NEXT WEEK: JPG x Botto Access Pass and Market Makers Exhibition in Berlin
Never a dull week at JPG :)
Hi everyone! First of all, and before diving into the access pass free mints (Botto’s and my free wine/free beer Exhibition drop), this week we finally went live with Natural Static by Jonathan Chomko and Generative Art Beyond the Algorithm by Brian Droitcour. If you haven’t checked them still, you’re well on time. Mint closes on Monday and the exhibition will continue :)
We also had a really succesful IRL show for the Natural Static drop in NYC. Install photos can be found here and they are incredible.
Market Makers in Berlin
In March this year I got a really weird e-mail, from a German bank, the Berliner Volksbank, which also happens to be one of the largest cooperatives in Europe. They wanted us to curate an NFT show. Trent and I were in Dubai when I got it and at first I thought it was a troll, but it was very real. We rushed to whip up a proposal for an exhibition that would combine artworks from the Bank’s Foundation, that collects works from the former Eastern Germany, and NFTs.
Our penchant for the beauty in blockchain art and art related to economics came perfectly for this proposal, and we did win the tender process. Ever since then, we’ve been working with Stina Gustafsson, Chris Dake-Outhet and Simon Denny in curating and producing this exhibition from scratch.
The opening is now next Wednesday. I am very happy about it so I contacted a local wine shop and set up a natural wine bar on the street for that day. I also bought 625 beers (and 640 bottles of water), since it’s gonna be a 3 day event and people need to stay cute and hydrated. Here’s the invite, if you are in Berlin, it’ll be worth your time.
On Saturday, we’ll have Harm van den Dorpel, Sarah Friend, Malte Rausch (Glitch Marfa), Anne Schwanz (Office Impart) and Paul Seidler (he’s one of the terra0s) do talks, we’ll also have tours, and an open bar. Come through.
Botto Access Pass for JPG’s Canonicon holders :)
Mint date: 12pm EST Monday, October 2nd, 2023
Wait, what is Botto, María Paula? why so many new things?
Botto is an experiment by Mario Klingemann (a.k.a. Quasimondo) and software collective ElevenYellow to create an autonomous machine artist. Botto’s artistic capabilities are based on a closed loop system of generative AI models that create thousands of images every week. The image creation is fully autonomous, there is no manipulation of its prompts or images. However, the state of technology still requires Botto to get feedback to develop an aesthetic that aligns with what people want in art. That feedback is provided by BottoDAO, an open community of people who tell Botto what they think qualifies as art and whose votes train Botto’s models. The members of BottoDAO vote on the pieces and the most popular one then becomes a canonical Botto artwork, minted and sold as an NFT. 50% of the ETH proceeds go directly to voters and the other 50% to the DAO treasury to manage Botto, in effect creating a decentralized economy that autonomously sustains Botto.
Mint url: https://www.botto.com/access/jpg-access-pass
Eligibility: Anybody who is a Canonicon holder can mint a JPG x Botto Access Pass, either with the vault storing the NFT, or a delegate from that vault.
Specifications for the JPG Access Pass:
Generates 100 Voting Points (VP) per day, equivalent to what 700 $BOTTO would generate.
VP provides access to training Botto and curate its art that goes into auction each week.
Provides eligibility to claim 1,000 $BOTTO upon completion of Botto’s Onboarding Bounties. Limited to the first 50 successful claims.
Access Passes start as blank canvases during a given Botto period (more info on periods on Botto’s docs). At the end of that period, which is currently called ‘Absurdism’, the most voted fragment by JPG Access Pass holders will paint itself on the metal card, giving it a unique look and meaning for the rest of time. Examples of this can be found on the Access Passes OpenSea Collection.
In the meantime, we suggest you take a quick look at the #getting-started channel inside the Botto Discord to answer most common questions, or to say hi in #general.
More interesting links across the JPGverse
FEMGEN - Vertical Crypto’s exhibition. The collecting period has passed, but the exhibition and the artists are a 100. Check it out.
Brian L. Frye’s written another brilliant thing - A Brief History of NFTs. Compulsory reading, honestly.
Benny Giang is a prophet. I love his work. I will write about him in a newsletter soon when i get some free hours, but his lil info drop here is a pretty good primer. I got on a call with him a few weeks ago, and his ideas on NPCs were so fun and inspiring (grateful for Misha that shares these things on our Discord so I can find them easily)
I am lately extremely into Arttab (ty Nic) - really worth a download and try. Doing the God’s work for us jpeg purveyoooors
Speaking about Nic, he released a new thing to his NUX fans and holders, NUXBLUE. Such a treat :)
That’s it for this week - till we meet again.