Dear Bankless Nation,

Web3 has been referred to as the Frontier for some time, often being compared to the wild west of finance and the future of work. And while this is exceptional with regard to the exploration happening with developing blockchain technology, other discoveries are being made that are bringing us face to face with intriguing figures from the past. Frank America, resident Decentralized Arts writer and editor and contributor to The Rug—web3’s *mostly* credible news source—shares with us an important discovery of a mysterious figure that bears scrutiny over financial systems both past and present.

Camera manufacturing company Canon steps into web3 with the coming launch of their proprietary NFT platform that will feature work from prominent photographers and artists. Dubbed “Cadabra,” this platform seeks to connect photographers and photography connoisseurs in ways that can only be made viable via blockchain technology. Kouros brings the news.

Chippi comes around to discuss the unstaking of ETH; DustyEye is back with an update regarding the Legion of 444; and nonsense teams up with The Rug to offer a new round of d’Art Drops.

You do not want to miss this edition.

Welcome to Decentralized Arts.

Contributors: BanklessDAO Writers Guild (Grendel, Kouros, Kaf, nonsensetwice, Frank America)

This is the official NFT newsletter of BanklessDAO. If you were a Premium Member of the Bankless Newsletter as of May 1st, 2021, you have been subscribed to this newsletter at launch. To unsubscribe, edit your settings here.

Curated NFT News

Canon to Launch Photo NFT Marketplace Cadabra

Canon USA has announced the development of Cadabra, a curated photography NFT marketplace.

The Cadabra marketplace will be available on the ethereum blockchain and aims to empower creators by connecting them to enthusiastic collectors who celebrate the art of photography through a shared appreciation for these digital artworks. Cadabra will also let participating artists offer physical prints of the images that Canon will fulfill.

Canon has yet to reveal which photographers will participate in the platform, but Cadabra will feature both initial drops of photo collections as well as a secondary marketplace for reselling the NFTs.

Cadabra will initially launch in the United States, and will support both credit/debit card and cryptocurrency payments.

The Lithographs of Rugstradamus

by Frank America

The personage known as Rugstradamus is purported to have lived sometime between 1423-1678 A.D., with accounts coming from various countries across the Eurasian continent. While the exact years he lived are unknown, there are reports of his activities amidst Druidic culture in the British Isles as early as the start of the 16th century where he is said to have practiced ascetic living, a vegetarian diet, and intermittent fasting. Then, as late as the 19th century, as far east as St. Petersburg, it is noted in one of Dostoyevski’s journals, discovered posthumously, that the author partially formed the character basis for Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov, the modest, genteel and religiously optimistic protagonist in The Brothers Karamazov, after an encounter with Rugstradamus at a Russian hermitage. 

Rugstradamus was suggested to have been an alchemist, an astronomer, an apothecary, a courtier to the noble courts of Europe, a military strategist in times of war, a blind chess player, as well as a poet, playwright, mendicant, and ornithologist with a penchant for augury. The following antiquities, some four stone lithographs, were alleged to have been verbally chiseled into stone by a holy observer (much like a modern day court reporter may draw a figure in real-time) during a dialogue between a local town drunk and Rugstradamus in the late 1400s. Thereafter they passed from abbot keeper to abbot keeper, for multiple generations, until eventually pressed into gold leaf paper and accented with illuminated script around the mid 18th c. by a calligraphist commissioned by Tsar Nikolas III. The Tsar had taken interest in this personage after discovering that his own lineage had come across Rugstradamus two centuries prior, recorded in a footnote to a medical entry where he had advised in the healing of an estranged thrice great aunt of the Tsar’s, whom fell suddenly ill upon returning to more moderate latitudes from an extended trip to Thule (which she had referred to in her exhaustion as Hyperborea), but who was forthwith brought back to good health upon consuming, as written, “a bitter mixture of herbs and mycological ingredients prepared by an unannounced self-proclaimed ‘best apothecary this side of hades.’”

So impactful the intrigue it created within the Tsar, he commissioned an expedition across the great continent of Eurasia to uncover any further information concerning this inimitable figure. Just when their caravan–consisting of the Tsar’s drinking companion; his personal clothier; a small but capable military contingent trained in the art throwing darts at acupuncture meridians; his son, Tsar Jr.; and his toileter–could travel no further west, the detail was captivated by the flight of a falcon’s path across a mound on the coast of Scotland. This they took as a portent to begin an excavation, which turned out to be the rubble and ashes of what was a long since burnt-down abby, beneath which they uncovered a sealed antechamber to the basement, wherein they discovered four stone lithographs depicting a likeness of Rugstradamus pulled from the remnants of that scorched monastery. Whether or not these accounts of his prognostications were accurate remains unknown.

Modern historians have since converted these archeological finds to digital artifacts and made them available for collection. 

d’ART DROPS

Weekly art drops done in collaboration with up and coming NFT artists, for the Bankless community, presented by Decentralized Arts.

By nonsense and the good folks at The Rug

This next collaboration deepens the connection between Decentralized Arts and The Rug. With the discovery of the “four stone lithographs depicting a likeness of Rugstradamus,” their release as digital artifacts was the next logical step in the celebration and immortalization of such a mysterious, yet captivating figure. From the The Rug:

In this lovely reproduction of Rugstradamus’ early work, we see the prognosticator staring directly at the viewer, as if into their very soul. While Scholars have argued the meaning of this cryptic passage, it is safe to assume it is not, in fact, financial advice. Unless of course it is. 🤷‍♂️

It is with great pleasure that we introduce the first of the four lithographs:

This piece will be made available during the BanklessDAO Community Call as part of the community NFT showcase. Be sure to follow The Rug and Decentralized Arts on Twitter to see when it is minted, and add it to your favorites so you’re ready to collect it when it goes on sale. 70% of each sale will go to The Rug and their contributors, 5% will go to the DA and bDAO collaboration with ThriveCoin, 10% will be returned to BanklessDAO, and 15% will be retained by Decentralized Arts.

As a special incentive with regard to this collaboration, collectors who mint all four lithographs will be able to exchange them for a Warhol-style Super NFT. Collect them all and don’t miss out on this feature!

Chippi Corner

By Perchy

THE LEGION OF 444 – Part 13

The Devil in a Box – FAILURE.

With illustrations by L.Elrah

Dear BanklessDAO Readers,

The idea of using a box to contain the Demon was a failure.

No more than 34 hours and 18 minutes ago, entity #012 attempted a narrow escape.

With the favor of twilight it shattered its prison of wood and resin, then attempted to rarefy itself in the embrace of fire. He was caught and imprisoned at the very last moment.

The consequences in case of escape of the Demon would have compromised the entire project. Now we just have to analyze the mistakes made so that today's critical issues are tomorrow's experiences.

We still have hundreds of Demons to contain. There is no reason to stop.

…see you next week,

Dusty Eye

______________________

WEB: www.DustyEye.com
IG: @DustyEye_DE
TWITTER: @Dusty_Eye

PostScript & Acknowledgements

Decentralized Arts is written and produced by a small team of contributors who are passionate about art, both visual and written, and its growing place in crypto and NFTs. With each edition, we aim to bring you not only the most current and relevant news in the NFT space, but also explorations in what it means for our culture and societies for this market to continue to grow and expand. When everyone is an owner of art, we all gain a deeper appreciation for it.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please share it with someone who you think will appreciate the content. We also welcome suggestions via our feedback form.

With great appreciation for you, we thank you for reading and subscribing to Decentralized Arts.

Cordially,

Grendel, Kouros, Kaf, nonsensetwice, and Frank America