#fakealphapixel is the first Conceptual Art project in the World, that is sourced from the topic of NFTs and their critiques, exhibited virtually and physically in a renowned gallery.
My main goal is to make Art that questions the value of digital assets, that could go from 0 to ∞, and relation to their communities.
It all started with a genius idea of my friend prof. Antonio Rollo - minting a transparent pixel - the shortest possible .gif code of alpha pixel on the blockchain. As I was analyzing the scene at the time and saw how the Art and Artists got exploited in early 2021 by getting their Art copied in fake NFT projects, I immediately produced a response by deploying "declared fakes of alpha pixel" (with artist's statements) on 8 blockchains, that I knew at the time supported codeless minting. My main objective then was to critique and make fun of the nowadays everpresent process of making countless iterations of forged Artforms, for the sake of pure profits. After that I started to make site-specific Art interventions that resulted in an exhibition in Galerija Gallery at the end of October 21. I also play with the semantic jokes, as a response to silly marketing and sales copy examples that are used in some cases. 4x4 #fakealphapixels - off-road, is one example... The project is ongoing and I'm constantly adding new material to my collection, working on a couple of exhibitions and web-based projects, and meanwhile researching the web3 applications of my fake raw materials for windows in metaverses.
Here are some artworks from the series #fakealphapixel with brief descriptions:
The artwork represents a painting with the print screen of proof of burning the #fakealphapixel NFT on the BSC network, with a transparent plastic foil pixel physically burnt over it. The pedestal of installation is a detached wooden frame, a packing paper - transport package in which the painting was brought to the exhibition, and a standing lighter, inviting the viewer to physically burn the Artwork. Unfortunately, no one had enough courage to do so.
link to NFT
This installation is a pixel square hole, a cutout from a crushed semi-transparent piece of paper. By looking through it viewers could read the words: "it's a hole" that was written by hand on the pedestal. It's meant to be an impulse to think about the reciprocity of digital assets and their fooling appearance in the context of a collector.
The installation was made from edible transparent cubes, that were assembled in the composition of letters "Eat". The intention was to provoke the viewer to eat them, and it was successful. In a part of the performance that I initiated, some of us tasted the fake transparent pixels from a decorative pedestal. Its setting was in a horizontal position, to resemble the improvised snacks that are usually put on display in such exhibitions.
link to NFT
When the exhibition was opened, it started with a performance by a computer introducing the Artist. I was totally quiet during the formal part of the opening, so everybody could speculate that there is a higher digital entity orchestrating the event. The computer also pulled a couple of jokes on me, I don't blame it tho.
The artwork is a collection of QR-codes, that was leading to all the listings on marketplaces, each on different blockchains, where #fakealphapixels were deployed. In the end, there was a sticker claiming, that these are proof of transparency for the whole project. They were.
link to NFT
This is the outcome of the performance, where I gave a comment on the actions of people, that cut Banksy's street art out of their original walls for whatever reasons. I performed a cut-out of transparent pixels of my #alleged# street art piece, a mobile device glued on the wall, and put them on display in a gallery as the remaining layers of hardware. Photo documentation of the event was also presented in a culture jamming approach on a fake Time magazine cover.
link to NFT
This sculpture is inviting the viewer to give it a push and put the installation to its crash - merge. Two cubes 2x3d = 6d. The top-heavy plaster cube standing in balance on its corner, put in a manner that needs just a little push, to land on the lower fragile glass cube. The pedestal is depicting the shortest possible .gif code of a transparent pixel. I was assuming, that if there were too many visitors attending the exhibition, someone had made a mistake causing the imbalance. It'd be a catastrophe in their mind, but a nice depiction of crashing the blockchain in case of too many users.
link to NFT
I'm asking myself, what does originality mean, where did the general public idea emerge from, was it just a consequence of someone's ego, and a medium of surprise? I'm curious if originality is just a statement of ownership, to justify the economic means of an individual. All art can be original, even if it's a copy, or is it?
link to NFT
It is transparent,
small usually
and is “fake”.
Non existent.
At least not in the physical world.
It's a copy.
A copy of nothing
what you could see,
is a copy.
Transparent pixel.
Hence the copy
the basic building block of
everything visual on the internet.
And yet it’s not just one copy,
it’s a sea of copies,
which have many different interpretations,
copies.
Disregards copyright,
does not respect the principles of rarity,
ignores everything.
multiplies, transforms, applies,
as it wills.
But not Chinese.
Copy.
Thanks Antonio.
______________
My material is - fake, plagiarism,
copy. In the digital environment of NFTs.
#fakealphapixel is web 3.0. With it, I occupy many dimensions of the blockchains.
I will occupy more.
And yet, I wonder about its physicality.
Its approximation,
its manifestation in other dimensions.
I managed to put a couple of them
in the installations that are on display.
you will see the digital NOTHING,
but it is much more than nothing
and it is packed with countless meanings.
At least that's how I think of it...
Visual Artist, Art Director, Designer and Illustrator, teacher, and tech explorer. Assistant for Interaction and Graphic Design at the department of Visual Communication of Academy of fine Arts and Design Ljubljana, working as an Intermedia Artist, and overall creative from web0 to web3, from a pencil, drawing to XR. Researcher of new digital landscapes and builder of imaginariums. Core team member of Slovenian web3 community, cofounder of Charify.art, and advisor/partner in multiple other web3 projects.
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