Next Stop: CRYPTOSPACE... This month we have published the first six Sonarpilot NFTs on the Foundation platform.
You all heard of it: Blockchain technology is truly changing the world - and fast! Of course, there's the headline-making volatility of Bitcoin & co. But there are also a lot of other new, exciting things that populate the so called Cryptospace (which basically is just a cool name for a whole bundle of technologies that all rely on the concept of a blockchain).
The whole buzz around Blockchain technology and the Cryptospace feels a bit like back in the early days of the Internet, with lots of weird new ideas, tons of hype but with a core technology that will most likely become an important part of our everyday lives.
One of the technologies that will most likely survive are NFTs or Non-Fungible tokens. So, let's take a closer look at that new, neat piece of tech.
What are NFTs?
NFTs have taken the art (and sports and gaming) world in a storm. In short, this technology makes it possible to turn a digital file, which can be copied endlessly, into a unique original. NFTs can be bought and collected like a traditional work of art - even though there might be other, almost identical copies out there. The proof of this ownership is being written into a blockchain and can not be altered. This video sums it all up really well...
(And there's a slightly more detailed, fun explanation, with faqs here)
Why are NFTs interesting?
NFTs have led to an explosion of creativity. As always in an early phase of a new technology, people try out all kind of stuff - silly stuff, boring stuff, but also quite a lot of new cool works of contemporary art. Most of it will disappear rather soon. But it is certainly a fascinating new field that will evolve quickly and have a deep impact on the art world in general.
Today, we are in the very early stages. In September I visited ART Basel, the world's largest commercial art show. I talked to artists and gallery people and most of them knew about this new technology - but at least the gallery folks did not take it too seriously. It reminded me of conversations I had with investment bankers and analysts in 1996 who weren't sure if the internet would really become something important... We know how that turned out :-)
For now, we think it's fun and inspiring to participate in this new thing. That's why we minted our first few NFTs and published them on the foundation.app
So, what are we doing with NFTs?
One of three "Fractal Globes "that we published as NFTs
The first six Sonarpilot NFTs consist of animations that Roger, my partner in crime, created as some of the raw materials for the much longer Mirages "City in the Sky" and "CodeX". The clips are based on fractal worlds that we selected before and want to explore in a Mirage. I then take 30 or 40 of these clips and create a full 10-minute Mirage. In this process, the originals often get badly mangled, cut up distorted (if you're interested: here's more about that process: https://www.themirageproject.com/tech-2).
The end result is one long, mesmerising Mirage. But the initial fractal animations are still there and they are beautiful objects of their own. So far, we did not really know what to do with them. With the arrival of NFTs, we decided to publish them as independent pieces. Think of it like the sketches that a painter or a sculptor makes while creating a new piece.
One of the animations we used in the Mirage "CodeX"
We have just started this process and are still trying to find out what might be the best format to publish these animations. Right now I edited them slightly, made a video loop and created a supporting soundtrack. The first six of those mini-movies are out now. We published them on the renowned NFT platform Foundation (https://foundation.app/@sonarpilot). More will follow soon, we will keep you posted!
If you'd like to see the videos in more detail, have them on your phone or laptop, you can download the mp4 files of the six animations we used in the NFT series below...
Please note: These mp4s are the animations and not the minted NFTs. They are the same files - but are they not linked to the blockchain. They are for your personal use, on a phone or your laptop, you may share them with friends, but please do not use them in a commercial context as the videos fall under creative commons license CC-BY-NC-4.0.
"... As always, thank you so much for your support, it really means a lot to all of us here at The Mirage Project - Till next time, take care!"
- Michael Moppert aka, Sonarpilot