What we’ve been minting at JPG
Consider this newsletter instalment as an equivalent of Vogue’s “What’s in my bag” features, except our bags are not full of make-up and snacks, but of grief and illiquid jpegs.
A collector is an artist is a builder is a creator is a friend is a supporter. In this industry, we all wear all of the hats, ad aeternus.
Today, we’ll take a look at JPG’s (at the moment, Trent, MP and Nic) wallets and see what we have been minting (or have been gifted - sometimes we get lucky like that).
DISCLAIMER: NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE, THIS IS CULTURAL ADVICE. AND NO REFUNDS.
mariapaula.eth
Viper: Billy Rennekamp + Joon + Folia
I unfortunately missed this mint because at the time it launched, I was busy queueing for a drink at an art show opening in Berlin. I did pick two vipers off Blur (thank you flippers) almost at mint price, Yudder and Gobber. The way the snakes are programmed allows you to “Bite” others through a very simple interface, and once you bite those people, they get an NFT commemorating your on-chain aggressiveness. Viper precedes the incredible Kudzu, the NFT virus that never leaves your wallet, also co-created by Billy and Folia.
Gemma’s editions: Petra Cortright, Addie Wagenknecht, Serwah Attafuah, and more
The culture fund Gemma, who we love to love since they’re digital art OGs that care deeply about what they put out and the ways they leverage their platform to focus on meaning and curation. Lindsay, the co-founder, told us in one of our Café JPG spaces, how she organized one of the very first sales for digital art, as ever since she started her career she’s made it her goal to create a market for this genre - and we all know she succeeded, since now we got EN EF TEES.
I minted their manifesto, their first drop Mantras for Artists, and they’ve been doing drops with incredible artists. My favorites so far have been Flowers for Gemma by Petra Cortright, Addie Wagenknecht Zoom Painting, and the latest one Assantee by Serwah Attafuah. All artworks are still minting - find them here.
(little note, since all three of us minted different Gemma editions or got the manifesto, i’ll skip them on Nic’s and Trent’s wallet diving)
Dirt Subscriber NFT
Dirt is a really fun media platform. I had been subscribed to their (unpaid) newsletter for a while, and had big FOMO since i could not read the articles, so supporting them (and getting full access to the content) made sense. The one I got is a generative work by Amber Vittoria, but there’s also a founder pass by Monica Rizzoli.
Miles Peyton + Yeche Lange’s OBAA
OBAA’s a blob ecosystem of marine beings that feed off the bottom of the ocean, and of course, end up swallowing an insane amount of microplastics while trying to find sustenance. Eventually, my favorite bottom feeder will die, that’s how it was programmed. I love Momalaoo, that’s her name, and so I’m dreading the day, since also unfortunately she has been programmed to feed on heavy microplastics, but I love even more the idea of mortal NFTs that Miles proposes here.
The Boys of Summer by Mitch and Energetic Beings by Pixlpa
Since I already featured these two in our latest newsletter just a week ago, I just wanted to briefly mention them as they are of course in my wallet after all.
I also spent time playing The Boys of Summer (Mitch gifted me Trent’s likeness pfp to play with it!) and really enjoyed deciding over his future.
Trent got gifted by Mitchell my likeness, so he’s also having fun with it.
Trente.eth
Most Accidents Happen at Home by Jonas Lund
Jonas has been making artwork with the blockchain since quite early. One of his first experiments was the awesome Jonas Lund Token, one of the original artshitcoins, in 2018-2019. Most Accidents Happen at Home was minted on Wild, and I am not Trent, but I know he probably minted them because it’s a super fun artwork.
This one Trent collected in particular really gets me with the traits:
“Dddcda” - Jonas Lund
Vs. by Paul Pfeiffer
Released by ARTWRLD, Paul Pfeiffer’s videos show the wrestler Manny Pacquiao fighting against invisible enemies. I find this drop especially interesting as it is a concept and a resource that I have not seen in NFTs before. On top of that, the images are freaking awesome.
Mayhem by Max Capacity
Oh my god these are beautiful. Analog VHS video glitch of cars exploding. There’s something deeply satisfying about these three videos, editioned via Zora.
Max mints regularly through Manifold and objkt.com. Their last Manifold OE (already closed) is actually amazing.
Sum by Duane King
Duane’s a real design OG with incredible stories to tell. If you ever have the pleasure of meeting him, ask him about his career - won’t give you any spoilers because you gotta hear it from him.
An on-chain reflection of each holder, Sum has been launched on Highlight.xyz, alongside a fantastic educational blogpost that explains process, inspiration and much more - a must read for everyone wanting to delve deeper into Duane’s mind.
Nichamilton.eth
Money Making Opportunity by Stevie P.
It is, what it says it is. And Nic, being a profit maxi minted many of them. Money Making Opportunity shows a square. In neon colors. And three promising words: Money Making Opportunity. Once again, Steve shows that scams are not only the blockchain’s main use-case, or SBF’s main kink, but also, can be an artistic medium.
MMO’s future is still to be decided, since it’s a collaboration game, and the blockchain’s second main use-case is not collaboration or coordination, but extraction. So we’ll see what happens.
Lost Home Worlds by Sam Hains (main article image)
Immersive micro-worlds, a killer website, great visuals and a very talented artist as a creator. This project has it all. Did I mention Nic was Sam’s mentor during his Wild Residency? No? Well now you know.
It’s so much fun to lose yourself inside Sam’s little metametaverses. While mint has passed, you can still pick up very reasonably priced ones on Opensea. Not investment advice, but cultural advice.
Tarot Code Reader + Psychedelic Islands by Sten
Full disclosure: at JPG we really like Sten. Like REALLY. Sten’s been making her way as an NFT artiste ever since her Tarot Code release back last year. She learned how to code, took 113’s (Terraforms creator) courses, where she expanded her skillset even more.
Her latest project, Tarot Code Reader, is truly next level. Minted as an Open Edition, it provides the holder with what everyone on crypto twitter really needs: life advice from a more reliable source of information and sound thinking, like a website. I asked the reader whether i’ll get married or not, and it showed me this advice card:
Thank god it did, because we actually have our wedding venue booked. Big success for Sten, and a relief for myself. IT WORKS.
I hope you enjoyed this selection of things we have been minting. We try to share everything (plus allowlists) on the JPG discord for our community, so you know where to find more alpha.
Finally, there are three exhibitions coming up to the JPG-verse:
August 19th to September 24th in Singapore: Notes from the Ether, curated by Clara Wei Peh, at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, opening tomorrow. The exhibition includes Social Contracts, the project by Arikan launched by JPG. The Social Contract that will be shown has been transferred from wallet to wallet by some of our favorite people: Sam Hart, Billy Rennekamp, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, Sarah Friend and Simon Denny. If you are in Singapore, or plan being there, go visit. Truly incredible artists + a fantastic curator, you won’t regret it.
September 8th to October 20th in Berlin: Sandbox Mode, curated by Office Impart, Stina Gustavsson and yours truly. With Mitchell Chan (we’re showing The Boys of Summer for the first time in a show!) The Roedalming Group, Sara Ludy, Cezar Mocan, Stine Deja and Andreas Gysin. Join us for the Opening if you are around! (free wine)
October 5th to 7th in Berlin: Market Makers, curated by JPG, Chris Dake-Outhet, Stina Gustavsson and Simon Denny. With Fini, Sarah Meyohas, Stevie P, Mitchell Chan, Keiken, Sarah Friend, Billy Rennekamp, Jeff Davis, and more. Full list coming soon, plus invite to talks.
There are more things coming up very soon for JPG + our friends, so make sure to follow us everywhere.