Verse Talks

Dive into the fascinating world of art and community in the digital age. Motzko shares experiences from Marfa, highlighting connections made and its vibrant art scene. The hosts unravel the intricacies of social media dynamics, including the fallout from a controversial clip. Explore the concept of curating a personal online gallery and the aesthetic journey of scrolling. Discussions touch on NFT engagement in Silicon Valley, the rise of unique art cultures across different chains, and the exciting future of digital art with artists like Rafaël and Lorna.

00:35 - Welcome Redbeard 02:58 - Discovering digital art 05:03 - Too many sellers, not enough buyers 09:13 - Debunking the cabal 15:13 - Power laws, high prices and rising tides 18:42 - Building relationships and community 22:30 - Uplifting voices and building on history 23:17 - The importance of open-minded participation 25:55 - Being part of a movement and making an impact 29:08 - Zoom out and refine your focus 31:28 - Collaborate more, compete less 32:44 - Inside the Whitney selection committee 35:05 - Performance art belongs on-chain 36:03 - Institutions help, community leads 40:35 - Expanding the community beyond X 42:38 - Showcasing the human side of the artists 46:20 - Looking past the tweets and connecting in person 50:15 - The value of innovation   Redbeard: https://x.com/redbeardnft

00:40 - Welcome Hilde Lynn Helphenstein07:20 - Conservatism in the art world 10:02 - Early exposure to different cultures 11:54 - Conceptual Art, new genres and developing a practice 14:01 - The art world as a performance 16:54 - From Hooters to Art Basel 18:09 - The birth of Jerry Gogosian 22:24 - Problems built into the business model 24:43 - AI and the potential valuelessness of art 30:03 - How social media has changed the art world 34:15 - The myth of inclusivity 39:20 - The pandemic, cultural shifts and NFTs 44:36 - The power of physicality in art 48:45 -  We are all memes 50:40 - The power of the network and connection 56:00 - Normalised extremes and impostor syndrome 01:02:10 - The cost of opening up to an audience 01:14:50 - Moving forward and thinking about the future 01:25:10 - Gozo and the importance of texture in digital art 01:30:37 - A missing historical context in NFTs 01:38:30 - What art will look like in the future 01:43:05 - Technophobia and protectionism in the traditional art world 01:49:20 - Cancel culture, polarisation and satire 01:55:52 - A future NFT true believer Jerry Gogosian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerrygogosian Jerry Gogosian X: https://x.com/jerrygogosianGozo - an improbable thread: https://verse.works/series/an-improbable-thread-by-gozo Gozo: https://x.com/uncertaingaze

00:42 - Welcome Sasha Stiles 04:55 - The foundations for an endless curiosity 09:50 - Connecting with Kalmyk art forms 13:40 - From academia to the arts 16:20 - New York, cultural absorption and parallel careers 19:05 - Living through pivotal technological shifts 21:52 - An ongoing cultural relationship with technology 23:20 - Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence and Attention Is All You Need 26:39 - The role of the writer and language in the wake of AI 28:29 - Talk to Transformer, early tooling and digital exploration 32:58 - Working with an AI co-author 33:40 - A constantly evolving data set 35:30 - Defining the art and shaping the system 38:26 - Loss of nuance online and the impact of live performance 41:40 - Identifying as an artist and blockchain as a multi-media printing press 48:20 - 2020 and people connecting online 52:00 - The importance of community and social media 54:38 - The role of a gallery in an artist's career 58:45 - The stresses of a financialized practice 01:00:45 - theVERSEverse and the growth of an experimental collective 01:06:56 - A Living Poem at MoMa 01:11:23 - Situating AI-powered verse in the tradition of text-based art 01:16:19 - Upcoming writing, work and special events at MoMa Sasha Stiles: https://x.com/sashastilesA Living Poem: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5839 https://theverseverse.com    

00:25 – Intro: Raoul Pal01:05 – Real Vision: why it started after the GFC/Euro crisis02:06 – Democratising finance content; early crypto coverage03:41 – Bootstrapping video: “we knew f*** all” era (2013–14)04:45 – Word of mouth growth; mistakes + learning media/tech06:40 – Art + NFTs: desire to be part of a cultural movement09:05 – Crypto Twitter as daily culture; priceless long-term record10:33 – What is “consensus”? Attention as the driver13:00 – Influencers vs. durable consensus (fleeting vs. lasting)14:32 – Do we need museum/gallery validation? Two worlds emerge16:36 – Museums, value, and attention 17:19 – Counterpoint from museum practice; cultural significance18:37 – Once museums act, value follows; UK institutions lag on digital20:56 – Egalitarian internet: anyone can show, few will sell22:19 – Raoul’s barbell thesis: ultra-culture ↔ frontier tech24:10 – Living with digital art; display that works vs. doesn’t25:33 – XCOPY supply dynamics; Beeple’s opposite path28:05 – Die With The Most Likes: world-building & collector bonds29:57 – Explaining it to the “old world”; youth curators & A&R analogy30:52 – People will write the art history; institutions must adapt32:27 – Contemporary art attention collapse; digital shows done poorly33:48 – Onboarding wealthy collectors: friction + sticker shock35:48 – Curation, custody, and NFT funds as bridges37:22 – Can outsiders “feel it” without the chats? Not yet38:52 – Is recommending digital art scary? On risk & Lindy effects40:19 – The collector’s journey: pain → pride → taste41:57 – Where are we in the NFT art cycle? Re-ratings ahead43:45 – Token incentives = attention fuel, but fleeting44:48 – Toward automated, attention-driven art funds (later)46:11 – Shiny objects vs. signal; what the experiments teach48:00 – AI upends moats; community as the moat49:39 – One-to-one media future; end of “one-to-many”51:00 – Human connection, shared experiences become scarce51:40 – Art as cultural capsule in an AI world53:06 – Marfa event as a “marker stone”54:13 – Small world energy; one degree of separation55:18 – Thanks + closing…55:37 – One last Q: why Raoul goes against the grain56:05 – Rebellion roots; living in the future57:38 – Do it differently; travel > prestige paths59:50 – Be yourself in the age of AI; find your voice01:00:26 – Comfort zone ≠ where the magic happenshttps://x.com/RaoulGMIhttps://x.com/XCOPYARThttps://x.com/kimasendorfhttps://x.com/toadswiback

00:33 - Welcome Adrian Pocobelli 01:39 - Discovering the counterculture 07:10 - The desire to collect 13:05 - The Stone Roses, The Smiths, and J. G. Ballard 19:00 - Neoplatonism and psychedelics 24:30 - Learning the craft of graphic design 26:50 - Becoming a broadcaster 29:05 - Finding crypto, Objkt and Tezos 31:35 - The difference between crypto art and art on the blockchain 34:52 - The evolution of the NFT space 39:45 - The complexities of running a marketplace 44:05 - Chain-specific culture 45:51 - The Pocobelli Collection on Verse 46:45 - What does it mean to be a digital gallery 51:07 - The difference between a traditional and digital understanding 54:42 - The thinking behind Artist Journal 01:02:10 - Speaking on inspiration vs. plagiarism 01:08:50 - Derivative culture in the space 01:12:40 - Placing the focus on the art rather than the market 01:14:50 - The Kurt Hustle Collective and WeB'97 01:21:41 - An Italian sensibility and open-minded approach 01:26:20 - The future of digital art01:31:15 - Creating a welcoming environment for new collectors 01:35:30 - Educating new entrants to the space Adrian Pocobelli: https://x.com/pocobelli Kurt Hustle Collective: https://x.com/kurthustle97 Terry Visual: https://x.com/terryvisual JNK: https://x.com/jnk101 haydiroket: https://x.com/haydiroket 

00:45 - Welcome Sebastian Sanchez 08:55 - A journey into digital art 11:05 - Christie's 3.0 and joining the team 17:44 - Developing a commercial mindset 20:40 - Finding the right market fit 22:30 - Nurturing artist and collector relationships 25:05 - Highlights across the last three years 26:58 - Curatorial vs commercial perspectives 30:18 - The effect of an open market on institutional Web3 adoption 32:12 - The closure of Christie's digital art department 35:05 - The implications of digital work in the evening sale  38:42 - Winning collections and building the narrative 43:40 - Dynamics between primary and secondary markets 45:55 - Institutional vs. market credibility 48:00 - The reality of a nascent space 52:04 - A changing collector base 54:26 - A moment of future historical importance 56:19 - Sebastian's artist highlights 57:40 - The emergence of a merged market 01:00:28 - Verse roundtable 01:02:00 - V001: In Real Time recap 01:08:27 - The power of relational dynamics and mixed lots 01:14:26 - Marketing, strategies and themed lots 01:25:25 - Upcoming in-person events and gallery shows 01:27:45 - $PNKSTR 01:30:47 - Traditional art market decline 01:36:30 - Jack Butcher's Gas Wars 01:38:48 - Eric De Giuli and Zero (Broken Symmetry) 01:47:00 - Artist highlights Sebastian Sanchez: https://x.com/sebastianss527 Lowbie: https://x.com/archivepilled Thelonious Stokes: https://www.instagram.com/thelonious_art Sachcoo The Arty: https://x.com/sachcoo_thearty James Bloom: https://x.com/crashblossom1 Maya Man: https://x.com/mayaonthenet Joe Pease: https://x.com/joepease William Mapan: https://x.com/williamapan

00:45 - Yeche Lange and Avant Gay recap 05:40 - Series size and collector focus 10:00 - Artist trajectories and release mechanics 13:10 - Art and the Diderot effect 20:10 - Collecting strategies and high-net-worth individuals 24:45 - What if every work was soulbound 28:30 - Cultural stickiness in the face of diluted attention 33:00 - Collecting as self narrative reinforcement 35:28 - Christie's digital art department closure 42:03 - V001: In Real Time 45:20 - Selecting lots and coordinating the auction 52:15 - The risk of exposing markets 56:30 - Rebalancing collections and investing in emerging artists 59:20 - Dream lots 01:02:15 - An art-forward approach 01:07:59 - ACK's piano at Carnegie Hall 01:11:35 -  Sasha Stiles at MoMa 01:12:53 - The emergence of different cultural spheres within the space 01:15:40 - An artist-based curatorial program 01:24:45 - Narrative, sales and market realities 01:28:40 - Parker Ito, Hyper-Gamble and community energy 01:30:29 - Artist highlights 01:36:06 - Verse rundown Elfilter: https://x.com/elfilter_a Mike Balzer: https://x.com/pxlshrd Alkan Avcioğlu: https://x.com/evergreendazed Edward Burtynsky: https://x.com/edwardburtynsky evil biscuit: https://x.com/bis__cut Pipilotti Rist: https://www.instagram.com/pipilotti_rist_studio V001: In Real Time: https://verse.works/exhibitions/v001-in-real-time                 

00:45 - Welcome Eric De Giuli 02:18 - Connecting art and theoretical physics 05:35 - Early explorations into generative art 08:29 - Balancing artistic and academic practices 10:35 - Discovering NFTs, 2021, and Art Blocks 13:05 - Navigating multiple audiences 16:25 - Creating order from nothing 18:55 - Avoiding noise as a structural element 23:50 - Amplifying and controlling unpredictability 26:56 - Emergent complexity from simple building blocks 33:00 - The work as an unfolding performance 34:57 - Floating-point errors as a source of structural randomness 37:56 - Colour as an aesthetic choice 41:15 - Finding room for creative expression in physics 44:07 - AI and exploring complex systems 48:05 - Simulation theory and the burden of proof 51:45 - Community and artistic connection  54:35 - Complementary careers and entwined practices 58:12 - Exploring Calian and Atlas 01:00:12 - Zero (Broken Symmetry) Eric De Giuli: https://x.com/eeedg__                    

00:35 - Welcome Rafaël Rozendaal 02:55 - The advantage of a conversational archive 06:21 - The influence of travel and cultural heritage 08:25 - Neen, LA and digital art in the late '90s 12:06 - Growing up in an artistic household 14:32 - Grants, funding and commercial pressure 16:35 - The potential of the early internet 21:00 - Art school and early connections 27:30 - Berlin and Post-Internet 31:30 - The impact of New York on a working practice 35:36 - A window to the creative process 38:15 - The importance of painting 40:21 - The power of a minimal approach 42:15 - Discovering blockchain and NFTs 45:01 - A new audience and a new perspective 49:55 - Papertoilet.com and unintended virality 56:40 - Quantifying effort, success and quality 59:50 - MoMa and allowing the space to curate the work 01:01:45 - Twist 01:03:20 - Thinking with your brush 01:05:15 - The origin of Rooms 01:07:40 - Colour, saturation, contrast and iteration 01:10:53 - The advantage of working with a gallery 01:16:26 - What's next Rafaël Rozendaal: https://x.com/newrafael Fellowship: https://x.com/fellowshiptrust https://fellowship.xyz/exhibition/rafael-rozendaal-rooms