Dear Bankless Nation,🏴

Life is often a succession of encounters, new crossings and farewells, Decentralized Arts bears witness to this.

We’re pleased to welcome a new collection of work by HybridCode that demonstrates the tension in resolving the conflict between human intellect and technology. We also salute a new article by Kaf and its subject, the metaverse, which may be our inseparable travel companion.

Lastly, we bid adieu to the artists of the BanklessDAO Design Guild, who have chosen to begin their own publishing adventure, The Drawing Board.

Our guide is curiosity, our North Star that burns like an unquenchable and indomitable fire.

Welcome to Decentralized Arts.

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

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BanklessDAO Artist Showcase

🧑‍🎨 Artist: HybridCode

🏦 Auction Type: Auction (It ends at 2pm EST on March 1st 2022)

💰 Reserved Price: 0.2 ETH

Defrag#001 (animated) on Bankless DAO Rarible

DA: Tell us about your work of art, what it comes from, what it represents?

HC: It's always difficult to talk about your work, it certainly is for me. However, I believe that a creative person can be many things, but from a certain point of view he or she is obliged to show another side of the world: The Hidden one, the lesser known one or even the one we don't want or can't see. One has to partly rewrite that to show it in a new light and partly receive it. Re-imagine the existing, and then look where no one is looking.

Of course, all this thinking does not fit rationally with the creative process.

I like the idea that many impulses are not governable. In this sense, to create is also to narrate oneself, in the most direct way.

DA: Is your relationship with technology as conflicting as it is perceived by your work?

HC: I like this question very much. I had never thought of it in those terms. Actually, I really enjoy using new technologies like Neurosity or Virtual Reality but in some ways I still have an analogue approach to my work and the things I do, my name hybricode basically describes this process.

But probably a conflict exists and it has to do with my limitations. I am not a programmer and my training is Empirical. Whenever I am faced with a problem I often (automatically) try to turn it into a possibility.

In a very old interview Roger Waters or Nick Mason was talking about the very first period of Pink Floyd and said something like: "We were not musicians and our musical knowledge was limited, this was one of the reasons why we took that direction, we used our limits to get to our sound without chasing others."

Perhaps, although it may sound strange, the creative process needs a conflict to hold on to.

DA: A video artwork can tear down the fourth wall that separates it from viewers. If the reverse path was possible and you could see the observers of the work, what would you pay more attention to?

HC: I have always loved works that break the fourth wall. When this trick is brilliantly handled, the viewer is completely disoriented, it is a wonderful shock!

The suspension of disbelief is, in some respects, an act of faith that the viewer can take for granted. It’s an act of faith that happens automatically within us.

We want to believe! When this 'magic' breaks down, the return to reality can be astounding!

There are wonderful examples, such as Funny Games, Assassin's Creed 2 or Las Meninas' by Diego Valesquez.

But coming back to your question, I'm in a bit of a quandary, some creative processes however studied remain mysterious.

Monaverse

You Build the Metaverse

by Kaf

Introduction

After the announcement of the name change from Facebook to Meta, everyone began to wonder what the metaverse is about. Tokens like $MANA (Decentraland) and $SAND (The Sandbox) exploded and, for the moment, have won the battle against Zuckerberg.

One of the reasons is that those who truly understand what the metaverse is want it to be decentralized. That is why Monaverse is a project worth following.

Not everything is a metaverse

Many people misunderstood what metaverse means. People think that it is just a video game with virtual reality, no different from platforms like SecondLife. It is important to understand that the difference is in the possibilities that blockchain and web3 offer. The metaverse must be interoperable and implement smart contracts, so that users interact with each other in a decentralized way. Through NFTs, you will be the true owner of the elements in the metaverse.

Monaverse: a collaborative project

Monaverse is a metaverse where designers create their worlds for others to visit or collect. You can also customize your avatar.

Their motto is “building worlds together.” An open and decentralized metaverse where you can create events, shops, galleries, whatever comes to mind. Each space becomes an NFT that other users can also buy. For me, this is the key difference between the metaverse and a virtual world. The user is the one who creates and owns it and has the possibility of transferring it in exchange for money. This is the revolutionary part that blockchain enables.

In Mona, you can design your metaverse using familiar tools like Blender, Rhino, or Gravity Sketch, then import its easy-to-use Unity template, and finally test it directly in the browser before publishing. On their website, they explain in more detail what the complete process would be like.

I still hear a lot of criticism about NFTs, from people who have just read an article where they talked about the NFT bubble, and how collections made by writing code were selling for millions of dollars. You must understand that the human condition will be present in all aspects of life. Some also said that the internet was full of scammers and speculators. Mona is an example of the good practices that web3 allows us. Connecting artists and designers from all over the world has never been easier. Collectors shouldn't look only at a quick profit, but at projects that add value.

Mona plans many novelties in the future that can make it one of the best projects of this year, like the integration of a token and VR/AR support. They have recently teamed up with Ready Player Me. They also call all 3D architects/artists and offer a prize of $250,000. In the Mona build-a-thon, 18 winning spaces will be eligible. If you are a 3D designer, you should not miss this opportunity. Like Decentraland, Monaverse aims to empower creators, and therein lies the magic.

As new tools are developed, the projects will be more dynamic and fun. In a few years, the way we interact will have changed and many people will spend more time in the metaverse than in real life. It may seem extravagant to you to spend money, for example, on a virtual building or vehicle, but when I first heard that young people were spending more than $200 on the skin for a video game, I also thought the same. The revolutionary element is that now you are the creator and the owner.

Mona Co-founder Interview

Mona co-founder Matthew Hoerl has kindly lent us a few questions.

DA: How is the project going?

M: We are really excited about where Mona is today, and where we are going in the next few months. We have the best builder community in the world and are eager to develop more ways for them to succeed.

DA: How did you come up with the idea?

M: Mona was co-founded by a group of best friends, Justin Melillo, Alex Patin, and me. We came together to help creators easily build the metaverse they want to see.

DA: When will we be able to visit the creations of other designers?

M: You are able to check out some of the creations now, on the Mona website (www.mona.gallery).

DA: Maybe it encourages me to create something, can a person who is not a designer participate?

M: The best way to start is by joining our Discord, we have thousands of multi-disciplinary creators working together to build the open metaverse.

DA: The build-a-thon prize is very attractive, how is the process of choosing the winners carried out?

M: For the build-a-thon, a panel of industry leaders from Web3, Architecture, and Design are choosing the winners in a methodological way.

DA: How do you see yourself in 5 years?

M: We hope to encourage the growth of the Open Metaverse, and help lead to a world where builders and creators are first.

DA: Looks like a very promising project, finally what would you say to those who say that NFTs are scams?

M: NFT technology is incredible. Ownership over digital assets will change many industries. While it is most frequently combined with the sale of JPGs, we see a world where people interact with NFTs on a daily basis in many areas of their lives.

Thank you very much for your time Matthew, I wish you good luck, Decentralized Arts will follow you closely!

We also wanted to ask one artist who is building in Monaverse.

Thanks to Treeple Dreamers for being willing to answer.

DA: Where does the love for 3d design come from?

T: I have always loved creating and building. From a young age I had a vivid imagination and there were always bound to what I could create using the traditional tools. 3D Design and Architecture has been amazing for me because the tools allow for nearly boundless creation. There still are limitations and I look forward to future developments of the technology.

DA: What is your specialty?

T: I specialize in creating virtual galleries for displaying artwork in the form of NFTs.

DA: What programs do you usually use?

T: I use Revit, Lumion and Unity.

DA: What do you think of Monaverse?

T: I am extremely satisfied with Mona as a platform and the people. I have a lot of experience with another metaverse platform, and they were consistently letting me down. Mona is a breath of fresh air and there is so much room for growth with them.

DA: What is the most difficult part of the process in Monaverse

T: If you are new to Unity then that would be the only learning curve. It was a new software for me, and it took a week or two to have a good understanding of the tools and features.

DA: Would you advise other designers who will participate in the build-a-thon?

T: Take your time and really refine your space so that it will age well with the Monaverse. Give your space beauty and form but also functionality. People need metaverse spaces that deliver something for them and their connections.

DA: Finally, what would you say to those who say that NFTs are a scam?

T: Some NFTs are scams. Do your due diligence and research the project before investing.

🌐 Curated NFT News

ERC721A An Improved Implementation Of IERC721

This new derivative of the popular smart contract ERC721 has been developed by Azuki and released under MIT License.

This new implementation of the contract offers considerable gas savings when minting multiple NFTs in a single transaction. By using ERC721a you can mint several non-fungible-tokens for a similar price to just minting one NFT.

Azuki used this contract for its popular PFP collection with the same name that was released back in January. At the time of writing the floor price was around 12 ETH.

They have made this contract public and many other projects have used it already. You can get more info about ERC721a here and its latest version here.

DOWN TO EARTH, when Spacesuits meet NFTs

This is a limited run of two NFTs by The Canvas NY in collaboration with Pacific Spaceflight. Owners gets a custom suit designed by Dr. Cameron Smith and a permanent membership to an Adventure Club, featured by Vogue Magazine.

The Drawing Board, from BanklessDAO Design Guild

For the last few weeks, Decentralized Arts has been featuring a new designer from the BanklessDAO Design Guild.

While we’ve enjoyed sharing BanklessDAO talent with our subscribers, it’s now time for them to branch out!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the all-new Design Guild weekly newsletter - The Drawing Board. In it you will find news from the world of design, weekly design tips and techniques, amazing new art, NFT news, and of course a regular spotlight of the talented contributors from Design Guild.

If you’d like to receive the weekly edition of The Drawing Board, please subscribe by clicking here. They would love to share their weekly goodness with you!

Last week’s weekly showcase numbers

Artist JENetics made a total of 1.03 ETH in sales with the “HODL Fast”.

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