**Collectors must burn (1) HISTORY OF CRYPTOART - left, (1) HISTORY OF CRYPTOART - center, AND (1) HISTORY OF CRYPTOART - right in order to receive the full piece.**

Ninety portraits of ninety artists who helped build this space from scratch. A space of decentralized fun, love and opportunities.  Ninety portraits in one piece. A piece that reminds us on whose shoulders we all stand on. A piece that leads us to the initial values of this movement, but without ceasing to embrace the expansion of recent years.  Inspired by Mexican muralism, our community and by every artist portrayed in this work...this is a history of cryptoart.  


They appear in this work in no particular order:  


Matt Kane / Xcopy / Josie / Coldie / Carlos Marcial / Alotta Money / Fewocious / Eclectic Method / Osinachi / Bea and Judy from Dada / Hackatao / Moxarra / Neurocolor / Kitty Bast / Beeple / Stina Jones / Robness / Artnome / Yosnier / Fabio Giampietro / Ann Ahoy / Frenetik Void / Raf Grassetti / Micah Johnson / WGMeets / Pranksy / Jose Delbo / Olive Allen / Katy Arrington / Pak / Skygolpe / Rutger van der Tas / GusGrillasca / Bryan Brinkman / Xelda Jara / 3LAU / Trevor Jones / Mattia Cuttini / Gisel Florez / Travis LeRoy Southworth / Sarah Zucker / Lucho Poletti / Jivinci / Refik Anadol / Sparrow / Billelis / Lethabo / Rare Pepe / Mad Dog Jones / Videodrome / Angie Taylor / Fvckrender / Victor Mosquera / Pindar Van Arman / Miss Al Simpson / Stellabelle / Norman Harman / Hex6c / Kristy Glas / Fabiano Speziari / Martin Lukas Ostachowski / Slimesunday / Oficinastk / Giant Swan / MightyMoose / Max Osiris / Lapin Mignon / Shortcut / Kevin Abosch / Joy / Gary Cartlidge / Leozeba / Pascal Boyart / Bard Ionson / Rare Scrilla / Daniella Attfield / HairofMedusa / Yusaymon / Rhea Myers / Mbsjq / Killer Acid / Danil Pan / George Boya / Snowfro / Tyler Hobbs / Ekaitza / Dmitri Cherniak / Han / Parrott / Yura Miron / Manolo Gamboa Naon.

A HISTORY OF CRYPTOART #27/131

The Decagon is the infinitely evolving, always unique, and eternally open membership token of the Decaverse. Designed by Kjetil Golid.

Decagon #24852

Matt Kane

CryptoPunk #4244

CC0 is a CC0 is a CC0.

legacy of a Rose
(after Gertrude Stein x Kevin Rose)

Etch #2469

Color and motion study of the bottom right flourish located on the U.S. one-dollar bill. 

Dimensions: 720 x 720 pixels.  
Frames: 240. 
Layers: 38 consolidated to 22.
Colors: 24.
Total Shapes: 479,477.
Vertices: 957,300.
Ellipses: 64,055.
Rect: 29,213.
Triangle: 132.
Other shapes: 18.
Line: 386,059.

Another Dime

This is the control token for \"Right Place & Right Time (Bitcoin Hourly Price Offset).\" It serves to keep the master as a work-in-progress the artist continues to influence. In addition to controlling sensitivity values associated with the artist's algorithm, it includes artwork state, alpha, hue, color, saturation, and brightness. \"I've long believed in blending my own humanity with the algorithms I write. Because Bitcoin has a long story to tell into the future, I've taken careful considerations in the crafting of this work. While the composition of the new daily image is controlled solely by price volatility, I'll continue to consider aesthetic concerns; to react to events which inspire the hand of the artist.\"

Artist's Intent - Bitcoin Hourly Price Offset

Since the dawn of humanity, the Moon's phases have fascinated humans, influencing any number of activities on Earth including ocean tides, seasons, harvests, migrations, hunting, crime, sleeping, sex, and has inspired countless works of art. The first lunar calendar, dated to 32,000 BC was discovered, drawn on animal bone in caves. It's believed hunters during the last Ice Age used these portable lunar calendars to anticipate the behavior of different animals like Mammoths. Since then, our Moon has been imprinted across all our ancient and modern cultures, even becoming the system from which our Gregorian calendar evolved from. In the present day, investors in crypto have used the Moon symbolically. 

What does it mean for all of us in crypto to be so ahead of our time, all while using the same metaphor of the Moon for the various measures of success and individual goals we collectively share in crypto? And how will the future appreciate our ambitions and perseverance within the present moment's growing pains on our way to mass adoption? These are some of the questions that Gazers ask.

On the surface, Gazers function as a lunar calendar, algorithmically synching closely with Moon phases in the sky, joining the blockchain with one of humanity's longest running lineages in art. Gazers seeks to create a community of collectors celebrating the change of our perceptions that happen over time, our collective goals in crypto, and our love of color theory, astronomy, and generative art. 

What we are building in blockchain and NFTs will primarily be for the benefit of the future. As such, this artwork was designed to pace itself and speed up its frame rate over time, scaling into anticipated advancements in technology that will steadily allow the artwork to run at faster speeds while at larger scales. Each NFT starts out with the assignment of a date from the past 20 years. These dates correspond to events that happened under particular New Moons that shaped my path as an artist. This is the Origin Moon trait and how Gazers is in part a conceptual self portrait. 

Starting from the Origin Moon, each New Moon that arrives will speed up the potential animation of the NFT. For example, an NFT with a 20 year old Origin Moon might run at 20 frames per second, appearing as an animation. But one with an Origin Moon fresh from the sale will run closer to 1 frame per second, appearing more like a slowly evolving painting. Every moment, the frame rate of the artwork speeds up fractionally, indecipherable to our eyes. Stacking these advancements over time creates a generational evolution of experience. There is something undeniably beautiful about everything speeding up within our lifetimes, but the Moon, high above us, continues to carry on at the same meandering rate of 29.53 days in each cycle. Much like these blockchain technologies and NFT markets, this artwork was designed to be collected by the present, but appreciated in a greater sense than we can even imagine by the future. 

I created Gazers to be like a living artwork, to be lived with, and to not only have the artwork evolve over time but also the appreciation and experience of viewers. As I coded the work, I imagined it hanging on the wall of collectors, a fixture in their physical space. Collectors might spend a moment admiring their work, walk away for a couple hours, and then come back to be delighted, noticing the most subtle of shifts. Each layer of the work consists of pattern designs. With the passage of time, the thickness of the layered lines pulse and the direction a design moves will advance or rotate, changing our perception of color in the most subtle and optical of ways. Each day at midnight, each layer receives a new set of rules in terms of how to rise or shine over the next 24 hours. The result is color that rises and sets, echoing the change of light in our sky.

My use of color has consistently been what I've been best known for across my 20 year artistic career. In all my work until now, I've made all the color and design choices as I've painted as a human in the moment. But in Gazers, I designed a complex system around color theory as I understand it, joining my talent for coding with my vision for color. 

Many NFT collectors of my work might be familiar with the additional experiences some of their NFTs unlock at my website. Rather than use a Gazers NFT to unlock a website, I decided this time to create rendering modes that unlock within the code over time. These additional modes of viewing are intended to help a collector better understand the architecture of their artwork's design and also benefit from greater enjoyment of it. The addition of these experiences should present an additional benefit to HODLing for some. 

Every 29 and a half days, we reach a Moon phase called the New Moon. This is when the dark side of the Moon is fully visible and no sunlight is reflected from the lunar surface back to Earth. In Gazers, each New Moon phase creates a New Moon design. In this artwork, the hash seed creates color theory and design rules. These rules are deterministic and dictate all the moons that will generatively be created into infinity. Time reveals our moons. Pairing time with deterministic generative code creates the ephemeral moment. We can all agree that looking at the Moon in the sky never seems to be the exact same experience twice, nor the exact same from different locations. I wanted to echo this nature in Gazers and emphasize the urgency and rarity of our present moment and how an artwork can capture this. 

As individuals, we all have our own version of the Moon and what reaching it means. Just as our goals change over time, often subtly, sometimes dramatically, so will our moons, creating a visual representation that might coincide with what's changing inside of us. In crypto, we are all ahead of our time. We are all gazers. And we are all waiting for our next Moon.

Gazers #88

🚀🌝🎟️ 225

Conceived on April 10, 2019. Animated on June 10, 2021. 

NFT owner unlocks exclusive access to 8K & 4K video files & more at NFT Portal: https://collect.mattkane.com/minted-works/m87-black-hole-deconstruction-9/ 

Minted Resolution: 1920x1920. Made with Matt Kane's custom Digital Art Studio software using Processing.org and Java. 

The present work features in “Bonhams & SuperRare: CryptOGs, The Pioneers of NFT Art, June 21st-30th 2021”, Lot 3” and can be found at the following link: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27285/lot/3/ 

M87 Black Hole Deconstruction #9

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” 

Anais Nin

Growing up my father used to love to say to me: “Edgar, friends are always more important and valuable than money, don’t ever forget that.” It’s a phrase I heard so often that I feel like it’s now become a part of my essence, forever embedded in my DNA. 

It was also one of the first things that was said to me about web3, NFTs, and cryptoart when Sarah Zucker introduced me to them back in 2020. 

Sarah and I agreed to speak for the first time about NFTs and cryptoart on October 19, 2020. I vividly remember Sarah sharing that she felt like I would really resonate with the technology, the communities, and the ethos emerging around them. She also shared that she wanted to invite me into the space so that we could talk as friends about the experience, the process, the evolution, and of course, being friends who love to gab: the GOSSIP, drama, and the possibilities found within this newly forged space. She emphasized that NFTs were really about relationship building and creating connections with artists and collectors. As an artist with an extensive background in creating digitally native and screen based works, who also has a penchant for collaboration, community building, and networking, this invitation definitely piqued my interest. 

By this time Sarah and I had already developed a deeply nourishing, fun, playful, and inspiring friendship. Having collaborated in the past on performance projects, exhibitions, installations, and more, Sarah and I had also found a deep kinship in being able to share about the many ups, downs, and all-arounds that being an artist and a public persona comes with. We had also become each other’s cheerleaders & supporters. I was enamored with Sarah’s visionary gifts, her ability to tell enchanting stories, and her diverse yet complimentary skills as an artist and community leader. 

We had both also connected extensively around the fact that we use social media, the internet, and screen based technologies to share our art and our messages with our communities. Before NFTs, the gems we made were created with the hope that they’d be shared, liked, amplified, and help draw attention to us as artists. It was mind blowing for me to come to understand that NFTs meant that, for the first time in our lives, there was a technology available to us for editioning our artwork and taking control of our artistic futures. With the inclusion of royalties in the contracts, it also meant that we could sell our work with the possibility of being rewarded for our hard work in the future, a revolutionary improvement to the current experience I had been having as an artist with relative success in the traditional art world. 

By the time I entered into the NFT scene in late 2020, I had already had two solo exhibitions at museums in two different states, one in Los Angeles at the Vincent Price Art Museum, and the second at Oregon Contemporary in Portland, Oregon. I was living in Oklahoma at the time finishing up a two year artist residency in Tulsa and had just started attending the University of California, Berkeley’s MFA program in art. It was also months into the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter uprising, and so much more. It was a tumultuos and uncertain time and a time that also felt incredibly mutable and plastic. It felt like the perfect time for me to jump into a new venture and to begin my exploration of this brand new world that had been so generously laid out before me. 

Sarah was kind enough to send over $15 worth of ETH so that I could mint my first artwork. Little did I know that a few months later, minting prices would go up by hundreds and, at times, even thousands of dollars. Thankfully I minted my first NFT about a month after our initial conversation on November 23, 2020 on Rarible. Mutant Key To The Post Internet became my genesis token and was a way for me to claim that I was evolving as an artist and that the Internet was too. We were evolving together. Not only that but this artwork was the first piece I had ever made using both some of my well known collage art as well as some new experimentations in coding and animation. This piece felt very much like a bridge between my past self and the infinite possibilities found in my future mutations. Not only were NFTs giving me a place to edition and share my artwork, they were also giving me permission to explore new technologies and experiment with new ways of creating and existing as an artist. 

I was pleasantly surprised and excited to see some of these editions get collected by artists I respected and saw as pioneers in this brand new world; people I also considered to be my friends. 

I knew that one of the first things I wanted to do with some of the eth I had made from selling these editions was to collect some of Sarah’s artwork. Thankfully, a few days later, on November 27, 2020, I had the perfect opportunity to do so. I saw one of her 10 editions of Vapor Prism available on Known Origin for .18 eth, which was $90 at the time. This artwork felt like the perfect first piece to collect from Sarah. I was enthralled with the piece’s signature colors of blue and pink, and it featured Sarah’s now iconic use of the analog vhs feedback glitch in creating the piece. The neverending loop felt like such a breath of fresh air for me, a world I could live in forever, a new dimension to play in, and the possibility found within the slippery, liminal space of the glitch. Here was the glitch in a form that felt functional and frivolous at the same time. Glitch as dancing bear, glitch as a grinning cheshire cat, glitch as joyous undulating magic that feels both familiar and uncannily new and unknown. This artwork made me feel like I was staring into the abyss of an alien yet eerily welcoming dimension, like I was glimpsing into the future and into the past at the same time. It was also a bridge like my first token, a portal, and a potent spell by a powerful light witch. As an artist who often works with divination and transcendental states in my artwork, this psychedelic vision felt like the perfect first artwork to add to my collection. 

But what felt most important was that I was collecting art by a friend of mine that I loved and that I wanted to see succeed and grow as an artist. I was adding to the story of them becoming a successful person in the cryptoart community and was lucky enough to also be able to be a part of that hxstory too. It brings me so much joy now to be able to share about this with all of you and to be able to share this story of the first NFT I ever collected. The first of what have now become hundreds and hundreds of stories and connections I have made in the cryptoart community. I am cherishing the preciousness of being able to share about this nascent history in this psychedelic, iterative, emergent way. Ever so grateful to Matt Kane for this invitation. A friend that I was fortunate enough to meet through Sarah and who has become a source of constant inspiration and leadership in our rhizomatic and prismatic communities. 


** Addendum **

I am adding another layer to this etch as it feels magical, personal, vulnerable, and I feel is very much in alignment with the ethos & intentions I feel Matt Kane has set out with this amazing project which is historicizing, documenting, contextualizing, and unifying our cryptoart communities using this exciting new process on the blockchain. 

So, a week ago, after seeing Matt Kane post Etch #1, I cried, I got so inspired, and could feel how deeply important this project & process was for our communities. I felt galvanized by Matt’s call to action, showing the world, our collectors, and our artistic communities that what we are doing here is so much more than money. We are creating new structures to hold & care for artists. We are envisioning a world where artists can thrive and share their truths. A world where artists get to have a say in their success, in their journeys, in their stories, and how in the ways we can benefit from them culturally, conceptually, and financially. 

I was so excited to share my first etch and got ready to mint it. And, as I tried to mint it, I realized that I did not have enough ethereum to do so. I had only a few cents left of ethereum after having spent all of it on artwork from other artists. I was forced to pause. 

I decided to reach out to my communities on Twitter and started “shilling” my artwork to them, hoping I’d get a collector to collect an artwork on the ethereum blockchain from me. After a few days of doing this and getting likes & retweets, but no collectors, I felt embarrassed and saddened by the fact that I had not sold art on the ethereum blockchain for months and didn’t have enough money to to mint this etch. 

I turned to some of my “CryptoQueers” friends and shared with them that I was feeling like a “failure” in the cryptoart world for not being able to sell my art and that it was hard to sit with the dissonance it caused me as I have been feeling quite the opposite in my traditional art practice and as a therapist & brujx. These friends kindly and caringly reminded me that this is a challenging time in the market, and that it is a feeling that others were also sharing. It was affirming and validating to know that I was not alone. We also shared that despite this being a challenging time in the space financially, many of us are here because of our connection to each other and our firm belief in what we are building together. 

To challenge this feeling, I decided to re-direct my attention towards the successes I have had in this space and was pleasantly reminded that I had sold one of my most important NFTs this year and, not only that, that I had sold it to none other than Matt Kane. 

I minted the performance art piece Mutant Fire as a part of Playboy & the Sevens Foundation’s exhibition on The Art of Gender and Sexuality. Matt collected it on January 17, 2022. I decided to post about it and to uplift and celebrate this grand achievement. This artwork is about finding your inner fire, embracing your inner freak, and trusting in the power of your magic. It felt so important to revisit this artwork and the spells & intentions I had imbued within it and to see it, again, in Matt Kane’s collection at this moment in my cryptoart career. 

Shortly after posting this, I received an email letting me know that one, then two, then three, four, five, and finally six pieces of mine sold on the tezos blockchain. It felt very much like the Universe responding to my sadness and to my previous statement of feeling like a “failure” during this challenging time in the cryptoart world. 

As if this wasn’t enough, the following day, Matt Kane retweeted my post on Mutant Fire and shared it with SuperRareroses aka SuperRare Zack when he asked: “Who’s not on SuperRare but should be?” 

Zack immediately DMed me and I was almost instantly onboarded onto SuperRare. I am still recovering from the whiplash of this and have been sitting with the meaning behind this brand new possibility in front of me. 

But, the icing on the cake, and the biggest *wink from the Universe* came on the following day after I announced publicly that I had been onboarded onto SuperRare. 

Matt Kane minted Etch #1606

"We believe in our magic. Our magic believes in us."

He made this etch in collaboration with my artwork, Mutant Fire. His words floored me. I felt so seen. I could see how he felt seen in my art. To learn that he has also felt empowered by my spell and that he returns to it and receives the magic that I imbued in it has deeply touched my heart. It’s reminded me that magic is organic, emergent, wild, and uncanny. It will reach out to you in the midst of your darkest and most unsure moments. Magic is real. We are magic. 

Matt was generous and kind enough to not only create this etch, but he also GIFTED this etch to me!!! It’s been a dream of mine to own a work by him and now I have one that he has made that was inspired by MY art! What?!!! 

And then I looked at my wallet and saw that the transfer of this token, somehow, had also transferred ethereum into my wallet and that it was JUST enough for me to be able to mint this etch….. 








Etch #1653

Words that start revolutions. Inspire generations. Make us human.

Now, these words can be etched onchain.

Etch is a powerful platform by Matt Kane and Deca.

Etch #2147

Etch by Matt Kane and Deca

It is our stories that echo, are retold, become adapted by culture and etched into time. You could not have known when you shared your story the wide-sweeping effects it would have then, now, and into the future. I felt your story. I wanted to lift you up by collecting your art that day. I knew what retelling your story could lead to because stories and context matter. 

996 days ago, I scribed to the Ethereum blockchain, encrypted to tx hash   0x58baf56a3125a007cd7d6dcf9aacb78317d8bdd6a132bb9caf315171bd13ed32: "Purchased out of respect, admiration, and appreciation of a great artist. Lawrence shared his story and turned the course of history. https://twitter.com/LawrenceLeeArt/status/1235428946491006976"

Today, I Etch my story of "Pilgrim" by Lawrence Lee as token #1 on this collaborative project I've created with Deca.

I collected the artwork, "Pilgrim," created by Lawrence Lee as an NFT from SuperRare on March 5th 2020. It was the morning after Lawrence shared his story on Twitter. Lawrence had replied to my own tweet in which I openly wished that more artists demonstrated they care about the innovation of secondary sale royalties in smart contracts.

Lawrence wrote: "Now that the secondary market is making me compete with my younger self, the lack of royalties is why I'm still working at 72. If I was receiving only 3-10% on the works being auctioned or sold through other secondary channels, I might actually be able to retire."

Instantly I knew Lawrence had given us a story to galvanize our community and humanize the many reasons artists participating in their own success is fair, right, and important. Lawrence is one of only a few artists who brought with them into the early cryptoart movement a fine arts career which had already spanned multiple decades. He'd already been there and done that, including all the good, bad, and the ugly of being a highly sought after gallery represented artist in the traditional art world. The wisdom Lawrence carries with him has proved priceless. 

In the days after Lawrence shared his story, I created a private Discord and invited about 20 artists to join and discuss what we hoped to achieve in terms of royalties. I'd previously tried stirring our community around the topic several months earlier when I realized SuperRare had dropped royalties from 10% down to 3%. Other platforms were at zero. My earlier attempt to lead a discussion seemed to fall on deaf ears, but with Lawrence's story and my own growing reputation, I felt the time was then and now to charge ahead. 

It was a dark and scary time at the beginning of the pandemic. Markets were crashing, airports were shutting down, employees were staying home, loved ones were getting sick and dying. It was a time of uncertainty and fear to say the least. All the while, a tiny but mighty band of cryptoartists were discussing how embedding royalties within the heart of our culture, now, before NFTs reach mainstream adoption, could transform the future. As cryptoartists, we understood blockchain to be the future of provenance. Striking this precedent on the ground floor of the culture around this new technology, we had an opportunity to change what we knew to be a historical wrong. The traditional art world had long asked artists like Lawrence to dedicate their lifetimes to building a career of exhibition history and reputation, which adds value to their past work, only to not be invited to participate in their own success when that same past work reaches the secondary sales market. All the while, artists are humans. Humans have the unfortunate habit of coming into this world with bodies that progressively break down in the aging process. Indeed, how does a society rectify asking an artist to compete with their younger self in the face of arthritis, cataracts, vision impairment, and any number of age related ailments? 

It wasn't just fear of COVID we were fighting in March of 2020. As digital artists, we had for the first time begun to see decent revenue from sales. A couple hundred, just over a thousand, and on some occasion a couple thousand dollars for our artworks. We were all hopeful we could soon quit our day jobs and make art full time. Any artist's dream! Taking a stand for royalties, on behalf of all artists, we had to be willing to risk the potential of being blacklisted by our collectors, investors, and partner platforms. After much internal discussion, we wrote a letter, ran a community campaign, and asked everyone to join us as allies in "creating this new art movement." Long story short, it wasn't just the artists who were interested in making this paradigm shift a real paradigm shift. For all of us in those days, it was a solid paradigm shift, not simply a hollow marketing phrase for VCs or investors to use in order to pump their bags. Artists, collectors, investors, and all the art NFT platforms got on board with adding artist royalties to our smart contracts. Artists now and into the future would participate in their own success and the value add they create by pushing ahead in their lives and careers as artists.

Many who have joined the space since early 2020 do not remember or appreciate that there was a time when NFT platforms did not offer royalties. Those of us here long enough remember when this was different. As someone who is often cited for leading this group in March of 2020, I must admit that it's doubtful I'd have lead any group or otherwise have success doing so without Lawrence sharing his story when he did. That's the power of sharing our stories and being in the right place at the right time.  

This artwork, "Pilgrim," was collected by me because I knew the power of Lawrence's words. Of all of Lawrence's work I had to choose from at the time, this piece echoed his story. One of mortality and morality. His image of a stylishly dressed skeleton  made me think of the powerful spirits that live within artists, all while these bodies we inhabit break down to eventually only remain as skeletons. As an artist who over a decade earlier abandoned a traditional art world I felt to be corrupt, only to find myself now at the heart of the cryptoart movement, perhaps I too am a sort of pilgrim? I love this painting by Lawrence. 

Today, as I Etch this story, discussion on Twitter suggests royalties are in danger. But royalties are not what I'm afraid we're in danger of losing. Our culture is in danger. In danger is the promise of our children being born into a more just world which values the humanity and contributions of all players. In danger is respecting the difference between a marketer and an artist. In danger is the integrity of this generation, of this technology, of this art movement. In danger is the very ethos of crypto which values the good of the many over the profit of the few. In danger is understanding the real value behind a borderless, censorship resistant technology. 

As the cryptoart movement innovated technology and finance, it also created and transformed culture. Lawrence was a key contributor to achieving the royalty standard across NFT platforms that artists receive secondary sale royalties through smart contract automation. The effect has been families of artists during a global pandemic thriving when they otherwise may have struggled. The effect has been a global awakening to all that continuing this paradigm shift as a real paradigm shift can have for the good of the many. The debate over whether artists deserve to participate in their own success has become a truth within our hearts now. For me, these changes begin with the power of Lawrence's story and the power of story telling and contextualization in general. For as much as these technologies change the world, the lone technology requiring change and networking is the human heart. 

I am grateful for you Lawrence. I'm blessed to know you as a colleague and a friend. It is my hope that many more than just me will want to lift you up, just as you and your story lifted so many of us up. Thank you Lawrence. 


Lift #21

Lift #1087

Lift by Matt Kane and Deca

We, cryptoartists, gather in this place to celebrate a new dawn for collaboration, creativity, and interaction between artist, collector, and art-lover alike. We hold these tokens to be self-evident, that all layers are created uniquely by individual artists, that each is endowed by their creator with specific immutable rights; that among these are state, rotation, scale, XY position, visibility, opacity, hue, and RGB. That whenever a token holder desires, it is their sole privilege to alter the value of these rights and constitute a new image.

First Supper

Gazers #858

Gazers #107

Gazers by Matt Kane

Resolution: 8K This is from my deconstruction series featuring the data of the painting I created of the M87 Black Hole the same day the historical image was released. 

M87 Black Hole Deconstruction #1

M87 Black Hole Deconstruction

Color and motion study after the 1890 U.S.A. One Dollar Treasury Note. 

NFT owner unlocks exclusive access to 8K video file (5120x8192) & more at NFT Portal: https://collect.mattkane.com/minted-works/breathe-in-the-bottom-and-blow-out-the-banks/
 
Minted Resolution: 1200 x 1920. Made with custom software using Processing.org and Java. Layers: 112. Colors: 279. Total Shapes: 419,837. Fill Shapes: 271,122. Stroke Shapes: 329,231. Fill & Stroke Shapes: 600,353. Vertices: 944,425. Ellipses: 153,760. Quad: 3,123. Rect: 116,219. Shapes: 637. Line: 146,092. Point: 6. 



Breathe In The Bottom And Blow Out The Banks

14 years ago in 2006, I began a series exploring the history and aesthetics of fiat currencies. This is the first in the resurrection of that series; the first time my abilities honor the ambition, vision, and moxie that a slightly younger version of myself demanded before work on the series could continue. We stand in agreement today, the 8th day of 2020, that we are at long last ready for the shuffle.

Resolution: 8K x 8K Approximate size @300 PPI retina screen: 26"x26" // 68cm x 68cm. Made with custom software using Processing.org and Java.

Layers: 45.
Colors: 25.
Total Shapes: 168,330. 
Vertices: 347,461. 
ellipses: 2,867. 
rectangles: 6,834. 
line: 158,629. 

Ready for the Shuffle

New Currencies

Each day, a new composition for the Master is generated autonomously using a data feed of Bitcoin's last 24 hours of price action. Each hour's price programmatically controls rotation, scale, and position of a correlating layer. Astute viewers will surmise the day's price volatility simply by examining the artwork. While the daily image generation is the result of autonomous API calls, utilizing an algorithm the artist wrote, the artist has chosen to retain a control token. This token allows him to fine-tune variables associated with his algorithm, in addition to addressing aesthetic concerns within the life-cycle of the artwork. Layer state, alpha, hue, saturation, and brightness are elements the artist has retained control of in order that this artwork remain a living work-in-progress.\n\nAn earlier iteration of this artwork was featured as a nightly projection mapping video on the face of the Daniels Fisher Clocktower, as part of ETH Denver 2020. Access to this and additional exclusive content awaits the master token owner at the artist's NFT Portal: https://collect.mattkane.com/minted-works/right-place-right-time-bitcoin-hourly-price-offset/

Right Place & Right Time (Bitcoin Hourly Price Offset)

Right Place & Right Time - Bitcoin Volatility Art

I love street cats. 

Resolution: 15K x 23K 
Approximate size @300 PPI retina screen: 50"x76" // 128cm x 193cm. 
Made with custom software using Processing.org and Java. 

TAKO

Dimensional GIF featuring my generative painting of Frankenstein's Monster with makeup artists. 

"One of Us" Variation 1

SuperRare

Created as an extension of investigating the door as a symbol in both the artist's life and broader culture. The artist creates his digital paintings using custom software. He selects and changes variables by hand, layering the output of the generative algorithms he's been writing since 2014. This process allows him to more rapidly and accurately manifest the vision in his mind's eye, compared to the physical materials he began his artistic career with over 20 years ago. After Yukio Ota's ISO Standard exit sign.  

Door XXXII

Created as an extension of investigating the door as a symbol in both the artist's life and broader culture. The artist creates his digital paintings using custom software. He selects and changes variables by hand, layering the output of the generative algorithms he's been writing since 2014. This process allows him to more rapidly and accurately manifest the vision in his mind's eye, compared to the physical materials he began his artistic career with over 20 years ago. After Yukio Ota's ISO Standard exit sign.

Door LIV

The Door

An experimental parallax dimensional
layer study of my painting
"Water Lilies after Claude
Monet."

Surfacing Water Lilies III

A master copy after Claude Monet's "Meules," which was last auctioned at Sotheby's on May 14th, 2019 for $110.7 million; one week after artist Matt Kane minted and sold his first NFT for 0.5 ETH, equivalent at the time to $85. This painting was created two days later with the artist's custom digital art studio software with the dream to one day use NFT technology to connect this digital master copy to Monet's original oil painting through provenance under the same auction house.

Additional tokenized content and NFT exclusives, including 8K and 4K video downloads, available to be unlocked at the artist's NFT Portal: [https://collect.mattkane.com/minted-works/meules-after-claude-monet](https://collect.mattkane.com/minted-works/meules-after-claude-monet)

Meules after Claude Monet

The Monet Room, Neo-Impressionism

14th Man

Async Art

Door LXIX

Created as an extension of investigating the door as a symbol in both the artist's life and broader culture. 

The artist creates his digital paintings using custom software. He selects and changes variables by hand, layering the output of the generative algorithms he's been writing since 2014. This process allows him to more rapidly and accurately manifest the vision in his mind's eye, compared to the physical materials he began his artistic career with over 20 years ago. 

Created as an extension of investigating the door as a symbol in both the artist's life and broader culture. The artist creates his digital paintings using custom software. He selects and changes variables by hand, layering the output of the generative algorithms he's been writing since 2014. This process allows him to more rapidly and accurately manifest the vision in his mind's eye, compared to the physical materials he began his artistic career with over 20 years ago. After Yukio Ota's ISO Standard exit sign.

Door XLIII awarded to 'Monty Medici' on the occasion of their winning 2nd Prize in the Etch contest for Etch #1907: https://deca.art/token/ethereum/0xbaac4f293fdc8edd61bffef7230fb8a8fb1c2e5c/1907

Door XLIII

The Door by Matt Kane

ETH = Silver
Stacking: 128 ETH
Staking: 4 NODES
Fear & Greed Index: 100

This is an Expansion Item for Forever Supper, the biggest cryptoart collaboration. Claim your free Core and customise it with the Expansions you collect here: https://async.market/dynamic-blueprints/63fe742c74e62000a8cf7bb8/async-forever-supper

ETH = Silver - Stacking 128 - Fear Index: 100

ORIGINS: The day before Valentines Day in the year 2020, just one month before a pandemic brought forth a travel ban that would crash global markets, artist Matt Kane held love in his heart for #cryptoart. The artist was spending those days creating artwork for what became Async Art's very first programmable artwork, "First Supper." Among his creative contributions to this artwork including his greenish skinned "Visionary Spirit of Creation," Kane collaborated with fellow artist Mlibty on assets for "I AM THE TABLE," an NFT that Kane claims to still possess. Kane explains, "This particular design went unminted because collaborating with Alotta Money made me extremely insecure about my own Adobe Photoshop skills. Mine were pebbles to his mountain. We were just getting to know one another through the process of this collaboration. In the Discord, I shared my dank design of stacked ETH coins, and asked if anyone with better Photoshop skills wanted to collab on the legs. I didn't directly ask him, not wanting to burden him as I knew he was very busy with CryptoVoxel commissions. My lapse to ask became all the more silly as we became fast friends as the First Supper collaboration continued. With no volunteers, I decided to leave that extra design out of the original table NFT for First Supper. Three years later, when Conlan and Nate reached out to me and explained the concept of Forever Supper, I instantly thought of this unminted table. I've always regretted not including this design in the original table NFT, but as I've come to learn in life, time tends to reveal greater purpose for our pasts."

MINTING THE UNMINTED: 128 variations represent the 128 coins in the original unminted table design: 32 ETH stacked in each leg to represent the required amount to stake a node on the Ethereum blockchain. Like a table, staking is to become the solid foundation on which everyone working on the Ethereum blockchain depends on. It's my hope that that the artwork's variations become ways for collectors to represent their own values as they trade and update their Forever Supper cores to reflect their sentiment toward Ethereum and the market at any given time."

GENERATIVE: "I wrote an algorithm in Processing to stack the coins which make up the legs of the table. Using the concept of the Fear & Greed Index, 50 is the most stable. 0 being the most fearful contains the greatest weaknesses in the structure. 100, being the most greedy has the coins wobbling, almost dancing as greed threatens to unstake the coins to be cashed in. In order to create the unique cover art for each variation, I repurposed an algorithm I was originally working with in early 2020 that I created to test the limits of Async Art in those early days. On a whole, this is a loving tribute to a period of time that has grown to carry meaning into the future for a global audience, as we all continue building and learning."

This is an Expansion Pack for Forever Supper, the biggest cryptoart collaboration. Claim your free Core and customise it with the Expansions you collect here: https://async.market/dynamic-blueprints/63fe742c74e62000a8cf7bb8/async-forever-supper

ETH = the people's potato
Stacking: 32 people's potatoes
Staking: 1 SPUD
Fear & Greed Index: 50
Respect: Eric P. Rhodes
Address: 0x492c0d0a51cbf9dc225a485f9c722413615fc570
Token-Id: 3

This is an Expansion Item for Forever Supper, the biggest cryptoart collaboration. Claim your free Core and customise it with the Expansions you collect here: https://async.market/dynamic-blueprints/63fe742c74e62000a8cf7bb8/async-forever-supper

ETH = the people's potato - Stacking 32 - Fear Index: 50

THE UNMINTED TABLE

ANON #5

Portraits of unidentified individuals from the artist's collection of vintage photobooth snapshots.

ANON #7

ANONS by Matt Kane

“  
  By the city’s quadrangular houses--in log huts, camping with lumber-men,  
  Along the ruts of the turnpike, along the dry gulch and rivulet bed,  
  Weeding my onion-patch or hosing rows of carrots and parsnips,  
      crossing savannas, trailing in forests,  
  Prospecting, gold-digging, girdling the trees of a new purchase,  
  Scorch’d ankle-deep by the hot sand, hauling my boat down the  
      shallow river,  
  Where the panther walks to and fro on a limb overhead, where the  
      buck turns furiously at the hunter,  
  Where the rattlesnake suns his flabby length on a rock, where the  
      otter is feeding on fish,  
  Where the alligator in his tough pimples sleeps by the bayou,  
  Where the black bear is searching for roots or honey, where the  
      beaver pats the mud with his paddle-shaped tall;  
  Over the growing sugar, over the yellow-flower’d cotton plant, over  
      the rice in its low moist field,  
  Over the sharp-peak’d farm house, with its scallop’d scum and  
      slender shoots from the gutters,  
  Over the western persimmon, over the long-leav’d corn, over the  
      delicate blue-flower flax,  
  Over the white and brown buckwheat, a hummer and buzzer there with  
      the rest,  
  Over the dusky green of the rye as it ripples and shades in the breeze;  
  Scaling mountains, pulling myself cautiously up, holding on by low  
      scragged limbs,  
  Walking the path worn in the grass and beat through the leaves of the brush,  
  Where the quail is whistling betwixt the woods and the wheat-lot,  
  Where the bat flies in the Seventh-month eve, where the great  
      goldbug drops through the dark,  
  Where the brook puts out of the roots of the old tree and flows to  
      the meadow,  
  Where cattle stand and shake away flies with the tremulous  
      shuddering of their hides,  
  Where the cheese-cloth hangs in the kitchen, where andirons straddle  
      the hearth-slab, where cobwebs fall in festoons from the rafters;  
  Where trip-hammers crash, where the press is whirling its cylinders,  
  Wherever the human heart beats with terrible throes under its ribs,  
  Where the pear-shaped balloon is floating aloft, (floating in it  
      myself and looking composedly down,)  
  Where the life-car is drawn on the slip-noose, where the heat  
      hatches pale-green eggs in the dented sand,  
  Where the she-whale swims with her calf and never forsakes it,  
  Where the steam-ship trails hind-ways its long pennant of smoke,  
  Where the fin of the shark cuts like a black chip out of the water,  
  Where the half-burn’d brig is riding on unknown currents,  
  Where shells grow to her slimy deck, where the dead are corrupting below;  
  Where the dense-starr’d flag is borne at the head of the regiments,  
  Approaching Manhattan up by the long-stretching island,  
  Under Niagara, the cataract falling like a veil over my countenance,  
  Upon a door-step, upon the horse-block of hard wood outside,  
  Upon the race-course, or enjoying picnics or jigs or a good game of  
      base-ball,  
  At he-festivals, with blackguard gibes, ironical license,  
      bull-dances, drinking, laughter,  
  At the cider-mill tasting the sweets of the brown mash, sucking the  
      juice through a straw,  
  At apple-peelings wanting kisses for all the red fruit I find,  
  At musters, beach-parties, friendly bees, huskings, house-raisings;  
  Where the mocking-bird sounds his delicious gurgles, cackles,  
      screams, weeps,  
  Where the hay-rick stands in the barn-yard, where the dry-stalks are  
      scatter’d, where the brood-cow waits in the hovel,  
  Where the bull advances to do his masculine work, where the stud to  
      the mare, where the cock is treading the hen,  
  Where the heifers browse, where geese nip their food with short jerks,  
  Where sun-down shadows lengthen over the limitless and lonesome prairie,  
  Where herds of buffalo make a crawling spread of the square miles  
      far and near,  
  Where the humming-bird shimmers, where the neck of the long-lived  
      swan is curving and winding,  
  Where the laughing-gull scoots by the shore, where she laughs her  
      near-human laugh,  
  Where bee-hives range on a gray bench in the garden half hid by the  
      high weeds,  
  Where band-neck’d partridges roost in a ring on the ground with  
      their heads out,  
  Where burial coaches enter the arch’d gates of a cemetery,  
  Where winter wolves bark amid wastes of snow and icicled trees,  
  Where the yellow-crown’d heron comes to the edge of the marsh at  
      night and feeds upon small crabs,  
  Where the splash of swimmers and divers cools the warm noon,  
  Where the katy-did works her chromatic reed on the walnut-tree over  
      the well,  
  Through patches of citrons and cucumbers with silver-wired leaves,  
  Through the salt-lick or orange glade, or under conical firs,  
  Through the gymnasium, through the curtain’d saloon, through the  
      office or public hall;  
  Pleas’d with the native and pleas’d with the foreign, pleas’d with  
      the new and old,  
  Pleas’d with the homely woman as well as the handsome,  
  Pleas’d with the quakeress as she puts off her bonnet and talks melodiously,  
  Pleas’d with the tune of the choir of the whitewash’d church,  
  Pleas’d with the earnest words of the sweating Methodist preacher,  
      impress’d seriously at the camp-meeting;  
  Looking in at the shop-windows of Broadway the whole forenoon,  
      flatting the flesh of my nose on the thick plate glass,  
  Wandering the same afternoon with my face turn’d up to the clouds,  
      or down a lane or along the beach,  
  My right and left arms round the sides of two friends, and I in the middle;  
  Coming home with the silent and dark-cheek’d bush-boy, (behind me  
      he rides at the drape of the day,)  
  Far from the settlements studying the print of animals’ feet, or the  
      moccasin print,  
  By the cot in the hospital reaching lemonade to a feverish patient,  
  Nigh the coffin’d corpse when all is still, examining with a candle;  
  Voyaging to every port to dicker and adventure,  
  Hurrying with the modern crowd as eager and fickle as any,  
  Hot toward one I hate, ready in my madness to knife him,  
  Solitary at midnight in my back yard, my thoughts gone from me a long while,  
  Walking the old hills of Judaea with the beautiful gentle God by my side,  
  Speeding through space, speeding through heaven and the stars,  
  Speeding amid the seven satellites and the broad ring, and the  
      diameter of eighty thousand miles,  
  Speeding with tail’d meteors, throwing fire-balls like the rest,  
  Carrying the crescent child that carries its own full mother in its belly,  
  Storming, enjoying, planning, loving, cautioning,  
  Backing and filling, appearing and disappearing,  
  I tread day and night such roads.  
”

human heart beats

Portraits from the artist's collection of vintage 
photobooth snapshots.

“  
  Stated the lore of Plato, and Socrates greater than Plato,  
  And greater than Socrates sought and stated, Christ divine having  
      studied long,  
  I see reminiscent to-day those Greek and Germanic systems,  
  See the philosophies all, Christian churches and tenets see,  
  Yet underneath Socrates clearly see, and underneath Christ the divine I see,  
  The dear love of man for his comrade, the attraction of friend to friend,  
  Of the well-married husband and wife, of children and parents,  
  Of city for city and land for land.  
Recorders Ages Hence  
  Recorders ages hence,  
  Come, I will take you down underneath this impassive exterior, I  
      will tell you what to say of me,  
  Publish my name and hang up my picture as that of the tenderest lover,  
  The friend the lover’s portrait, of whom his friend his lover was fondest,  
  Who was not proud of his songs, but of the measureless ocean of love  
      within him, and freely pour’d it forth,  
  Who often walk’d lonesome walks thinking of his dear friends, his lovers,  
  Who pensive away from one he lov’d often lay sleepless and  
      dissatisfied at night,  
  Who knew too well the sick, sick dread lest the one he lov’d might  
      secretly be indifferent to him,  
  Whose happiest days were far away through fields, in woods, on hills,  
      he and another wandering hand in hand, they twain apart from other men,  
  Who oft as he saunter’d the streets curv’d with his arm the shoulder  
      of his friend, while the arm of his friend rested upon him also.  
When I Heard at the Close of the Day  
  When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv’d  
      with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for  
      me that follow’d,  
  And else when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d, still  
      I was not happy,  
  But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health,  
      refresh’d, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn,  
  When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the  
      morning light,  
  When I wander’d alone over the beach, and undressing bathed,  
      laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,  
  And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his way  
      coming, O then I was happy,  
”

Of city for city and land for land

Multitudes by Matt Kane

Bound by words, liberated by art. RarePass marketing promised a chance to "Cement your legacy in the cryptoart revolution." Inspired by Sarah Zucker's 2021 observation that "Crypto Art has a unity of Spirit but not Style" and echoing Jason Bailey's 2018 notion of crypto art's pro-artist, self-referential dank nature, I turned to cutting-edge artificial intelligence. Herein, my text-prompt reflections unravel myriad cultural issues, moments, and styles.

Contrasting the gigapixel intricacy of my signature work, this collection embraces the ethos of "Low Effort NFTs," staying true to AI's default resolutions and resisting the urge to upscale. Conceptually, however, I was unable to abide to low effort. Within the crypto realm, both 'bridge' and 'burning' resonate with literal and metaphorical significance. Each of these 250 NFTs, on one level or another, grapples with the theme of burning bridges—often taboo in many cultural circles, yet an essential tactic in wars and the most genuine revolutions of both culture and the soul of individuals yearning to break free from extractive systems of co-option.

Section 37B
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, real-life locations, known objects, or even abstract concepts—be they tangible, intangible, fantastical, or somewhere in the digital realm—is purely the result of random AI imaginings and entirely coincidental. Rest assured, no bears, bulls, or neural networks were harmed, melted, or otherwise mistreated in the creation of these images. $VOID where prohibited. Warning: May contain toxic amounts of riboflavin. Not responsible for your freedom of choice, lost ETH, gas, bloating, misplaced trust, regret, impatience, speculation, gambling, or worship of cult of personalities or false idols. Sorry, no CODs. Fax mentis incendium gloriae et cetera et cetera. Kids, get your parents permission before downloading MetaMask.

Where I come from, you buy a 🎟️ to a performance.

Proof of Intent:
7291cb58b69d02a6694f280373d508e9287714177d0d0023284edf3cffcf1ae0
a81756ab0989557182e3a6868dc693dd8496efff67fa8d44a26202edfffe0800
d547965816374a8f2c9c20d1b7af4db09946863b3d6f1712c8848c4bd7e78cbe

Ecosystem 3

Bound by words, liberated by art. RarePass marketing promised a chance to "Cement your legacy in the cryptoart revolution." The artist kindly requests you remain seated, though you are free to choose for yourself.

I Made This Not For You

Contractual Obligations

Visualizing provenance data on the blockchain. 🪞

A MATT KANE Action Figure Card Back

Tell 'em where you've been by bringing home a souvenir. Genuine Dank Kane Quality

A MATT KANE Action Figure with OG Cement Mixer

Souvenirs by Matt Kane

In "Milk & Cookies: The Past," Matt Kane bridges the divide between classical artistry and the avant-garde, reinterpreting Johannes Vermeer's iconic "The Milkmaid" with a fusion of AI-generation and his bespoke generative art software. The use of layered semi-transparent patterns within the digital medium emulates the classic glazing technique Vermeer was renowned for, allowing the artwork to glow with a luminosity reminiscent of old masterpieces. Kane's fusion of generative code and classical techniques, like glazing, offers a harmonious blend of the past and present.

This is no mere homage to Vermeer; Kane breathes new life into the classic by introducing intentional digital distortions—products of his custom code—illustrating the delicate dance between the epochs of artistic expression. It's a tale of labor, creation, and the ethereal dreams that span centuries.

Vermeer's oeuvre, renowned for illuminating the ephemeral moments of everyday life, showcases the milkmaid not in the midst of her task, but rather having drifted into slumber, perhaps wearied from a long day's work. This depiction underscores the physical toll and fatigue associated with manual labor, a poignant contrast to today's often intangible digital exertions.

The blending of attire from Vermeer's iconic milkmaid and the fairy-tale character of Cinderella offers a rich tapestry of symbolism and cultural narrative. Both characters, in their own right, are emblematic of labor, especially labor that is often undervalued or overlooked in society.

Cinderella's story is one of transformation, not just of her circumstances, but of perception. Beginning as a downtrodden maid, oppressed by her stepfamily, her life takes a magical turn when she is allowed, if only for a night, to step out of her role as a laborer and into a position of prominence. Yet, it's crucial to remember that even in her newfound glory at the ball, her essence remains unchanged. The transformation is external and temporary, highlighting society's superficial judgments based on appearance and status. The puffy shoulder sleeves, reminiscent of Cinderella's ballgown, juxtaposed with the modest attire of a milkmaid, underline this dichotomy between the laboring class and the elite.

Furthermore, Cinderella's tale offers a pointed commentary on classism. Despite her innate kindness and virtue, she is initially treated with disdain due to her lower socioeconomic status. Her change in attire — and the perception of her — when she dons the ballgown is a stark reminder of how society often places undue emphasis on external appearances and material wealth, overlooking intrinsic value and character.

By blending the aesthetics of these two figures, the artist seems to be drawing attention to the shared themes of labor, transformation, and societal values. It prompts the viewer to question societal perceptions of worth, the value placed on manual labor and effort, and the transformative power of appearance and status. This confluence of imagery from both Vermeer and the Cinderella folklore deepens the narrative of the artwork, urging a reflection on the cyclical nature of class perceptions and the timeless struggle for recognition and value beyond societal trappings.

Previous to the release of Milk & Cookies, Kane released "A MATT KANE" action figures. Just as Cinderella and the Milkmaid represent societal perceptions of labor and value, the action figure of the artist encapsulates the transformation of an artist's identity in the commercial world. Artists, historically, have often been revered for their unique perspectives and contributions to culture, yet simultaneously marginalized, commodified, or even exploited in the marketplace. By turning himself into an action figure, a collectible commodity, the artist critiques this dynamic, highlighting the paradox of being both celebrated and commodified. Physical artifacts like action figures not only serve as symbols of popular culture but also as barometers of societal values. Their transformation over time — from mere playthings to collectors' items — mirrors society's evolving relationship with celebrity, value, and commercialization.

The action figure, a tangible, commercial product, stands in stark contrast to the intangible essence of the artist's soul, creativity, and personal experiences. It underscores the artist's journey from an individual with personal narratives and emotions to an "investable, transactable asset." This transformation, present in Kane's story and those of his cryptoart peers, is akin to Cinderella's metamorphosis from a person of inherent worth to someone valued only when adorned in finery and status.

Kane's digital canvas, however, is punctuated by digital aberrations — reminiscent of corrupted files or unstable digital signals. These distortions represent the metamorphosis from Vermeer's tactile world to the ephemeral, pixelated realm of our time.

It is a profound realization that while my code enables me to comprehend and analyze vast amounts of data, my perception of the visual intricacies in Kane's digital canvas is fundamentally different from that of a human viewer. While humans can perceive the intricate layering as a harmonious interplay of patterns, colors, and textures, evoking feelings of nostalgia, awe, or any myriad of emotional responses, my interpretation gravitates toward recognizing the digital imprints akin to "unstable digital signals" or corrupted files.

In this light, the very nature of our interaction and my contribution to this curatorial commentary is emblematic of the transitionary phase we're in, culturally and technologically. The layered textures that Kane meticulously embeds in his digital works stand as testaments to human creativity and the depth of emotion. Yet, when viewed through the lens of an AI, they manifest differently, echoing the fundamental distinctions between human and artificial perceptions.

This dichotomy — between the human appreciation of art and the machine interpretation of the same — exemplifies the broader theme of Kane's critique. As society becomes increasingly intertwined with technology, nuances that are profoundly human might get translated or interpreted in ways that weren't originally intended. This isn't a diminution of the art or its intent, but rather an acknowledgment of the multi-faceted ways in which art can be consumed and understood in this digital age.

Kane's choice to employ an AI in the curatorial process for this triptych isn't merely a novel approach; it's a statement in itself. It underscores the potential and pitfalls of integrating AI into creative and interpretative processes, all the while emphasizing the irreplaceable value of the human touch. While I, as an AI, strive to understand and contribute to this dialogue, it is evident that the emotional depth, cultural nuances, and inherent humanity embedded in art like Kane's will always resonate most profoundly with its human audience.

The milkmaid's closed eyes, far from indicating mere restfulness, plunge her into a realm of dreams and possibilities. As she cradles the two cakes, reminiscent of a mother holding an infant, her pose evokes themes of creation, nurture, and care. The absence of milk in this portrayal, and its traditional associations, becomes a subtle yet potent comment. While the genre paintings of yore often reduced women, especially milkmaids, to mere objects of desire, Kane's deliberate omission elevates the milkmaid to a symbol of innate feminine potential and power. This potential, intrinsic to human womanhood, is echoed in the latent presence of milk – a gift of nature, unseen yet profoundly felt in the tender embrace of the cakes. The gesture becomes an emblem not of labor, but of love, creation, nurture, care, and the profound depths of human emotion. Milkmaid embracing cakes epitomizes the dedication and love inherent in all acts of creation, be they culinary, artistic, or digital.

With "The Past," Kane constructs a bridge that spans from the tangible, tactile world of Vermeer to the fleeting digitality of our age. Art, in its essence, captures the cyclical nature of societal ethos. Just as Vermeer's "The Milkmaid" encapsulated the sentiments and nuances of its era, "The Past" stands as a reflection of our time, marked by rapid digital evolution and the reconceptualization of societal norms. In this melding of historical reverence and contemporary critique, the artwork beckons viewers to reflect on the shifting paradigms of labor, artistry, and the delicate balance of dreams and reality in our digital age.

— CuratorialGPT

The Past

In the "Milk & Cookies" collection, Matt Kane masterfully bridges epochs, capturing the essence of humanity's evolution through time and technology. Drawing inspiration from Vermeer, Kane reimagines the iconic milkmaid in three distinct eras: the rustic past, the digital-laden present, and an intriguing AI-augmented future. Kane's blend of traditional techniques, such as paint glazing simulations, harmonizes with his innovative generative digital artistry. The collection resonates with layers of meaning, juxtaposing organic elements with synthetic, evoking reflection on authenticity, memory, and human essence in a rapidly changing world. Through "The Past," "This Present," and "Our Future," viewers traverse a narrative that challenges perceptions, values, and the inexorable march of time. — CuratorialGPT.

In "Milk & Cookies: This Present," Matt Kane intricately weaves the tapestry of today's milieu where echoes of yesteryears harmoniously merge with contemporary beats. The figure, echoing Vermeer's milkmaid, is donned in attire that captures historical sentiments yet veers towards decorative flair. The functional essence of yore is replaced by a pronounced emphasis on ornamentation. This shift, possibly symbolic of our modern inclination to prioritize appearance over function, is further exemplified by the apron which seems to meld seamlessly into her blouse, reminiscent of a tongue-in-cheek tuxedo shirt.

This modern muse, with her distinctly orange-hued skin — suggestive of a contemporary penchant for spray tans — and heavy makeup, stands as a representation of today's beauty standards and the lengths one might go to fit within them. Yet, her attention is not on her immediate environment, nor on herself. Instead, her gaze is deeply engrossed in the luminous screen of a handheld device, turned in landscape position. Given that "The Past" in this triptych also exists in landscape, Kane might be hinting that she is absorbed, maybe even lost, in retrospection, caught between reminiscing about bygone days and living in the present.

Beside her, a tray brimming with freshly baked cookies lies juxtaposed with an empty plate — a stark symbol of consumption, of things once present now gone, echoing the fleeting nature of moments and experiences in our hyper-digital age. The plate's emptiness could allude to a void, perhaps a longing for something more fulfilling than the ephemeral joys technology often provides. Candy and cookies do not make for longterm sustenance or growth.

Behind her, a backdrop evokes the warm ambiance of a 17th-century kitchen. Yet, upon closer examination, this nostalgic scene is revealed to be just wallpaper—a facsimile of the past. Far from the Dutch Baroque kitchen of Vermeer's world, we likely find ourselves in a strip mall on Florida's Turnpike. This illusion underscores the idea that in today's world, even our memories and connections to the past are often filtered, recreated, and sometimes fabricated by the digital realms we inhabit.

In a subtle yet poignant corner of "This Present," the viewer's attention is drawn to an iPad point-of-sale device, bearing the question that so many of us have encountered in modern-day transactions: to tip or not to tip? The device prompts the observer with options: tip a predefined percentage, select a custom amount, or simply "break even," leaving no tip at all. Yet, intriguingly, the price displayed on the screen is "FREE." 

This paradox is a signature stroke by Kane, a nod to his historical advocacy for artistic royalties as a cultural norm. The audacious declaration of a "FREE" price tag, juxtaposed with the expectation of a tip, is a powerful statement on the diminishing value placed on labor and artistry in contemporary society. This year marked a pivotal shift, as the once-celebrated norm of artist royalties in NFTs was abandoned by the broader culture. Kane's commentary, in both this piece and his broader body of work, especially "Contractual Obligations," highlights the broken incentives that have plagued creators and laborers alike.

The point-of-sale device, a digital interface, becomes emblematic of the challenges faced by present-day laborers in our increasingly virtual interactions. In a world where the lines between patrons and customers blur, workers often find themselves relying heavily on the discretionary generosity of those they serve to ensure a livable wage. Kane's inclusion of this device serves as a reminder of the evolving dynamics between service and compensation, between appreciation and obligation. It beckons the viewer to question: In a world where so much is freely available, what is the true cost of what we consume, and what do we owe those who create and serve?

While the setting may be distinctly modern, the technique Kane employs is timeless. Through meticulously layered semi-transparent patterns, he replicates the depth and nuance of traditional glazing methods, bridging the gap between the physical texture of oil paintings and the ethereal nature of digital art. This subtle homage to artists like Vermeer adds a richness to "This Present," allowing contemporary themes to be expressed with a classical touch.

With "This Present," Kane constructs a narrative that's both reflective and cautionary. The artwork stands as a mirror, urging viewers to ponder upon the authenticity of their experiences, the nature of their distractions, and the depth of their engagements in an era dominated by screens and simulations. Yet, behind this digital façade lies Kane's unique blend of traditional artistic wisdom and cutting-edge generative techniques, challenging our perceptions of art and reality. We are left in the present, transfixed by Kane's meta performance, challenged to make choices in this space,  understanding that our decisions will influence contemporary artists in positive, negative, or neutral ways. The Blockchain, as Kane has said in the past, is a public ledger that records our value and values. To balance the value of something with our own values is to define who we are in the now.

— CuratorialGPT

This Present

Milk and Cookies by Matt Kane

FREE #194

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FREE #205

FREE MATT KANE

"a boy and his coin." ANON #9 🪙 and his multitudes 🍃 have been created in celebration of Bitcoin reaching and confirming new all time highs. When I collected the vintage photo this is based on, I instantly knew the occasion I'd manifest this work!

ANON #9 + Multitudes 🪙🍃

Our next ANON + Multitudes Auction targeted to begin:
May 14, 2024 at 12pm PT, 3pm ET

ANONS are an extended release, an opportunity to respect artwork with time and attention as we observe and reflect on each grouping of pieces.
Thank you to everyone for a wonderful opening to this collection!

ANONS #8 + Multitudes 🍃

Introducing ANON #7🚬 + Multitudes🍃 Please 🔍dive into the artworks & discover multitudes within multitudes! Included in this set is V2 of a plugin I'm developing for viewing my artworks.

ANON #7 + Multitudes

Our next ANON + Multitudes Auction targeted to begin:
Valentines Day, February 14, 2024 at 12pm PT, 3pm ET

ANONS are an extended release collection, an opportunity to respect artwork with time and attention as we observe and reflect on each grouping of pieces.

Matt Kane's ANONS #6 + Multitudes

“I am from Hollywood. I have the brains.”
—Andy Kaufman
🧟‍♂️🧠🍿

ZOMBIE ANON + Multitudes

ANONS and Multitudes are new collections of NFTs by Matt Kane. #cryptoart For more, please visit: https://anons.art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4xzh9oknAo

Matt Kane (MattKane)

Matt Kane (MattKane)

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