The 888 Inner Artist Initiative — February 2024 Update
Note: There are many links in the below article, including many to artist Twitter/X pages. Like with all things in Web 3.0, please be careful with respect to your personal security, particularly when clicking on links. We have made reasonable attempts to link to credible sources, as known to us at the time of writing. However, sites such as Twitter pages, can sometimes be hacked or compromised over time. Please exercise due diligence and do your own research when clicking on any links, particularly links that may take you to a site that asks you to connect a wallet. Please exercise caution and be safe.
So far, our 2024 has been marked by a focus on community, collaboration, and an exploration of new contexts in which we can celebrate, support, and empower artists.
This focus has been particularly exemplified by our involvement with the SUPERCOMMUNITY, which is a diverse group of independent artist communities. The SUPERCOMMUNITY metaverse gallery, found at https://oncyber.io/supercommunity and designed by the incomparable @0xWolfgang, is both a showcase of artists and a testament to the power of artists working together.
Two months ago, we had the distinct privilege of participating in the first SUPERCOMMUNITY event.
As discussed last month, we were excited to join again for the SUPERCOMMUNITY 02 event, which took place on February 4, 2024. During the event, some of the organizing members of the SUPERCOMMUNITY (shout-out to the @LinkedByArt and @paladinpunks communities) presented a compelling vision of what future SUPERCOMMUNITY events would look like.
First, it was announced that there would be a new SUPERCOMMUNITY event on the first Sunday of every month. It was also announced that while participating groups would continue to showcase their art in a group exhibition on the “outer circle” of the gallery, there would be a solo exhibition every month in the “inner circle” of the gallery. In addition, it was announced that every month, there would be a new “spotlight community” that would take center stage for each monthly event, as well as a new theme inspired by that spotlight community.
Finally, an announcement extremely relevant to our community was made: The 888 Inner Circle will be the spotlight community for the SUPERCOMMUNITY 03 event.
Supercommunity 03
Since a picture is worth many words, we’ve included some amazing posters, designed by last month’s “Banner Artist of the Month,” Shera intoART (aka @shirapugatch), to give details of the event. Shera also served as curator for the upcoming solo exhibition.
The event will take place on Sunday, March 3 at 9 AM EST (2:00 PM UTC) at the SUPERCOMMUNITY Gallery (https://oncyber.io/supercommunity).
We will be represented in the solo exhibition by Dmitry Shad, an absolutely amazing dark art photographer and body painting artist. His exhibition is entitled “Under the Black Sun.”
In honor of us, the theme of the event will be “Circle.” The different communities in the group exhibition will take this theme into account.
Speaking at the event will be multiple members of the 888 Inner Circle community.
In addition to being represented by Dmitry Shad in the solo exhibition, we will also continue to showcase art that we’ve purchased for our “Vault,” as well as art from representative Verified Inner Artists, in the group exhibition.
Five of the pieces displayed here are pieces that we’ve purchased. You can see more details about those pieces (and the artists behind them) in last month’s update and the “Weekly Celebration of Art: Purchased Art” section below.
The other five pieces are representative pieces by some of our Verified Inner Artists. Here is some more information about them.
SUMO, study III, bw#33 by Peter Nitsch
Justice by Amir Sharifpour
ARCHITECH’S Irrationalities collection by ARCHITECH
The Passion of the Filigree by Chazz Gold
Sunstone Gaze by Katalina Ooma (from whom we previously purchased art from)
As a final reminder, SUPERCOMMUNITY 03 will take place on Sunday March 3, and it will feature us. We’d really like to encourage all members of our community to show up and show out. Here is a little sneak peak of what to expect.
Weekly Celebration of Art (Rules, Guidelines, and Policies)
To help keep everyone up to date about the rules, guidelines, and policies surrounding our weekly celebration of art, we have created this separate document, which we plan to keep updated.
As a reminder, our weekly celebration of art is a separate endeavor from the “Verified Inner Artist” role that we offer to artist applicants. There is no requirement to have the Verified Inner Artist role in order to participate in our weekly celebration of art. The Verified Inner Artist role mostly grants artists special privileges within our Discord Server (link at bottom of this article), such as access to an artist-gated private community, the ability to share certain links to their art, and early notification about certain art display opportunities, such as in our SuperCommunity metaverse exhibit mentioned above.
No token purchase is necessary to obtain the Verified Inner Artist role, but for security reasons, prospective artists will need to join our Server and be verified as a community member (by going to our verify-to-access-server channel) before they can receive the role. For those artists who already have the Verified Inner Artist role, there is no need to apply again. If an artist is unsure about whether they have the Verified Inner Artist role, they can check with one of our mods within our Server.
Weekly Celebration of Art (Purchased Art)
Here is the art that we purchased in the month of February. As discussed here, all of the purchased pieces will now be stored in an IAI Vault, and we will seek different ways to continue to spotlight these pieces (such as in the SuperCommunity metaverse museum, as discussed above: https://oncyber.io/supercommunity).
Week 76
Short Journey by @kamand_kavand
Week 77
Week 78
Tangerine Twilight by @GeekNYWoo
Week 79
The Spirit’s Embrace by @Belanorr
Artist Spotlight Profile Interviews
We continue to allow any of our Verified Inner Artists to submit an artist spotlight profile interview in our Discord Server, as a way to introduce themselves to our greater community and to more effectively tell their stories.
Here are the eight questions we’ve invited our artists to answer:
- Introduction and Artistic Journey: Could you briefly introduce yourself and describe your journey as a person and as an artist? (e.g., how you started, any major influences or turning points)
- Artistic Style and Mediums: What unique styles, techniques, or mediums do you predominantly use in your art? How would you describe your artistic voice or signature?
- Showcase and Storytelling: Please share up to three pieces of your artwork (photos and/or marketplace links). For each, could you tell us the story behind it? (Consider aspects like inspiration, creation process, and personal significance. Additionally, if we have purchased a piece from you, feel free to include it as an optional fourth piece.)
- Artistic Challenges and Growth: What has been the most challenging aspect of your artistic journey, and how has it contributed to your growth as an artist?
- Art in the Digital Age: How do you feel about the intersection of art and technology, especially in the context of digital art and NFTs?
- Future Aspirations: What are your future goals or projects as an artist? Is there a dream project or collaboration you aspire to realize?
- Message to the Community: What message or advice would you like to share with fellow artists and our community of art enthusiasts?
- To Learn More: Where can our audience learn more about you?
Here is a sample of responses from some artists that have recently created their spotlight artist profile. Please visit our Discord Server to see their complete responses.
Spotlight Artist: ARCHITECH
(Please note that this artist also submitted a piece for the SUPERCOMMUNITY 03 event, as shown above).
I’m Rio. I’m Italian, and I’m a mechanical engineer dropout because I didn’t want to get stuck in a boring and repetitive job. Instead, I started my journey in the discovery of myself and what I love.
My drive and passion are to challenge myself and learn about what captures my curiosity. During my journey, I taught myself to learn programming, digital drawing, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, 3D art, and, at last, AI art.
I discovered that I love to create art and to fill my thirst for knowledge. I hope you’ll love my creations, but I know one thing: I learn every day.
Selected Piece: Irrationality #2
This is my most recent piece and it’s the second piece of my collection “Irrationalities”. With this collection I challenge myself to find balance in an artwork. I use 3D software to render the pieces and I aim to use math (golden ratio), color theory, emptiness and minimalism to turn simple geometries into beautiful artworks.
Spotlight Artist: Peter Nitsch
(Please note that this artist also submitted a piece for the SUPERCOMMUNITY 03 event, as shown above).
I’m a versatile creative encompassing roles as a designer, photographer, producer, and the founder of DRAWLIGHTS. But I’m fundamentally an lens-based artist at core. Raised in the Upper Palatinate of eastern Bavaria, I obtained my BA in communication design from Munich University of Applied Sciences. I’m influenced by my no-man’s-land childhood in the Upper Palatinate and the German skater scene of the late eighties. I have been co-founder of Europe’s first crossover Skate- and Snoboarding magazine in the 1990s, as well as the corporate design studio RUPA.
Being in the collection of Pinakothek der Moderne, publishing with Hatje Cantz my monograph „Tango in the Big Mango“ and becoming a life time member of The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand are some of the biggest milestones.
Selected Piece: Quantum echoes
Banner Artist of the Month
One fun, little opportunity that we announced previously was to invite artists to create unique banners for these IAI monthly updates. We had used the same banner image since the beginning of our updates, and we thought that it would be a good idea to open up the banner creation process to our artists.
Here was the offer that we made: “If you create a new “888 Inner Artist Initiative” banner image for us, we may choose to display it top, front, and center in a future IAI monthly update, while also dedicating a section in that update to spotlight you as our ‘Banner Artist of the Month.’ We will also use that section to showcase your art.”
To that end, we are pleased to introduce this month’s “Banner Artist of the Month”: Amir Sharifpour. You can see Amir’s awesome banner at the very top of this article. You can also see the piece he contributed for SUPERCOMMUNITY 03 above.
Amir previously shared an artist spotlight profile interview with us. Here is a significant portion of that interview:
Question 1:
Introduction and Artistic Journey:
Could you briefly introduce yourself and describe your journey as a person and as an artist? (e.g., how you started, any major influences or turning points)
Answer 1:
Hi, I’m Amir from Iran. I’m an architect. 3D artist-digital artist. Interested in art, music and Film.
My journey started in 2021 with NFT. And this was the beginning for me, who was interested in showing my art and my view of the world that was in my mind. And in these 3 years, I see evolution and growth in my art. When my art was selected in 2023 and also this year at NFT.NYC. And it made me have a more specific view of art and culture and the message that I show in my art.
Selected Piece: The Lioness
The first and most important piece that I proudly created.
The Story Of The Women Of My Land
Utilizing symbols from the culture of my country.
Persepolis is one of the great Iranian civilizations, which is about 2500 years old. The lotus flower with twelve petals is one of the most original signs of this civilization.
Ancient Persian cuneiform is a semi-alphabetic cuneiform script that was the main script of ancient Persian.
Question 2:
Artistic Style and Mediums:
What unique styles, techniques, or mediums do you predominantly use in your art? How would you describe your artistic voice or signature?
Answer 2:
As a 3D artist. I do my work in 3Ds Max and post-production with Photoshop.
Details and color combination, lighting, frame and golden point are the things that are important to me to show my art. Because the description of my art is complete by focusing on this process.
My art is conceptual, and due to my interest in Film, I seek inspiration from cinematic shots to create creative ideas. And my goal is to show a message that is reflected in society and different cultures. Art for me is a voice to tell different cultures and topics.
Question 3:
Showcase and Storytelling: Please share up to three pieces of your artwork (photos and/or marketplace links). For each, could you tell us the story behind it? (Consider aspects like inspiration, creation process, and personal significance. Additionally, if we have purchased a piece from you, feel free to include it as an optional fourth piece.)
Answer 3:
Please see selected pieces in this section.
Question 4:
Artistic Challenges and Growth:
What has been the most challenging aspect of your artistic journey, and how has it contributed to your growth as an artist?
Answer 4:
Observing the artwork created by artists worldwide in the NFT community, along with diverse perspectives, acquaints us with various cultures and thoughts. This, in turn, contributes to the growth of artists.
Selected Piece: Justice (also shown above as part of SUPERCOMMUNITY 03 group exhibit)
A demand that has persisted throughout the ages and we are looking for its true meaning.
This piece is a reminder of the women of my land who stood for freedom and justice.
Stand up for your right
Fight for your right
Stand up for justice
Question 5:
Art in the Digital Age:
How do you feel about the intersection of art and technology, especially in the context of digital art and NFTs?
Answer 5:
This marks a significant change and a stride toward the future, where I believe substantial advancements are on the horizon. Technology is continually progressing, and I envision a promising future for digital art and NFTs. Comparing the present to three years ago, we’ve witnessed the development and expansion of this community.
Question 6:
Future Aspirations:
What are your future goals or projects as an artist? Is there a dream project or collaboration you aspire to realize?
Answer 6:
I hope to witness the art of various artists and cultures from around the world. Let’s collectively observe the growth of this community.
Furthermore, I aspire to have my art seen more so that I can convey aspects of culture, humanity, and peace through my artistic expressions.
Selected Piece: Yellow
Yellow، Like The Sun
Beauty is not always what we see.
Sometimes beauty is within us.
And it’s worth finding
We have various definitions of beauty. The yellow piece is inspired by cancer patients.
My goal was to find beauty. This piece is very valuable to me.
Question 7:
Message to the Community:
What message or advice would you like to share with fellow artists and our community of art enthusiasts?
Answer 7:
Keep creating art _ Respect and love for each other _We all grow together
Question 8:
To Learn More:
Where can our audience learn more about you? (Please feel free to link to Twitter/Instagram/Foundation/Linktr.ee/etc. No personal Discord or mint sites please.)
Answer 8:
https://twitter.com/Amir_Sharifpour
https://foundation.app/@Amir_Sh
***
As a reminder, the 888 Inner Artist Initiative is not just a single program. Rather, it is a comprehensive and ever-increasing set of efforts and endeavors designed to celebrate, empower, and support artists. Our goal is to meet the various needs of various artists, in a wide variety of ways, wherever they may be on their artistic journey.
For more information, please join our Discord server, follow our Twitter, and view our Medium. Also, as a reminder, if you are an artist, we encourage you to apply to become a Verified Inner Artist. No token purchase is necessary, but you will need to join our Server and be verified as a community member (by going to our verify-to-access-server channel) in order to receive the role.
