A real-time digital and handmade art experience
Soul In The Machine: An Art Experience is a collaborative multimedia performance by 19 artists on DADA, created in real time, virtually and physically, for the Ethereal Summit 2019. It will be part of the auction that is capping the event Saturday, May 11 in New York City.
This art performance explores the relationship between technology and humanity, between the virtual and the real. We aim to capture the strong bonds experienced by artists drawing together online, as well as to encapsulate the ephemeral nature of real-time digital artmaking in a physical object; in this case, a treasure box that includes mementos from each artist.
We are using technology to enable a deeply human experience.
Soul In The Machine Is:
Digital: A visual conversation based on the theme Soul In The Machine that is being created by artists on DADA, live-streamed, and shown in real time at the Ethereal Summit via Google Meet.
Physical: An art object — a box made of the individual boxes sent by 19 artists with their personal mementos. The box is purely handmade, but it also includes digital items: an AR speed drawing version of the visual conversation on DADA as well as AR video loop of the last moments of the auction. That is, the box includes the entire experience from beginning to end. The last drawing will be finished and posted during the live auction. The performance ends when the last bid is awarded.
On the blockchain: The winning bid at the auction will get both the tokenized visual conversation on DADA plus the art object, which will also be an ERC 998 token composed of multiple ERC 721 tokens for each of the artists’ boxes.
A Story Behind Every Box
Every box has a story, not only of the very personal memento each artist chose to share but also of the odyssey that it has been for each box to arrive at its final destination. Apparently, 19 artists from 12 countries in 5 continents can draw together online on DADA without a snag but shipping 2-inch handmade boxes overseas is a bureaucratic nightmare.
It all goes in the box. The frame is reclaimed antique Japanese wood and the back is made with the labels and packaging that the boxes came in.
Every inch of this box tells a story.
Simon Wairiuko in Kenya had to drive 3 hours and back to his nearest DHL office.
Lissette, from Puerto Montt, Chile was not allowed to send her handmade wooden box because it was made of endangered wood so she had to stay away from home 3 nights until her refashioned box was finally allowed to travel.
But technology has come to the rescue and through AR we are able to include a video of her original box.
Test for AR with Lissette’s BoxTools we take for granted, like computers and the internet, can effect miraculous things if we use them with that purpose. The final artwork, comprised of the digital visual conversation on DADA and the box is imbued with the spirit of community that we experienced together as we lived through the ups and downs of this performance. That’s what makes it priceless.
Participating artists in order of drawing:
Serena Stelitano, Italy • Beatriz Ramos, USA • Javier Errecarte, Spain • Vanesa Stati, Argentina • Mar Espi, Spain • Jason Bailey, USA •
Massel Quispe, Peru • Paulo, Portugal • Daveed, USA • Lissette, Chile.
Live drawing at Ethereal Summit:
Friday:
Ophelia Fu, England • Boris Toledo, Chile • Simon Wairiuko, Kenya • Marko Zubak, Croatia • Moxarra, Mexico.
Saturday:
Isa Kost, Italy • Furius, Czechia • Alex Henry , USA • Otro, Chile.
By auctioning a living work of art we intend to subvert the speculative nature of the English auction which maximizes profits at the expense of art and the artists.
You can bid online at Portion or at the live auction without knowing how the work of art will look when it is finished.
One problem with some art auctions is that artists are expected to donate their artwork in exchange for exposure. We believe that artists should always reap the rewards of their work.
It would be off-mission for DADA to participate in a speculative art auction and donate the proceeds to an art charity instead of them going to our artists. Working in concert with Portion, we came up with a solution that resolved Ethereal’s legal concerns while ensuring that the proceeds from the sale of this work go to the artists who made it.
Join us @powerdada on Twitter for live streaming of drawings, unboxings and more, and at MakerSpace at Ethereal Summit to see the box and live drawing by the artists all the way up to the auction.
