Magill
Instagram @elizabethxmagill
https://elizabethmagill.com
Damien Meade
Instagram @damien_meade
Justin Mortimer
@justinmortimer
Hannah Murgatroyd
@hannahmurgatroyd
Barry Reigate
@breigate71
https://www.saatchigallery.com/artist/barry_reigate
Lottie Stoddart
@lottiestoddart
Phoebe Unwin
www.phoebeunwin.com
Douglas White
@digital_douglas
https://www.douglaswhite.co.uk
Please provide any additional details you can about how you plan to operate this Space; e.g. cadence of exhibitions, auction strategy, number of artworks, other ideas for promoting your art and artists, etc.
My initial approach, taken in the first two curated exhibitions, was to see the exhibitions and my presence on SuperRare as being modelled after a traditional contemporary art gallery and their 8 to 10 a year exhibition programme. Although I think a series of group shows, focused on a particular idea or way of working, occurring every six to eight weeks, would still provide a strong backbone, I would also like to look beyond a traditional programme.
The space should be a forum for experimentation â allowing individual artistâs projects to be showcased in between the group shows. One artist has talked about interactivity and gamification of their NFT drops. Several would like to work more with sound. We have already had some collaborations with musicians, and this seems like rich territory - the constraints of the file size for image and sound are fascinating. As one artist said, working now in the world of NFTs, is a bit like being in at the start of vinyl and the 3-minute pop song. The experimentation and blue sky possibilities are incredibly exciting.
Traditional galleries donât fully exploit online connectivity yet and we would also look for a way for greater connectivity to be factored in. The traditional gallery model is too static. Maybe a radio station is a better model.
How do you plan to structure commission rates for the artists who release in your Space?
The standard 15% commission - 10% going to the Space and 5% to the SR DAO.
To you, what is the importance of NFTs as a medium/technology? Where do you see the NFT and CryptoArt space in five years?
I have absolutely no doubt that NFTs will soon be ubiquitous. We will carry them with us and interact with them in our public lives, and I think that, as well as being innovative and exciting in their own right, there are opportunities for them to breathe new life into traditional worlds.
As the artist Ansel Krut recently emailed me: âNFTs are going to evolve. They will look very different in just a few years. (No one could even begin to imagine 3D animation when the first animations were hand made in the early part of the last century for example). Itâs pretty incredible to be in on the ground floor. And with the chance to participate in, and maybe even help shape, the history of the development of the format. Itâs not where I thought Iâd end up as a dyed in the wool painter.â
If we are careful to build bridges between the artworlds and ensure that there is cross over and mutual respect, then I think we will find that in five years NFTs and CryptoArt are either considered just one art form equal to all the others, or that they are, very possibly in ten or twenty years, the predominant art form.
If your Space were a cocktail or a dish, what would it be and why?
Iâd hope the space to be experimental, exciting, professional, and international â perhaps like a Singapore Gin Sling.
Anything else youâd like the community to consider?
I have worked within the contemporary art world for over 20 years, in all capacities, and I am incredibly excited to bring that experience and knowledge to the world of NFTs. Attached here is a link to a complementary ebook of the publication I produced a year ago on some of the work I placed over the first few years of Greg Rook Advisory: Collecting Contemporary Art Ebook by Greg Rook | Blurb Books UK
In terms of the environmental impact, I have begun to work with Point Advisory, a leading sustainability advisory firm using Gold Standard certified carbon offsets to compensate for each drop.
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Thank you, SuperRare, for creating SuperRare Spaces. I hope this results in not just more gatekeepers but in more truly open gateways for artists.
I had been drafting a proposal that would promote unknown artists â those who are not already known in the physical art community and those who have not sold more than some to-be-determined value of NFTs. My idea is to have a Space where new artists and their works are promoted in cohorts â perhaps a new group every month â and then remain on the Space if theyâd like, but roll off the promotion queue once theyâve achieved a bit â or hopefully, a great deal of â success.
The goal would be to allow enough time to build interest in each cohort while also rotating as many new artists into the Space as possible. In addition, the Space manager (gatekeeper) would be a âlaypersonâ â not an elite art curator or a well-connected industry personality. I confess that I would not have identified a blank white canvas or a banana taped to a wall, as art. It would be great to see someone like myself, who doesnât accept that just because an already famous artist or curator refers to something as art, it should be highly valued, especially to the exclusion of what most of us would recognize as art only because it was produced by an âundiscoveredâ artist.
I have decided not to submit my proposal because as I was working on it, I saw @chikaiâs. He seems to have a similar goal of promoting undiscovered artists and has already demonstrated terrific support for them and they overwhelmingly support him! I canât compete with that 
.
However, I did want to share these thoughts to highlight to the SuperRare Team, the community & $RARE holders that there is a dire need for Spaces that provide a pathway and exposure for new artists, managed by non-traditional gatekeepers.
Thank You, SuperRare.
Good Luck, @chikai â I have no $RARE to vote for you but I hope you win a Space and Iâd be honored to someday join it !
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Wow, this is truly an unexpected post.
I totally support your mission of finding unknown artists and giving them a space to be recognized and celebrated. Iâd probably consider myself a âlaypersonâ, since I donât have any previous experience in the art world, so I hope to bring that perspective and voice to the NFT community.
I humbly accept your support. I hope that I can help fulfill some of your goals if my application for a Space were to be accepted. Please connect with me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/lifeofc) and send me a DM!
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, Where do I vote for Mocda?
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Space name / team name: The Crypt Gallery
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Name of primary contact: King of Midtown (Athanasios Polihronopoylos)
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Names of additional Space admins: The Crypt Gal (Vasia Makris), Elti Meshau,
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SuperRare username(s) of everyone who will be a Space admin:
K1ngofm1dtown / the_crypt_gallery / Elt
- Short bio of you and/or your team:
The Crypt Gallery, founded by King of Midtown, is the first of its kind physical NFT exhibition focused on bringing the digital marketplace to life. With an emphasis on education, we have developed relationships in multiple industries with the aim of increasing mainstream exposure and involvement in the NFT community. Our mission is to unlock the future of human creativity â by hosting live interactive events that bring digital artists, collectors and fans together.
The King of Midtown is a New York City self-funded and self-started collector who has established himself as a major influencer and curator within the space. As his involvement within the industry grew, he also developed a loyalty to the community and interest in educating new fans, as well as bringing NFTs to a physical space for real-world experience.
- Website & Social Media Links:
https://www.thecryptgallerynyc.com/home
- Summary/manifesto of your Space. What is the unique value prop / elevator pitch? What type of art will you focus on? How will your Space stand out among the crowd?
Our space is focused on inclusion and full spectrum representation of the digital art community. This is why our collection will include artists from a variety of mediums including photography, 3D design, traditional art, street graffiti, and more. This authentic snapshot of the digital art space is how we want to introduce a mainstream audience to the community. Our Space is unique because of its emphasis on in person experiences, specifically bringing together artists, collectors, and a new audience. Live events are specifically designed to bring the digital marketplace to life, focusing on connecting the already existing community while expanding to new collectors through education and memorable experiences.
- Describe you/your teamâs experience curating and promoting artwork:
Our team launched The Crypt Galleryâs first physical location at Dream Hollywood and since then has rotated artwork to reflect new pieces within King of Midtownâs personal collection. As we continue to expand, our team is in the process of curating and promoting artists for future locations. Our increasing line up allows us to promote artists and provide exposure in areas that would normally not showcase digital artwork or bring attention to NFTs.
- Describe you/your teamâs experience organizing exhibitions, making art sales, running auctions, networking with collectors, etc.
Our team has organized a 24/7 gallery in Dream Hollywood, which is in the process of changing exhibition displays and will soon be hosting monthly events. We recently also designed, built and curated displays at Christieâs Auction House, located in NYC. The displays showcased Curio Cards and Art Blocks Curated, celebrating Christieâs first auction held only in Ethereum.
In terms of making art sales, The Crypt Gallery held two live auctions at the Hollywood launch. Chad Knight and Yo Brilly were the first two artists to drop at The Crypt Gallery and each auctioned a 1/1 piece, along with two editions from their collection. One of the edition pieces from each artist was sold exclusively in person, prompting movement in the secondary market by collectors unable to attend the live event.
Since our initial launch, King of Midtown held a curated drop on Nifty Gateway which consisted of a diverse lineup of artists and genesis drops on the platform. Not only did King introduce talented artists to a new collector base, but making the introduction to NG allows for artists to now participate in solo drops on the platform. KOM also curated a membership drop to build the community, allowing both small and larger collectors to participate and benefit from IRL + digital utility. This sale broke records in terms of the number of OE sold.
Since then, The Crypt Gallery has hosted 2 verified drops on NG, continuing to onboard new artists to the platform, provide advisement and strategies that generate strong secondary sales, and allow all collectors to participate.
We are also well connected amongst the community, including our vast network of like minded collectors. Overall, we like to align ourselves with collectors that aim to grow the space in a positive manner and use their influence to promote artists and projects.
- Are there new artists youâd like to bring into the Space in the first six months? What is your relationship to them?
Yes! The Crypt Gallery has developed long term relationships with artists and we plan to promote them at our in person venues. We also aim to advise artists that may ask for guidance. As we continue to expand to new locations and meet new artists, our network will also grow and onboarding to our SR Space will only increase.
- Are there any artists already in the CryptoArt space that you are planning to work with for this Space? Have they committed to participating yet?
Yes and yes. Further details, however, have not yet been publicly announced.
- Please provide any additional details you can about how you plan to operate this Space; e.g. cadence of exhibitions, auction strategy, number of artworks, other ideas for promoting your art and artists, etc.
We are planning to use this space to host auctions that are simultaneously held in person at our venue spaces. This Space will reflect the in person experience to provide both live and online participation. We also plan to use this Space to introduce new artists to Super Rare. Promotion will take place through our monthly events at Dream Hotel Group properties, along with any other additional venues/activations we may be involved in.
- How do you plan to structure commission rates for the artists who release in your Space?
Because we are hosting live events, The Crypt Gallery has a larger overhead to maintain venue space. Splits will consist of 20% TCG and the remainder to the artist.
- To you, what is the importance of NFTs as a medium/technology? Where do you see the NFT and CryptoArt space in five years?
NFTs are of major importance for multiple reasons, specifically due to the authenticity and secondary sales they provide artists. They also introduce a new way to create utility amongst sales and promote a relationship between the creator and collector. Interestingly, many new utility features are linking in person experience/perks to further emphasize a connection between artists and fans, ultimately fostering a community that continues to organically grow.
We see the CryptoArt space expanding into all industries and found amongst daily physical spaces. It is only a matter of time before this technology expands and becomes accepted by the mainstream audience. Our goal is to spearhead this introduction with an emphasis on education and positivity, which will ensure longevity and continued expansion of the industry.
- If your Space were a cocktail or a dish, what would it be and why?
Caribbean Rum Punch. Mixture of ingredients, that all come together to make a signature cocktail, similar to the diverse group of artists and members within The Crypt Gallery community. Creating a social environment, connecting people and always has you coming back for more.
Anything else youâd like the community to consider?
King of Midtown has openly advocated for this community, calling artists âthe new celebritiesâ. We aim to take this perspective and share it with the masses, along with highlighting the limitless potential of this industry.
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Space name / team name:
Metafisica
Name of primary contact:
Carlos Marcial
Names of additional Space admins:
Alondra DurĂĄn
SuperRare username(s) of everyone who will be a Space admin:
- carlosmarcialt
- aloalita
Short bio of you and/or your team:
Carlos Marcial is a Mexico City-born Puerto Rican digital artist involved with crypto art since 2019. Before becoming one of the first full-time crypto artists ever in early 2020, Carlos Marcial helped found and creatively direct a studio in Toronto, CA that specialized in design for blockchain projects and companies. It was at this studio that he first found out about NFTs and bought some beautiful and cute CryptoKitties; although his first contact with the blockchain was in 2012 when he read about Bitcoin and bought some, which he unfortunately didnât hodl.
Alondra DurĂĄn is a Mexican sociologist graduated from UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) who has spent the better part of the last 10 years creating public programs in Mexico City aimed at empowering women, specially from impoverished backgrounds, through a wide array of social and cultural initiatives. In the past 3 years, she has also dedicated herself to the better understanding of all the current use cases of blockchain technology through both practical and theoretical means. Her background as a sociologist makes Alondra a powerful advocate for the potential of crypto and NFTs to change the social and economical situations of many people in Latin America, especially its women artists.
Website & Social Media Links:
Metafisica.xyz
Carlos Marcial - twitter.com/carlosmarcialt
Alondra DurĂĄn - twitter.com/alita_alo
Summary/manifesto of your Space
Metafisica will establish itself as the first, and premier, crypto art gallery for Latin American art.
We believe in creating together a new and decentralized art world where more of the cultural capital that is produced in Latin America stays there, instead of being almost completely absorbed by galleries and auction houses located far from where this âcapitalâ is actually produced, as itâs been the case historically.
On Metafisica, both established and emergent LATAM crypto artists will have the opportunity to showcase their works together in an effort to collectively expand the narratives around digital art production and give more context to the wider NFT phenomenon occurring in this region.
What is the unique value prop / elevator pitch?
Metafisica will curate and promote the widest diversity of fine digital art being created in LATAM, all the way from the RĂo Bravo in Mexico to Patagonia in Argentina, passing through every country and region in between; all the while experimenting and establishing new ways for artists in this region to live off from their artistic production.
What type of art will you focus on?
This space will focus on contemporary Latin American digital arts, in all its diversity and variety; from generative artists in the Andes to 3D artists in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, just to give a couple of examples. We will also include digital art from all of the Latin American diasporas, with special emphasis in LATAM communities in the USA.
Even though we are committed to the present and future of digital arts in LATAM, and its diasporas, we will make sure to showcase also in future exhibitions the works of some of the most important pioneers of digital and computer-assisted art in this region.
How will your Space stand out among the crowd?
Easy! It will be filled with all the colors, forms, sounds and stories that can only be found in such a vibrant region like Latin America!
Metafisica will also put out a regular newsletter filled with artists bios, video interviews, and well thought out editorial pieces regarding the past, present and future of digital art, NFTs and crypto art in this region of the world.
Metafisica will also build a database around the public blockchain data created through our own smart contract. There will be a way of searching and querying this database on Metafisica.xyz to find out all the sales data from every artist that has created an NFT using Metafisicaâs minting contract.
If you are already a SuperRare artist from Latin America, or any of its diasporas, you will be incentivized to drop with Metafisica by receiving the exact 85% of the primary market sales that you would receive if you dropped your NFTs using SuperRareâs standard smart contract, but with the added bonus of receiving our promotional, editorial and curatorial services before, during and after the drop of your artwork.
This space will also use part of its resources to create educational content (videos, articles, etc.) in Spanish and Portuguese regarding crypto art and NFTs.
Describe you/your teamâs experience curating and promoting artwork:
Carlos Marcial has been creating and promoting his own NFTs since 2019. In early 2020, he left everything behind to concentrate full-time on his crypto art career. Since then, he has been able to become one of a handful of Latin American artists on the Top 100 list of crypto artists by sales.
Together with Alondra DurĂĄn, they have created a structure and workflow that have let them both live off exclusively from crypto art for almost 2 years now.
Carlos and Alondra have helped a considerable amount of artists from all around the world (not only Latin America) to wrap their heads around the concepts and tech behind NFTs, get into some of the most prestigious NFT minting platforms out there right now, and get their first sales.
Describe you/your teamâs experience organizing exhibitions, making art sales, running auctions, networking with collectors, etc.
This has been Carlos and Alondraâs daily bread for the last 2 years. They have been doing most of these activities around Carlosâs own crypto art pieces. And as mentioned above, they have been unofficially helping other artists to learn how to leverage NFT, make crypto art sales and network with other artists and collectors since 2019.
Are there new artists youâd like to bring into the Space in the first six months?
Metafisica has already identified a group of very talented Latin American artists that have been making waves in the NFT world without having had yet the opportunity to drop and exhibit their artworks on a blue-chip platform like SuperRare. In the first phase of this project, we will work mainly with artists already familiar with NFTs and the crypto art cultural scene.
Our thesis is that some of these crypto artists are already on the verge of breaking out and making a bigger splash with their art on the wider NFT scene, but they need our support and push to finally get there.
After this initial phase, we will begin to onboard some of the top digital artists from all over LATAM, but this will take more preparation and resources, since we will probably need to give propaedeutic classes to these artists about how to manage and use cryptocurrencies, mint NFTs, and work their way around Web3.
What is your relationship to them?
Some of them have already become our protegés, colleagues and friends.
Are there any artists already in the CryptoArt space that you are planning to work with for this Space? Have they committed to participating yet?
As you will find also in the answer to the question below, we plan on making exhibitions where one already established SuperRare artists from LATAM will invite, with our curatorial help and direction, other emerging artists from the region to establish a dialogue with his or her artworks.
For the established artists, we plan on working with crypto artists at the level of Neurocolor, Moxarra, Ekaitza, Lucas Aguirre, Etienne Crauss, Criptocromo, Oxeegeno, Frenetik Void, Kako, Fakito, Omentejoven, Federico Bona, K0ch, VXN, Milton Sanz, Okytomo, Render Fruit, Panther Xhita, CaramurĂș Baumgartner, among many others.
Please provide any additional details you can about how you plan to operate this Space; e.g. cadence of exhibitions, auction strategy, number of artworks, other ideas for promoting your art and artists, etc.
Metafisica plans on creating drops/exhibitions where one established crypto artist will invite up to four emerging artists to drop in conjunction with him or her. Ideally, we would in a short amount of time get into the cadence of making one of these drops every month.
We will reach out to as many cultural institutions in LATAM, and other parts of the world, to gauge which ones would be interested in contributing to our efforts to spread the word about our crypto artists and NFTs. We already have some museums and institutions in LATAM and the Caribbean interested in collaborating with us.
How do you plan to structure commission rates for the artists who release in your Space?
Artist: 85%
Metafisica: 10%
SuperRare DAO: 5%
To you, what is the importance of NFTs as a medium/technology?
That they have the potential of turning all the creatives in the World into really self-sovereign artists and human beings.
Where do you see the NFT and CryptoArt space in five years?
Ruling the art world and every other aspect of our cultural lives!
If your Space were a cocktail or a dish, what would it be and why?
It would be a cold beer. No matter where you are in Latin America, and no matter if you are drinking tequila, rum or aguardiente, you are probably accompanying any of these hot elixirs with a beer.
Anything else youâd like the community to consider?
In due time, we will also invite established crypto artists from other regions of the World to open a visual dialogue with emerging crypto artists from our region. For example, an artist from Africa could be invited to collaborate with digital artists from Latin American regions where thereâs a very important Afro-Latino presence; or in other instances, an artist from Spain, Portugal or France could be invited also to work with us, because of the historical, social and cultural ties that we share with them here in LATAM.
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Great project! Canât wait to see Mocaâs space
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So impressed with Mocdaâs project!
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This sounds amazing! Thank you both for putting this together! <3
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Que viiva el arte Latinoamericano!!!
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exciting to see this proposal come through. What an opportunity it could be to bring in some outside of crypto and very local artists into this new global economy.
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Nice project! Hope it happens, there are many South American artists with incredible arts.
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