NFT
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has taken a big step in the NFT world in February when it announced the acquisition of a valuable collection of tokenized artwork. But the famous art museum does not only collect, it also collaborates with well-known artists Web3 makers to pay homage to classical art in new and experimental ways.
LACMAs “Reminder of Things to Come” initiative continues this week with the launch of a pair of interactive NFT collections from renowned pseudonymous artist Deafbeef, who uses a C code compiler to create distinctive work. His “Noumenon + Chronophotograph” Ethereum The NFT project is inspired by the formative work of English photographer Eadweard Muybridge.
The 19th century photographer’s motion studies through chronological photo series – most famously “The Horse in Motion”, of a galloping horse – helped inform future films and animations, as well as other art styles. The sequences were famous referred in Jordan Peele’s 2022 film ‘Nope’.
Today
@LACMA + @CactoidLabs is pleased to announce Vol.3 of the Remembrance of Things Future initiative: 0xDEAFBEEF: Noumenon + Chronophotograph@_deafbeef’s Chronophotographs release 2:00 PM PDT
Only use official links in Cactoid Labs Discord pic.twitter.com/jhFwqznsBq
— Cactoid Labs (@CactoidLabs) May 4, 2023
“Remembrance of Things Future” is a collaboration between LACMA and blockchain consultancy Cactoid Labs. Like other participating artists, Deafbeef was given free rein to choose works from LACMA’s permanent collection and find something that appealed to him – and to which he could respond artistically.
“All the images had a really enigmatic character that was familiar but mysterious. They are part of our consciousness because those images are very familiar,’ Doafbeef said Decrypt of Muybridge’s work. “I just found a wealth of interesting things and connections to really dive into.”
Eadweard Muybridge’s “Animal Locomotion” (1886). Image: LACMA
The project revolves around 16 “Noumenon” Ethereum NFTs, each a unique one-minute animation derived from compiled C code. Deafbeef described each monochromatic audiovisual work as “a representation of an unknowable reality beyond our immediate senses.”
“Its qualities visually and sonically are meant to suggest lilting rhythms and time distortion. It’s amorphous and fading, and there are different shapes,” he continued. “It’s supposed to be a little bit out of your reach.”
The ultimate owner of each noumenon can then take a chronograph of still images, or delegate another wallet, which has been converted into a separate NFTthanks to the corresponding smart contracts. A smart contract contains the code that powers NFT projects, and this contract contains a unique “releaseShutter” function that can be called to generate the still snapshot.
A potentially endless number of chronophotos can be taken from each Noumenon NFT, creating a stream of unique editions that can be kept or traded. But there’s a catch: a time slot that expands exponentially, doubling after each snapshot. Interestingly, each successive chrono photo is also a larger, clearer, higher resolution photo sequence.
Photography as performance art: Jeremy Cowart creates a totally new kind of 10K NFT collection
For Deafbeef, the project not only provided an opportunity to learn more about Muybridge’s work and explore the connections between them, but also to reflect on concepts such as “contrasting time scales” and what constitutes a source of truth.
“There’s a perception that photography is an objective measurement, but it never has been,” he said, pointing to the possibility of manipulated shots and the influence of human framing. “People have this story in crypto as well. There is an ethos that the blockchain is truth; it is a source of objective reference. But again, it has to be interpreted by people.
A self-portrait of the pseudonymous artist Deafbeef. Image: Deaf steak
A total of 224 Chronophotograph NFTs have been pre-sold, and they will start selling for 0.2 ETH ($375) each starting today. All future chrono photos can be taken by the Noumenon owners or delegated portfolios. The Noumenon NFTs were already privately pre-sold and the eventual owners can slap as many future chronographers as they like.
In the run-up to today’s sale, well-known artists love Art blocks founder Erick “snowfro” Calderonthe pseudonym XCOPYand Jen Stark were invited to take chrono shots, forever linking their respective wallet addresses to the minted NFT.
Click! CHRONOPHOTOGRAPH 154 observed by 0x39Cc9C (xcopy.eth) at block number 17180375 Era 8 of Noumenon 14 https://t.co/Rq2bmBXQxl pic.twitter.com/oTG2M3ZWoQ
— Chronophotograph Bot (@chronophotobot) May 3, 2023
LACMA is also showing previous work by Deafbeef – whose first NFT compositions have been traded for six-figure sums in 2021 – in connection with the project.
Other artists who have participated in “Remembrance of Things Future” so far include Stark, Monica Rizzoli, Ix Shells, Emily Xie and Sarah Zucker, all of whom were inspired by existing works in LACMA’s permanent collection.
