The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York uses Web3-gaming and NFT rewards to encourage visitors to explore the world of art history. The new game, called Art Links, invites players to identify common lines and connections between more than 140 works of art from the collection of The Met, where new challenges are released every week.
It was built on the Base blockchain of Coinbase in collaboration with Start-Up TR Labs. In the game, players must create a chain that consists of seven works of art and six connections. They have four attempts to complete each chain.
The game offers several types of possible connections, such as the artistic current of which the work was a part or the materials used. For example, a player could make a connection by correctly identifying that two pieces were physically made of the same materials or are part of the ‘cubist’ movement.
Players can also connect artworks via ’emojis’, shared signs and symbols. After players have successfully found art-based connections (or ‘chains’) between works, players can claim free NFT badges and earn performance.
Players who achieve these performance can unlock rewards from real life, such as discounts at The with Store or private tours led by a curator. Art Links also contains built -in learning moments, available through clickable icons, so that users can freshen up their knowledge about art history.
The game is now available on the website of The Met and will take a total of twelve weeks.
Source: The with
This is not the first trip from the museum to blockchain, but it is a bit different. In 2023, with The together with the Gaming Platform for Replica, an app based on augmented reality missions (available for iOS and Android) that is linked to an with experience within the Roblox metaverse. The app, made in collaboration with technology partner Verizon, led visitors via an interactive map to 37 selected physical artworks spread throughout the museum, which they could further discover by scanning the relevant pieces.
In exchange, players were able to score digital collective objects, such as the famous straw hat from Van Gogh, for their avatars.
Themes that are investigated in the game include ‘Objects in Disguise’, in which works of art are emphasized that are made of surprising and deliberate misleading materials, such as Paper Med no. 18 from Su Xianzhong. The game also explores ‘Art X Tech’, with works that investigate the dialogue of artists with technological innovation over time, including Matthew Jensen’s The 49 states.
The token of the trust of The with in blockchain technology comes at a time when the demand for NFT art has largely cooled. The NFT trade volumes on Marktplaats Magic Eden have fallen by 91% compared to record highs ever, and the regular art world seems to set up his attention somewhere else.
Record holder digital artist Beeple said in December that the NFT market “had come back to earth” and that speculators “went further”, although he noticed that “there is still a lot of enthusiasm about this stuff.”
Nevertheless, intersections between controversial art institutions and the NFT room continue to appear.
In October, Christie’s London organized an auction for To rise, A dynamic digital artwork registered in Bitcoin’s Ordinals protocol-a scoop for the auction house.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.