In art, as in everything else, it is arguably not What you do that matters but How you do it. This basic philosophy underpins many of the contemporary and postmodern art movements, in which the artistic process, narrative, and messaging often take precedence over a work’s medium or specific aesthetic.
It’s no surprise that many artists in Web3 choose to devote much of their energy to concept and delivery. Combined with the NFT ecosystem’s penchant for hype-building, leaning on these two dynamics is a strategy that has served many well. is among them Xer0xthe digital artist who is as much known for his edgy social commentary and experimentation as his glitchy, insightful artwork.
Every week, nft now Next one reveals a new artist from our curated list of emerging talents who have caused a stir in Web3. This week we are pleased to present Xer0x.
Xer0x
Xer0x is a sound engineer and digital artist known for weaving themes such as behavioral economics, satire and copy culture into his creations. Each of his artworks is designed to exist independently, with minimal to no correlation to his previous works.
A staunch advocate of universal access to information and artistic opportunity – and a self-proclaimed social hacker and performance artist – Xer0x often conducts public demonstrations that harness the power of blockchain technology and social media platforms.
We had the opportunity to ask Xer0x a few questions about NFTs and his artistic process.
NFT Now: How did you first become interested/involved in NFTs?
Xer0x: My background is audio. In late 2020 I developed this unusual hearing condition called tinnitus. I actually hear a constant ringing sound. It’s not a real sound, but somewhere between my ears and my brain it becomes real. Feeling betrayed by my craft, I turned away from audio to the closest thing I could find in the visual world: GIF animation.
“I’ve learned maybe a dozen ways to represent noise in my work. I’m at peace with it. I swim in it like it’s the ocean.”
xer0x
GIFs move a lot like how sounds move through time; they also loop through so you can sequence them as you would a sound in a drum machine or midi sequencer. So for me, I’m dealing with visual music.
There is also a deeper spiritual element that I find in my style – because I create all my pieces in pitch darkness at night. I work for days and the noise I hear disappears in the stillness of the night while I work on my animations. If you look through my pieces, you’ll notice that I work a lot with visual noise… I’ve learned maybe a dozen ways to represent noise in my work. I’m at peace with it. I swim in it like it’s the ocean.
nft now: How would you describe your art?
Xer0x: Film noir smoke and phosphorescent static electricity. I’m a bit obsessed with turn-of-the-century aesthetics: electrification, the machine age, Art Deco, German Expressionism. I think firstly there was tremendous promise of what tomorrow would bring, but also that the future would be tangible, albeit industrial. We live in an immaterial reality where nothing feels solid. All our thoughts, memories and information are stored in the cloud.
It’s hard to even imagine the future because there’s nothing exciting about microchips getting even more microscopic, right? And that’s perhaps the most optimistic thing we can be: improved processing power or something equally inhumane.
So to myself, the most interesting future was one that people imagined in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The film noir smoke and phosphorescent noise of the urban metropolis.
nft now: what does your process look like? Where do you usually find inspiration?
Xer0x: I usually start with a concept. I usually have a title before I have a piece, and sometimes I think about a concept for a few weeks. Often I have no real way of visualizing the concept, so I give up and tackle a new idea. Words don’t always translate into images, despite what AI would have everyone believe.
Each piece must live, just as music lives. They must radiate energy as a living being would, move like a living being, be flawed like a living being. It should be the opposite of sterile. If a piece comes out dirty and scarred, at least I can know it came from me. To be sterile is to be dead.