Clara
@claracxw
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She/her | Curator + writer | Founder @NFTAsiaOfficial | Fellow @kadistkadist Member @arcthecommunity @FWBtweets
Joined February 2020
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🧵 A little about me 🧵
I am a curator, researcher and arts writer. My practice focuses on contemporary asian art, emerging technologies, and the art market. I'm the Founder of
@NFTAsiaOfficial
, and currently curating
@artdubai
2023 digital section
📸:
@GrantYun2
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been hearing NFT artists talk about the pressure to have a "good story to tell" or "strong pitch" to collectors. and as someone who works with visual artists on bios and labels, interviews artists for features and exhibition reviews, i have some thoughts
👇here's a thread 👇 1/13
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I get asked on the daily to recommend or select artists for features, exhibitions and collabs, online and offline.
So if you're an artist, post your work below (no links pls). Would love to get to know more of you 👇
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Recently, I am seeing again tweets on the importance of curation and needing good curators in the space.
As a curator, I am heartened to see that curatorial work is being discussed. But I also have to say, a big reason why I haven’t done more shows and projects here…
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Excited to share that "Proof of Concept" opens Jan 6 - 15 for Singapore Art Week!
As the curator, I'm thrilled to work with so many talented artists who are shaping the conceptual + visual discourses of art on the blockchain and beyond honored to share their works with you 1/4
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🧵 A little about me 🧵
I am the founder of
@NFTAsiaOfficial
. I started the nonprofit community in Mar 2021 alongside several artists, to uplift and support Asian artists in NFTs.
Here's a photo of me speaking at the Global Art Forum as part of Art Dubai recently:
1/3
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In 2021, I curated "Right Click + Save", Singapore's 1st large-scale NFT exhibition, focusing on historic crypto art projects with 13 artists
In 2023, I curated "Proof of Concept", showing 20 artists/pairs and some of the most innovative artworks on-chain
What's next to come?
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The web3 art system would produce better and more interesting artworks and discussion if we stopped pretending digital art started around 2019/2020 and with the introduction of NFTs.
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If you're in Singapore for TOKEN, do also visit "Notes From the Ether", an exhibition that looks at blockchain and AI at
@ArtSciMuseum
.
I'm really proud to have co-curated this as Southeast Asia's first museum show on the subject. Do come and see it for yourself 💫
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After 2.5 years actively building in this space, I’m realising that most people still have no idea what curators do and why they are important in the arts ecosystem.
Ask me anything about what a curator is and I’ll do my best to answer you or tag the people I think can!
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perhaps because of
@hicetnunc2000
's nature as an open-source project + its early implementation of capabilities friendlier to creative coders & artists working with generative mediums, i see much more interesting experimentation with digital-native tools on hic than ETH platforms
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Curation is not just selecting artists who get on a platform or who to feature on the front page
It’s exhibition making, storytelling, putting the work in context, supporting the artist’s longer term career, contributing to discourse etc. It’s less gatekeeping more taste making
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Despite everyone saying curation is important, I have repeatedly been asked to curate shows for free, to consult on projects for free, to basically do the work I do for my online and offline career for free.
And I don’t want to produce work when that work is not valued.
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I curated 9 exhibitions from mid-2021 til now, with 4 of them focused on art on the blockchain 👀
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@coinhako
x Appetite proudly presents Right Click + Save, SG's first large-scale NFT exhibition, opening 7 - 14 Nov!
Bringing together a selection of works in the collections of
@Vince_Van_Dough
@StarryNight_Cap
@kyled116
@collectionist
@shaundjie
and more
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Keep in mind that the art ecosystem is much broader than the market. There’s independent spaces, museums, public art, research and more. There’s room for us all
Artists do not have to, and should not, create work to pander to the market. It’s okay to experiment and be different
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first & foremost, the work itself is always the most important. you should not be pressured into talking about yourself, your work/practice in ways you don't feel comfortable with. a collector is free to interpret, but you have control over how you want to present your work 2/13
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I think more NFT artists should look to Chinese Contemporary Art and the ways these artists are dealing with our current conditions & technologies. My academic training lies in this area, and here are 5 artworks I think are especially relevant to our conversations here 1/6 🧵
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Today was my last day at work, where I had been leading the art program of a space in SG for the past 2 years.
I’m moving on to focus on independent projects and research, diving fully into digital and new media art.
I’m nervous, excited, and a little scared. Wish me luck!
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The news is out ✨
I am thrilled to share that I am joining
@kadistkadist
San Francisco as Asia Collection Fellow!
KADIST is one of the most forward-thinking collecting institutions in the world, with a growing collection of NFTs and artworks engaged with advanced technologies
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giving a talk for an art gallery in australia and i just said
@hicetnunc2000
about 10 times lol
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Just a sneak peek of how we’ve presented
@tylerxhobbs
QQL in the exhibition at
@ArtSciMuseum
👀
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Shoutout to
@ACthecollector
@6529Guardian
and the
@punk6529
team for understanding the importance of bridging between art worlds and on-boarding new supporters for the space through what you’re building 🧚
Esp to AC, your love for art and collecting is infectious!
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Stumbled into a gallery today and its many ways of presenting media works on various screens and configurations
Leaving this here as I hope it inspires you to move away from uniform screens in a row in your next showcase x
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✨
@nft_asia
✨
NFT Asia is a community that focuses on making connections, sharing resources + capabilities for artists, collectors & anyone in the space.
We focus on uplifting Asian & Asia-based artists but are open to all. A thread on the amazing artists on our mod team 🧵
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I am so excited to share "Notes From the Ether" will open this Sat 19 Aug at
@ArtSciMuseum
🎉
This show looks into practices around emerging technologies, namely blockchain and AI, presenting a timely reflection on the shifting artistic landscape 1/5🧵
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I've curated several exhibitions and am working on a museum show. I helped build one of the largest artist communities in web3. I've published internationally. I hold a degree in both art history & economics.
Still, you only think of me when you need someone Asian?
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lastly, be gentle with yourself. even full-time artists who have been doing it for decades struggle with it. it's hard for everyone! i just think about it as giving ppl an opp to get to know me and my work, but i don't sell NFTs, so take this all with a grain of salt 13/13
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As a professional who has invested years of practice and learning into my work, I have developed expertise, skills and networks that I value.
So I want to work with those that respect my work as a professional service or labour.
This is my actual livelihood.
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This week, I opened three exhibitions I curated, hosted three panels, led numerous tours, and attended events everyday. While it’s been physically and socially draining to run between them, I feel immensely lucky and grateful to have had these opportunities and my work seen
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It's important to recognise that not every exhibition is meant to be or can be a comprehensive survey - a single show does not need to do it all.
But a curator's role, in my opinion, IS to help shape discourse. It is not enough to simply replicate what is already known
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A lot of what I am seeing on my TL is not aligned with this supposedly more 'open' 'decentralised' art world people claim to be building. Genuinely puzzling to me that you expect everyone to like the same kind of art, or if they don't, it can only be because they don't get it
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We talk a lot about how web3 can and should be a better art ecosystem, yet we routinely devalue curatorial work. From labelling curators as gatekeepers and outdated, to this continuous expectation that we should work for free…
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it's finally out ☀️
in this essay, i look at how art has been increasingly traded as an asset class over the last century, to arrive at where we are with NFTs today
thanks
@lukewhyte
@vinnythesnail
+ team for working together on this!
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A throwback to Right Click + Save, with me spending a bit of quiet time with
@dmitricherniak
Ringers before closing the show.
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My piece on generative AI and how it interacts with our visual cultures is out now on
@TheArtNewspaper
!
Ft
@matdryhurst
,
@LindaDouniaR
, Birde & Dr. Lim from the Nat'l Gallery of Singapore. Also Mat and
@hollyherndon
's CLASSIFIED and "In/Visible" on
@FeralFile
curated by Linda 💫
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So while I’m glad that curation is being discussed & valued over tweets and texts, we need this to be reflected in a real way to engage curators sustainably and for the long term.
Or folks like me will simply have to redistribute more and more of our time to spaces that will.
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I am starting a fellowship with one of the most forward-looking and respected collecting institutions out there this week 🦋 excited to share the news with you all soon
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but it's also about reflecting on what led you to 'feel like it' and how you translated that intuition or vision into these exact visual/sonic/wtv format. what are your interests? what are the themes/topics you care about? if you typically work around a theme, why? 5/13
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I deeply believe in building collectively and for the community, and have spent a lot of effort creating exhibition opportunities with
@NFTAsiaOfficial
. I am active in a number of DAOs and share a lot of what I know with individuals, including artists, collectors and communities
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But I do see my own curatorial practice, which includes research, exhibition making, writing, to be independent and distinct to my community oriented work. And it predates and extends beyond web3.
Just as how artists can build communities but their own practice is their own.
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at the same time, if you're in the business of NFTs you are likely looking to sell. so your artist brand, your following, your marketing prob counts for a lot. its unfortunate but that means you may want to respond to the rules of what works within this digital economy 3/13
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Having to continuously justify why my work should not be free is tiring, and frankly, really disheartening.
And so it is easy for me to see why there are not more professional and experienced curators deep in web3 or working with web3 native platforms.
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so dangerous to have any
@tezos
in my wallet apparently, i see pretty things at 1 tez & i see no reason not to swap them ...
@hicetnunc2000
. just want to amass a beautiful digital collection and fawn over all this digital-native creativity. it all started with
@tezosnftfaucet
!
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when i interview an artist, i ask them to desc their practice -> what is it that you do? how do you do it? i read tweets that said, maybe you just felt like it. yeah cool! lots of artists now deeply respected & loved created their iconic works out of just 'feeling like it' 4/13
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A surprise shoutout by
@CozomoMedici
has prompted friends to share kind and generous words of my work in the thread and I’m feeling very grateful and warm for all this love, especially on the day of the exhibition’s closing 💗
Glad you all liked this show. Here’s to many more!
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snapshots into the show:
@_deafbeef
's series 4 glitchbox - token 165 and series 0 synth poems - token 19, displayed on black CRTs on a black box, with headsets
on loan from
@Vince_Van_Dough
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Honoured to be joining
@FingerprintsDAO
’s curation committee with some of best
@MPtherealmvp
@_deafbeef
@DavidLisser
@shamrock_xyz
@ChainLeftist
@aradtski
@plutoniumfitzg
@klamt_eth
@bplaytolearn
🦋
@claracxw
is a curator and art writer based in Singapore. She’s curated numerous projects on art on the blockchain, including “Notes From the Ether” (2023) at ArtScience Museum, Art Dubai Digital 2023, and “Right Click + Save” (2021). She is also the founder of NFT Asia.
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Excited to share I've been selected for DECK's Associate Creative Programme 💫
Titled “The Unstable Image”, my project will look into the field of post-photography. Over the next few months, I'll be conducting research & working closely with artists towards an IRL exhibition 🧵
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Thanks
@CozomoMedici
for the shoutout and even more so, the friends and collaborators who shared kind words about my work 💫
Hopefully these discussions can help us move towards fairer conditions for curators
cc
@shavonnewong_
@sixela_nft
@cyber_yuyu
for pinging me about this!
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A first look at the install documentation of "Proof of Concept"🪄
Clockwise:
1. Gerhard by
@lennyjpg
x
@RichardNadler1
2. Dreaming at Dusk by
@ix_shells
3. Lifeforms by
@isthisanart_
4. Protoglyph & Autoglyphs by
@larvalabs
and Within/Without by
@aaronpenne
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I’ve been speaking with a few institutions and most of them expressed they are open to collect NFTs, but would be more interested in artists they already have relationships with or can get to know over time, so rapid or time-based auctions often don’t work for them
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A curator needs to be well versed in a very wide range of topics and knowledge fields
Yesterday I attended a discussion on biowarfare, today I met an artist and we talked about Buddhist philosophy, and tomorrow I’ll see an exhibition on cosmos and the universe
🤯
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I have been curating at least one exhibition focused on art on the blockchain since 2021, so that's 3 major IRL shows so far (and a few more). And it looks like we are on track to continue this pattern in 2024 💫
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Do you know how long it takes to install an exhibition with over 100 artworks? Well I’m learning about it now through experience
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Went to an opening today and ran into a collector I had not seen in two years, and she was raving to another collector about how the show I curated in 2021 was the best NFT exhibition she had seen and it opened her eyes up to this world 🥹
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I’m so proud of the
@NFTAsiaOfficial
team that brought our community to
@artdubai
. We loved meet everyone here in Dubai!
I promise this is only the start. Here’s to many more exhibitions, irl events and meetups to come for NFT Asia.
Big things brewing ❤️
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Spoke about NFTs and
@NFTAsiaOfficial
at National Gallery of Singapore's annual gala tonight. One for the books!
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this is the first time they are getting paid for 'their own work', where they execute their own vision, have ownership over their work and maybe even get paid for it. this seems to be one of the main draws to create NFTs. so speaking abt ur work may be a newer challenge! 8/13
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It’s funny how some of you mock curators, art writers and critics for their artspeak and ask to do better, only to proceed to write the most obfuscating artwork descriptions possible 🤷♀️
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i'm also open to short chats or giving anyone's writing a quick read. but how you tell your 'story' or talk about yourself - that's all you. i can only give suggestions or ask qns to expand. will look to build resources on this when i have time 12/13
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Find yourself collectors that will look at your art the way I look at my simple but scrumptious lunch 🥢
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my essay is out
@SuperRare
💎
i look at the works of
@missalsimpson
@money_alotta
@Coldie
@XCOPYART
@MattiaC
@thesarahshow
@MattKaneArtist
@osinachiart
@janne_limited
and the (inevitable) digital art condition their works speak to.
thanks
@lukewhyte
!
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This past month, I have been busy working on "Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics", a major exhibition with over 100 artworks which opened on the occasion of Singapore Art Week
This show has been many years in the making, and I am fortunate to have served as assistant curator
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@SharedVerse
Tiki runs regular practice pitches sessions for
@nft_asia
w/ the team's support. it's a place to practice & introduce yourself. take the opp to get comfortable. when you have sth to say, sometimes hearing yourself out loud helps you figure out how to get better 11/13
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sometimes i'll be introduced to someone or i'll get on a call and people will just talk down to me or talk over me because i just look like a smol asian girl
but hey, i made it to the same table that you're sitting at, didn't i?
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from my lecture today:
i bring up RarePepe’s whenever i talk about the history of crypto art now, from the online forums in 2014/5, sales on eBay, Counterparty etc to put in context that ppl have been seeing financial value in Jpegs and memes for years now, not just with NFTs
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1/ It's been a pleasure curating and organising A Screen of One's Own,
@NFTAsiaOfficial
's exhibition during NFTNYC
Ft 30 works selected from an open call of 800 submissions, this show presents a look into the artists' self-explorations and reflections of one's internal world
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another qns that comes up frequently in the NFT talks seems to be: how did you become an NFT artist? there's 2 parts to it. (1) how did u start making art, (2) how did you come to work with NFTs - not necessarily in that order 6/13
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It's been a few days since
@NFTAsiaOfficial
x
@SuperchiefNFT
's exhibition, but I am still swimming in the vortex of chaos that is NFT NYC and trying to process all that has happened
Long post incoming soon...ish!
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when i said i wanted to be a curator, no one warned me about how much socialising and networking it would involve
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I’ve been a little busy with irl projects recently 💫
Last week, we hosted The Unstable Image, a symposium around post-photography. This weekend, we opened “a seed, a shift and a lost pineapple”. Both curated by yours truly 🌱
Now it’s time for me to catch up with NFTland 👀
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many artists creating in this space do not come from trad visual arts background - maybe it's commercial photog, character design, graphic illustration, so you have these experiences that inform your understanding of aesthetics and what it means to construct an image 7/13
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if you want more resources, i suggest reading arts media or museum sites to develop some familiarity. we all start somewhere. if i don't know how to write in a genre/style, i look for examples, understand the framework, what works what doesn't, then do it in my own words 9/13
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The downside of prioritising the market over any other aspect of the ecosystem is that all roles become in service of the market, whereas in other systems, the market can be in service of and serviced by discourse, experimentation etc
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As an aside, I just want to say I've spent *a lot* of time holed up writing applications for grants, fellowships & more this past year. I nearly skipped out on this one because I thought I would just get rejected again.
So keep on keeping on, I guess. You never know
Excited to share I've been selected for DECK's Associate Creative Programme 💫
Titled “The Unstable Image”, my project will look into the field of post-photography. Over the next few months, I'll be conducting research & working closely with artists towards an IRL exhibition 🧵
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in a few days, i will be in dubai with some of
@NFTAsiaOfficial
's team as part of
@artdubai
. i'll also be speaking at the global art forum, representing NFT Asia, alongside artists and arts workers i admire.
who would've thought we would be here in just a year's time?
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I’m surprised by how many people continue to be dismissive towards anything “trad art” and then blame the art world for not being more invested in NFTs when you’re not even willing to engage with wider art trends outside of twitter. How exactly did you see bridging happening?
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i am thrilled to share that my article is out on
@hyperallergic
! can't describe how it feels to see my name on their front page
a love letters of sorts to hic et nunc, i reflect on how i've viewed the site through its ups & downs
artwork by
@lennyjpg
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Install shots of
@Reuben_Wu
x
@PasanenJenni
’s METAMORPHE series, exhibited in Singapore earlier this month
Thank you to the artists and the collectors
@lifeofc
@jmpailhon
for graciously supporting us in sharing their works in this part of the world 🌐
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watch interviews of artists you resonate with or look up to. but also remember that what works in a contemp arts context may not work here, so also think about business pitches and digital marketing. it's a lot! so take your time with it too 10/13
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snapshots into the show:
i chose to frame these rare pepe cards as with glass backing to mimic trading card cases & stay true to its origins as a rare collectible. bonus that the concrete walls echoes the grey used in both cards
on loan from
@Vince_Van_Dough
@StarryNight_Cap
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I’ve been lucky to curate at least one large-scale exhibition engaged with art on the blockchain each year since 2021, with this year being especially productive from “Proof of Concept” in January, Art Dubai Digital in March, and “Notes From the Ether” in August.
What’s next?
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Many artists came into NFTs being sold this vision of a more horizontal & creator-centric economy
Watching how quickly platforms have gone back on this after making money off artists' backs is a stark reminder that the system will not change unless we come together & build it so
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Featuring artworks by
@thesarahshow
@beeple
@dmitricherniak
@tylerxhobbs
@refikanadol
@SarahMeyohas
@XCOPYART
@robertalice_21
@rafagrassetti
@_deafbeef
@Coldie
Andy Warhol & Rare Pepes
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I’m on my first break after six months of pulling a lot of long nights and working over the weekends
Out here trying to be blissful and unbothered ☀️
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thank you so much to everyone who tuned into my presentation in the
@nft_asia
discord on a sunday night ❤️ special shoutout to
@shavonnewong_
for helping me with the livestream! i can't believe people actually showed up to listen to me talk for 1h straight... and stayed 🥺
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Right Click + Save, held by Coinhako x Appetite, officially closes today. It was Singapore's foremost NFT exhibition, bringing together important crypto artists, collectors and more. With this, we sought to curate an immersive experience to introduce new audiences to NFT art 1/7
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woke up at 5am and was sent into a deep spiral wondering if there was still space for someone like me, who isn't a creator nor serious collector (aka not active market participant) within the NFT space, or have i simply held onto this for too long. what more value can i bring?
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It feels a little overdue that after a year of creating this community, that I am finally curating an exhibition for
@NFTAsiaOfficial
. Undoubtedly, the highlight of my discord + twitter career ⭐️
Excited to share it with you all at
@SuperchiefNFT
on June 18-19 💞
✨𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁✨
We are pleased to announce, A Screen of One's Own, will feature over 30 artists from NFT Asia's community. We will also be selecting more artists as part of the programme, stay tuned!
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It doesn’t matter who stayed vs who left during the bear. Artists do not need to commit to a singular market, but they need to commit to their practice, and they *should* seek alternative support for their livelihood and to sustain their practice if they couldn’t find it here.
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it's cool to see many bought into
@capsule_house
for the art + the potential of two prolific artists on the rise
@seerlight
@Kaejunni
. and as the project grew, the team is rewarding its long-term holders with more art, no other specific utility, literally art
disclaimer: i own 2
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Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, Can't Help Myself (2016)
The robot is programmed to contain the liquid within a predetermined area, continuously shoves the liquid back when it flows. Maybe a reflection of our increasingly automated global reality 6/6
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I know you think curating is some sexy fancy job but you don’t know how much time I spend staring at floorplans and blank walls
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