Outcomes of the Glitch Artist Grants 2024
We are excited to share the inspiring outcomes of the Glitch Artist Grants 2024, an initiative powered by the generous 15 ETH grant from Nouns. This PropHouse round, designed to build on the momentum of the GLITCH3 residency, invited blockchain artists and engineers to propose artworks and public goods as a follow-up to the GLITCH3 residency. The grant has facilitated the creation of a diverse range of projects, from NFTs to physical installations and performances, with initiatives promoting open and innovative artistic practices within the blockchain art space, listed below.
This grant has served as a powerful bridge between the GLITCH and Nouns communities. Many of the participating artists and technologists, previously unfamiliar with Nouns, have now been introduced to the Nouns ecosystem.
Overall, the grant has sparked numerous collaborative opportunities, including new ideas and potential collaborations, enriching both the GLITCH and Nouns ecosystems. Artists who were part of the GLITCH residency are now considering how Nouns can enhance their work, whether by incorporating the iconic Nouns noggles into their creations or by leveraging blockchain technology for greater creative autonomy. Additionally, the interactions between GLITCH members and Nouns holders during the proposal assessment and voting phases have fostered a spirit of community and mutual support.
The GLITCH artists, now familiar with Nouns, are well-positioned to refer other talented creatives to the Nouns community. They can also act as ambassadors, spreading the ethos of Nouns and demonstrating its potential within the broader blockchain art space. Besides, the success stories emerging from this grant can inspire future Rounds.wtf, encouraging more artists and technologists to explore the possibilities of blockchain art.
.
.
Plantoids Garden by Primavera De Filippi
https://prop.house/0xd7744ae5e63d702e3e9f437943e530fae6c0cb4f/8
About the Installation:
The mechanical garden was produced and exhibited at the Fey Arts festival at Chateau du Fey on May 2nd to 4th, 2024, bringing to life eight Plantoids and other blockchain-based creatures.
The Plantoids were augmented with Artificial Intelligence and trained in order to incarnate the personality of Alice in Wonderland, so that they could entertain the visitors while they were having tea in the room of the chateau. Every Plantoid had a speaker, and the humans could discuss with each one of them, asking them questions or responding to the Plantoids philosophical inquiries. The intelligence of the Plantoids was provided by a local LLM, in order to preserve the privacy of the conversations.
Outside, a larger Plantoid would entertain the visitors, gossiping about what is said inside and luring them into the tea room.
The underlying idea of the piece is to present the concept of Techno-Mancy, i.e. the act of creating synthetic lifeforms that can interact with humans, using blockchain as their operational substrate for agency and artificial intelligence to acquire decisional autonomy.
Post-installation:
After the installation for Fey Arts, the Plantoids have been brought to another exhibition at the Centre des Arts d'Enghien-les-Bains, in the north of Paris, where they have been exhibited for 1 month.
Funding:
Funds from the Nouns grant were used to cover the cost of production of a new plantoid, the audio equipment, and the computer to run the local LLMs and Text-to-speech models.
.
.
Look Touch Own at Art Basel Digital Art Mile by OONA
https://prop.house/0xd7744ae5e63d702e3e9f437943e530fae6c0cb4f/3
About the Installation:
OONAs Look Touch Own Series continued in Art Basel at the Digital Art Mile in Art Basel Switzerland with an interactive installation and self-portrait performance art video within the Objkt booth, curated by Kika Nicolela.
The Dressing Room was a performative installation which exposed my physical changes. Scars, the tx hashes of the body. The non-fungibility of implants.
The Dressing Room created a changing room within the art fair accessible only one by one. In place of the mirror, a screen plays “pre-op post-op”. Next to the screen, the implants sat in a jewelry box underneath a surgical light.
“pre-op post-op” is a performative video art self portrait. OONA draws the same marks the plastic surgeons drew on her chest before surgery. Recreating his roadmap in a 60 second loop of permanence and erasure (the same duration as the look touch own performance).
The work interrogates silicon and scars.
Silicon is both the object of OONAs examination - the implants- and silicon chips are the foundational cornerstones of everything I use to make and share this art.
During the Installation:
OONA gave two talks to university students: one group of undergraduates from the University of Vienna and another group of Masters students from University of Zurich.
Funding:
Funds from the Nouns grant were used to cover the cost of travel, accommodation, and materials for creation of the artwork.
For additional documentation see:
https://x.com/madebyoona/status/1802377264421593241?s=46
https://x.com/madebyoona/status/1801526412605641091?s=46
.
.
AI Sculptures on Bitcoin by Gordon Berger:
https://prop.house/0xd7744ae5e63d702e3e9f437943e530fae6c0cb4f/33
About the Installation:
AI Sculptures is a series of interconnected artworks that merge AI image generation with ancient physical art mediums such as clay. Exploring how the role of an artist is being redefined in the realm of AI, by creating a custom AI model trained on most of the physical artworks produced in Gordon’s lifetime.
The digital components of the artworks explore the use of novel capabilities of Bitcoin Ordinals to explore concepts such as: digital permanence, network effects, social graphs and evolution.
This installation by Gordon Berger was composed of 5 physical inscriptions, 2 latent space sculptures and 5 physical AI sculptures, all made and curated by the artist himself. Exploring human creativity, style and materiality in dialogue with algorithms. These artworks were displayed at a collective exhibition which took place in Naples, Italy during NFTcc in May 2024.
During the Installation:
Gordon held a presentation, educating the audience on the possibilities of using Bitcoin as a medium for digital artworks, as well as utilizing the capabilities of the new Runes protocol.
Likewise Gordon held two guided presentations of all the artworks in the installation. Explaining the whole creative and technical process behind the pieces to a diverse audience. During the installation Gordon was interviewed by the representative from the Sky TV station and multiple journalists.
Funding:
Funds from the Nouns grant were used to cover the cost of materials, the creation processes associated with the artworks and travel expenses. On the digital side the funding covers the costs associated with the creation of the upcoming digital sculpture collection inscribed into Bitcoin.
.
.
Carbon Offset by LB2
https://prop.house/0xd7744ae5e63d702e3e9f437943e530fae6c0cb4f/11**
About the Installation:
Carbon Offset is an immersive site-specific art installation presented in the forest of the Château du Fey. The installation consists of a holographic screen in front of which spectators are invited to expend their energy through movement (dance, sport, etc.) in order to generate a virtual tree. Each tree generated is unique, and is added to a virtual forest created during the festival.
Carbon Offset is a dual critique of the principles behind carbon offsetting. First, it criticizes the green washing of large multinationals offering to plant trees in exchange for a small fee for consuming their products. Second, by representing the dominant discourse on individual responsibility in managing the ecological crisis, highlighting the cynicism of the big polluting companies who refuse to see it as a systemic problem. The dematerialized action of planting a tree through an act of consumption is confronted here with the idea of planting a digital tree through direct action, while being immersed in a natural forest full of life.
Spectators are invited to stand on a small area in front of the screen where a camera transforms their movements into data that is used to calculate the energy they have expended. When enough energy has been expended through their movement, their virtual seed grows into a tree on the holographic screen. This digital tree then joins the virtual forest, forming a collective work of art.
While criticizing the cynical nature of our society, Carbon Offset offers people the creation of a collective virtual forest. This highlights the complex reality that small individual actions can also have a large impact when followed through by all.
To conclude Carbon Offset offers the spectators the duality of our technological world as an aesthetic individualistic yet collective experience. This art installation stands on the edge of a techno utopian vision and the dystopian reality of the ecological crisis.
During the Installation:
Visitors of the festival were invited to join the experience by walking into it. Located at the edge of the forest the installation on a 5m tall holographic screen could not be missed. Trees of light were hanging in the air, in between tall trees. In front of the screen, a magic circle (LEDs in the ground) invited people to enter. Upon entering, the installation shifted to its tree generation mode and the experiencer was invited to perform a dance.
The overall reaction of the public was overwhelmingly positive, with people from 8 to 70 y old dancing to generate a tree. In total 234 people generated trees, each motion recorded, each tree a unique creation stemming from the motion.
The installation
A small video of the result
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6wd87-x_xY/
The location in the forest, the screen was hang in between the trees
Carrying the screen to the forest
In Situ photos
Funding:
Funds from the Nouns grant were used to cover the cost of travel, and materials for creation of the artwork. A small portion was used to record a small documentary on the creation process that will be released by september.
.
.
ANON Binaire GAN by Sam J
https://prop.house/0xd7744ae5e63d702e3e9f437943e530fae6c0cb4f/18
About the Installation:
Anon Binaire is a luxury fashion brand by SamJ Studios and has been integrating a strong blend of technology and analog creative processes into their craftsmanship. Beginning with the conceptualization and initial physical sketches of a.b’s first collection, we created a GAN to learn from the brand’s aesthetic codes of design. Enabling a new model to iterate upon the guidelines of a.b’s style expands the possibility of what can be included within the first collection as we’re creating.
Compiling the original analog and GAN sketches into a final arrangement we can choose the most compelling designs to ensure they last through the test of immense digital output in the age of information overload.
As we’re curating our favorites we’ve created a test print portfolio of the designs ready to us as a proof of concept for displaying IRL. Within this portfolio we’re also engaging with tactile materials and fragrances, as well.
The Installation:
Anon Binaire is in talks with Digital Couture Summit in Milan to showcase the works in September. This would include a discussion about the works and their significance, as well as a showcase of the quality prints created of the selected works.
Funding:
The Nouns grant funds were used to accommodate travel, print manufacturing, and digital processing costs, and physical installation costs that will manifest as we create the space in September.
A selection of the progression pieces below:
