2023 Year In Review
My personal list of 10 most impactful events in the digital art world, 2023.
10. Everything is Temporary |. by Joe Pease
The most memorable artwork for me this year is Everything is Temporary |. by Joe Pease, which broke the internet by transcending all barriers. It showcased the power of art in its purest form, a universal language that speaks to the very essence of our souls. Deservingly collected for 120 ETH, the 47-second video is a condensed reflection of humanity itself, pieced together from fragments of life that we are all too familiar with. It portrays human emotions and experiences, ranging from the sense of loneliness, loss, failure, and meaninglessness to the ephemeral moments of love, happiness, and the breathtaking beauty of existence that elude our grasp. Everything is Temporary |. inspires us to reflect upon the transitory nature of existence and the impermanence of both the joys and sorrows we encounter along our solitary journeys. Bearing witness to the birth of this masterpiece is truly a blessing. A timeless work of art, Everything is Temporary |. will surely remain impactful for generations to come.
9. XCOPY
XCOPY, the crypto-native artist who pioneered this movement since 2018, maintains his dominance in the market in 2023. His unique talents, displayed through glitch art, social commentaries, humor, unwavering ethos, CC0 licenses, and innovative approaches, have established him as an icon in the crypto art world. XCOPY's early works are now regarded as historic, and his new creations always excite the community. This year, he released the five final 1/1s on his SuperRare shared contract, with one raffled off to Max Pain holders. He remixed artists' CC0 works with his signature touch, generating considerable attention and revenue for many smaller artists. He began minting fully on-chain editions, some of which he again raffled off to holders. He airdropped 1/1/250 Remnants to RarePass holders. He initiated a meme competition, #griftszn2, where winners were gifted Proto-Grifters. He released editions OBLIVION through burn-to-redeem mechanics… Through art, XCOPY consistently gives back to his holders and the artist community.
8. Transient Labs
Transient Labs had a remarkable year of shipping products, innovating, and helping artists launch some of the most creative, interactive, and immersive collections. The team has empowered creators with a richer set of sovereign tools and options, enhancing storytelling, creativity, and dynamic presentation. In 2023, they launched several notable contracts, including Doppelgänger with Patrick Amadon (associating multiple artworks with a single token), Collector's Choice (where collectors' choices determine the rarity distribution of the collection), ERC721TL and ERC1155TL (contracts offering complete sovereignty, industry-leading batch minting operations, seamless airdrop functionality, token burning capabilities, on-chain royalty configuration, and the ability to block non-royalty-paying platforms), Story Inscriptions (adding depth, provenance, and history to NFTs), Synergy (safeguarding collectors against unwanted metadata changes), Trace (using blockchain technology to authenticate and record the ownership of physical artwork), and more to come in the new year.
7. The Broken Keys by ACK
The Broken Keys by Alpha Centauri Kid stands as one of the most memorable auctions of the year. This collection of 48 1/1 pieces revolves around a singular theme: the piano, a recurrent motif that holds significance for ACK, serving as his "first gateway to the Muse." The auctions evoked intense emotions and fierce competition among collectors, which in total realized around $1.36 million. The passion surrounding the bidding wars and the engagement of the art community created such an impactful experience for many. Through this collection, ACK pushed his motifs such as love, pianos, flowers, and skulls to the next artistic level. The Broken Keys took viewers on a surreal journey, guiding them to rediscover lost pieces of themselves in deserted places, confront the unknown, face demons and the forbidden, experience the beauty of life and mortality, and immerse themselves in the emotions of love—desire, melancholy, emptiness, madness, and transcendence. It led us into the inner world of ACK, a dreamlike universe of art and obsessions, guided by the whispers of the Muse.
6. Glitch Marfa
One of the year's most special events was Glitch Marfa. Glitch Gallery is an analog space for digital objects, located at the intersection of Marfa, Texas, and the internet. Its first project, "Every 30 Days," features artists such as Emily Xie, Claire Silver, and Kim Asendorf, focusing on its philosophy of storytelling and education around digital art. Marfa, where Art Blocks is headquartered, is renowned for its cultural significance in contemporary art and pioneering figures like Donald Judd. By selecting this location, the founders position digital art as the next phase of the contemporary art movement. Marfa's remote and secluded nature, with limited access and a small size, demands physical effort and commitmen. It resulted in deeper engagement and appreciation of the art, as well as a more immersed and attentive experience for visitors. One of the highlights during the Marfa weekend was the introduction of beef brothko by diewiththemostlikes, who organized a fully fuckable flea market with absurd item trades, creating a chaotic and unforgettable experience.
5. Jack Butcher
Jack Butcher enjoyed a highly successful year with collections such as Checks and Opepen that evolved into experiments challenging the conventions of NFT collections. Advocating for the community's active involvement in the production of the collection to create and maintain its value, Butcher has formed large and highly engaged networks around Checks and Opepen. By updating the metadata, Butcher turned Checks into an ongoing commentary on Web2 and Web3, inspiring hundreds of derivatives across the community. Checks also introduced a burn mechanism that enabled collectors to upgrade the rarity of their NFTs, reshaping the collection's components. Comprising 16,000 evolving NFTs, Opepen explores the concepts of uniqueness, scarcity, and abundance. The community can influence the outcome, often referencing culturally significant projects and events in the space. Butcher's success underscores the importance of innovation, community involvement, and meme culture, pushing the boundaries of art, design, and collectibles in Web3.
4. The Goose
Ringer #879, nicknamed "the Goose" for its resemblance, was auctioned at Sotheby's GRAILS Collection sale from the defunct crypto hedge fund 3AC. It was ultimately sold for a historic $6.2 million to the 6529 Fund after a fierce bidding war among three collectors. The Goose is widely recognized as one of the most important works within the generative art movement. As 6529 pointed out, long-form on-chain generative art is characterized by its unpredictability, making it a unique and fascinating art form. Once the algorithm is committed to the blockchain, nobody knows what outputs it will produce. It is an act of faith by the artist and the minter. The Goose stands out as exceptionally rare and distinctive within the collection because of its emergent property, where an animal resemblance was created unintentionally and subsequently became a memetic focal point that captivates ongoing attention and discussion. One could have run the Ringers thousands of times without producing anything like it again. This year marks just the beginning of the Goose's lore.
3. The Monument Game by Sam Spratt
A truly groundbreaking project, The Monument Game, orchestrated by Sam Spratt in partnership with Nifty Gateway, offered an immersive, interactive experience. It centered around the artwork IX. The Monument Game and the Players editions, sparking heartfelt engagement from collectors and the digital art community. “One year of work. The most complex painting I've ever made,” said Sam Spratt. IX. The Monument Game is a 20,000-pixel-wide digital painting, undoubtedly one of the best digital art pieces ever made in terms of originality, details, and narratives. Like hundreds of masterpieces woven into one, IX. The Monument Game transformed into a communal canvas, where participants left their observations etched into its varnish, “giving pieces of themselves.” The top three observers were selected to join the coveted Council of Luci. Besides being a significant commercial success, raising around $1.9 million in total, The Monument Game exemplifies the masterful fusion of artistic creation, storytelling, viewer interpretation, and digital technologies.
2. Museums
In 2023, an increasing number of museums ventured into the realm of crypto art by accepting donations from digital art collectors, acquiring NFTs for their permanent collections, exhibiting work with NFT components, and collaborating with digital artists. Notable examples include The Centre Pompidou's acquisition of 18 NFTs; Cozomo de' Medici's unparalleled gift of 22 web3-native artworks to LACMA, with nearly half of the works coming from female-identifying artists; China’s Deji Art Museum's purchase of Beeple's S.2122; Buffalo AKG Art Museum's expansion of its media art collection by acquiring works from names such as Vera Molnar, Osinachi, Ix Shells, Anne Spalter, and Sarah Zucker; Crystal Bridges' exhibition of Beeple's HUMAN ONE; and MoMA's acquisition of Refik Anadol's generative artwork Unsupervised; as well as the launch of MoMA Postcard. This trend is expected to continue as museums start to recognize the relevance of crypto art in the cultural landscape, its role in art history, and its promise to engage a younger, tech-savvy generation.
1. AI
AI image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion are rapidly transforming the digital art world by enabling artists to translate their ideas into complex visuals, blending human creativity with AI's unique perspective. In 2023, we witnessed an explosion of creativity in AI art through Claire Silver’s AI Contests and the release of AI works such as Winds of Yawanawa by Yawanawa and Refik Anadol, Life In West America by Roope Rainisto, Views by DeltaSauce, byteGANs by Pindar Van Arman, La Potiere Jalouse by Helena Sarin, 1/1s created by Botto, a camera for what isn't by Claire Silver, niceaunties, and more. The AI art of 2023 captured a unique moment in the exponential growth of AI generative technology. Creative AI tools are rapidly evolving in real-time, as manifested in artworks created throughout the year. Tokenized on the blockchain, these works serve as a timestamp of AI's evolution. Looking ahead to 2024, we anticipate even more drastic AI advancements, further redefining the concept of art and the artist in the digital era.
FIN.
It has been a year since I started my weekly newsletter. I want to express my gratitude to all my subscribers, to those who have shared my newsletter on X, encouraged me through DMs, and personally expressed their love for it. Your support means the world to me. I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and bright 2024. ❤️ — an
2023✔️
Great choices! 🥰