📝 The Digital Art Collector #3
This issue of The Digital Art Collector has this week's recap
GM / GN 🌞🌛
🚀 Welcome to The Digital Collector newsletter. In this issue, you will read about the upcoming Paris Photo art fair, as well as our participation in the inauguration of the Digital Section of the fair, which will take place in the following days. Additionally, discover the top exhibitions to visit while in Paris. Georg Bak revisits “The evolution from Generative Photography to AI” in his most recent essay. As always, find a synopsis of the latest happenings and upcoming releases - you won't want to miss it.
🚨 Giveaway alert: Get in touch if you need a day pass to the art fair!
Yours,
Georg Bak, Dimitria Markou, and Henry Barrows.
✨ Upcoming: Paris Photo
With great excitement we are looking forward to this year’s Paris Photo at Palais Éphémère near the Eiffel tower. The art fair will open on Wednesday 8th November for VIPs and will run until Sunday 12th November. For the first time in their history, this annual art fair will have a small digital photography section, where nine galleries and NFT platforms have been invited to showcase photography related to the digital age. Among the highlights are a solo booth by Nagel Draxler showcasing Kevin Abosch, who has also been selected to offer the fair goers a free POAP. Paris based L’Avant Galerie Vossen is presenting Robbie Barrat and Albertine Meunier. It is for the first time that the young superstar Robbie Barrat - most famously known for the lost Robbies - is being presented at such a prestigious art fair. La Collection - a NFT platform famously known for partnering with some museums such as the British Museum and the Leopold Museum - is bringing some well established artists such as Operator, Justin Aversano and Rosa Menkman to Paris. Verse platform from London has put together an A-list of blue-chip artists including Mario Klingemann, Matt DesLauriers, Sofia Crespo x Anna Ridler, Manfred Mohr and OxDEAFBEEF.
As a curator and consultant I have teamed up this year with Berlin based gallery Photo Edition and my former gallery business partner Christina Scheublein to present a curated booth on Generative Photography and will also present a special NFT drop with elementum.art on the occasion of Paris Photo.
The art fair also offers a rich program of conversations with a special focus on some digital art topics on Thursday, 9th November. The whole city of Paris is dedicated to photography in November during the Photo days with a rich program of exhibitions in all major art institutions and galleries (see here).
We have a few day passes for Paris Photo we can give away for free for those of you who want to visit the art fair. Please feel free to contact us.
The evolution from Generative Photography to AI
In 1968, the German photographer Gottfried Jäger introduced the term “Generative Photography” with the exhibition of the same name at the Städtisches Kunsthaus Bielefeld, where he exhibited his pinhole structures alongside works by Kilian Breier (photograms), Pierre Cordier (chemigrams) and Hein Gravenhorst (photomechanical transformations). Jäger defined generative photography as follows:
“Creation of aesthetic structures based on defined programs that are realized through photochemical, photo-optical or phototechnical operations with the aim of achieving an optimal and functional relationship for all involved elements in the aesthetic structure.”
With this definition, Jäger based himself on the influential writings of the Stuttgart philosopher Max Bense, who in his Aesthetica volumes (1954-1960) – inspired by the natural sciences – tried to ground aesthetics in its mathematical microstructure. Characteristic of Generative Photography is the experimental and serial process, the mathematical structure (program) and often the apparatus designed by the artists themselves.
Jäger’s tireless efforts as an artist, curator and theorist led to the establishment of a class for photography at Werkkunstschule Bielefeld in 1966 and since then, he and Karl Martin Holzhäuser have continuously taught the theory and practice of generative photography, their yearly symposiums in Bielefeld now legendary. Importantly, in 1975, they published the manifesto-like compendium Generative Fotografie with a foreword by Herbert W. Franke, which contained a summary of all photographic techniques known at the time.
The notion “to play against the apparatus” by theorist and philosopher Vilém Flusser set the tone for this particular style of photography and the movement transmitted influential ideas that have radiated on the art of successive generations of international artist. It can be seen as paving the way for the fields of computer aesthetics and cybernetic art and later leading to the discourse on data images and digital photography which is ongoing in the 21st century.
With the exhibition “Light image and data image. Traces of concrete photography” in 2015, the Kulturspeicher Würzburg attempted to trace the development of digital photography from concrete and generative photography to the latest tendencies in digital photography. TATE Modern also dedicated an entire room to generative photography in the extensive exhibition “Shape of Light. 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art” in 2018 and Shoar Mavlian stated in the catalogue that the
“… ideas proposed by artists associated with Generative Photography could be seen as a precursor to digitally generated imagery. In 2018 it is perhaps useful to think of Jäger’s work in relation to digital algorithms, and the way in which artists programme the output of digital imagery.”
In the past decade, the rapid advancement of the technological possibilities of image production such as CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), Photogrammetry, Augmented Reality, 3D Scanning, Machine Learning with GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks) and diverse applications of text-to-image and image-to-image AI such as DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion have been putting photography in question. Artist’s group darktaxa-project has formed itself under the direction of Michael Reisch with the aim to explore the new era of image production. Based on Vilèm Flusser’s theoretical approach, a methodical interpretation of the currently evolving photography-based image vocabulary is created within the framework of exhibitions, lectures and publications. Although media theory has not yet been able to agree on a terminology for today’s imaging processes, darkataxa-project is defining the building blocks for this new era, exploring photography’s contemporary generative potential.
📍 The Parisian Crypto Art Scene
What, where, and when
Top events to visit during the Paris Photo week.
👁️🗨️ UT PICTURA
featuring works by Benoît de Brettes and Oan Kim
19 October - 25 November at L’Avant Galerie Vossen.
👁️🗨️ Mattia Cuttini “Back and Forth” solo exhibition
8-18 November, at NFT Factory
👁️🗨️ Biennale of the Tangible Image
Featuring works by Anne-Lou Buzot, Katherine Melançon, Thomas Paquet, Camille Sauer, Malte Uchtmann & Jan A. Staiger
3 November - 16 December at Galerie Charlot
👁️🗨️ Mr. Misang “The Crowds” solo exhibition
16 November - 16 December at Korean Cultural Center
👁️🗨️ Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise The Final Months
together with “Virtual reality – La Palette de Van Gogh”
3 October, 2023 - 4 February, 2024 at the Musée d’Orsay
👁️🗨️ "NFT: Poetics of the Immaterial from Certificate to Blockchain" group exhibition
6 April, 2023 - 22 January, 2024 at the Centre Pompidou (room 33-34)
🗞️ Latest News
🔹 Jaeger-LeCoultre commissioned digital artist Brendi Wedinger to create a trio of fictional flowers. Based in Los Angeles, Brendi Wedinger is a multidisciplinary artist and designer who specialises in 3D digital art, sculpture and floristry. Her vibrant and imaginative creations blur the line between reality and fantasy, the physical and the digital.
Each year, new works are commissioned through the Made of Makers programme to expand the dialogue between watchmaking and art.
🔹 Elon Musk recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he criticised NFTs, while highlighting the importance of onchain NFTs.
“The funny thing about NFTs is that they are not even on the blockchain. It’s just a URL to the JPEG. You should at least encode the JPEG in the blockchain - if the company housing the image goes out of business, you don’t have the image anymore.”
Revisit our The Digital Art Collector #2 newsletter, where we featured an article on “Understanding OnChain NFTs”
🔹 Post-Snowpepen Reveal
The Floor: After some trading, the floor settled around 4ETH for a Snowpepen.
Direct link to the Set on OpenSea
Some 🔥 Details: Snowpepens actually run with the same code (psj5 Library) that Squiggles run on, with minimal adjustments by Jalil.
Deep Dive? Start with the Opepen Set 025 (Snowpepen) reveal provenance thread.
🔹 CrypToadz sale 1’055 ETH ($1,932,749.45)
On October 9th, a CrypToadz sold for 1’055 ETH (~$2m). Was it a fat-finger or a wash-trade? The involved wallets moved ETH through Tornado earlier, so fat-finger seems unlikely. Nevertheless, the mystery is swirling in and around the pond; raising eyebrows and attention. The debate is on. But..
It actually doesn't matter. Toadz !vibe, no matter what.
1 Toad = 1 Toad
A post from 2021 seems to have been foreshadowing this event, although the floor actually reached around 0.5 ETH recently, before doubling to 1ETH after the sale, and stabilizing at around 0.9 ETH:
Surely you’ve heard of CrypToadz by Gremplin: “CrypToadz are a collection 6969 small amphibious creatures trying to escape the tyrannical rule of the Evil King Gremplin. Created by Gremplin, with a small bit of help from his friends.”
Since the recent mega-sale, CrypToadz have gotten some well deserved attention again. However, it is important to note that the Toadz were never gone, and will always persist (they’re onchain).
🔹 gmoney on CryptoPunks: From Skeptic to Believer.
The fourth episode of 'Punks As Told By CryptoPunks' presented by nft now and CryptoPunks features gmoney, a leading collector and CryptoPunk hodler. Whether you're new to NTFs or a seasoned veteran, gmoney offers a unique insight into the cultural legacy of CryptoPunks.
“The thing that gets me really interested about the next few years is, as financing starts to come into the system, being able to use a CryptoPunk as collateral to get low interest loans on them. All of a sudden you don't need to necessarily sell them in order to unlock some of that capital in there and you can use them in the same way people use mortgages on their home.”
💧 Get the Drop:
John F. Simon Jr.: ComplexCity Bundles
Pre-sale closes 📅 November 6, ⏰ at 6 PM ET
For a limited time, Artwrld is offering collectors the chance to acquire a pre-sale bundle of artworks containing all six possible scenarios from John F. Simon Jr.’s forthcoming collection with Artwrld, ComplexCity (2000/2023).
*Minting opens on November 9 at 12 PM ET for Artwrld Collectors and 1 PM ET for the general public. Please note: Artworks will be airdropped to collectors on November 9.
🙏 Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. If you find this newsletter helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend - it helps us grow 🌱
💡 Disclaimer: This newsletter does not constitute financial advice. It is intended solely for educational purposes and should not be considered as providing investment or legal guidance, nor should it be viewed as a solicitation to engage in the purchase or sale of any assets or to make financial decisions. The author may have positions in and engage in transactions involving the assets discussed.