Co-Sign Conversations: 0xdgb
Artist Statement: Minimalist Digital Artist // Your Art Your Rules
SuperRare: https://superrare.com/0xdgb
Most Notable collection: https://superrare.com/series/0x5c4220b64092a4401244e13a126841ac04ada5d2
LinkTree: https://bio.site/0xdgb
Twitter: https://twitter.com/0xdgb
Instagram: https://instagram.com/0xdgb
Link to 0xdbgb’s Co-Sign Piece “Poolside”
Q: Who is 0xdgb?
A: I’m a minimalist digital artist from the UK. I’ve been illustrating for over a decade and in my work I try to capture what might otherwise be seen as the mundane, while at the same time most of my work themes around art and storytelling
Q: Who is your biggest inspiration in this space? Why?
A: I have to say, Grant Yun. Firstly his work is fantastic, but he’s also built a recognizable identity and style. You can look at his work and know it’s his without being told it’s his. But not only his art, but I’ve also taken inspiration from his approach to the space from an artist's point of view. How to connect with collectors, how to roll out your work and release cadence, the long-term vision, and focus on 1/1 pieces. You can learn a lot from listening to the podcasts he's been on.
Q: What is the most exciting thing about Web3 for you as an artist? What about the most exciting thing to you about Web3 from a non-artistic point of view?
A: I think my answer applies to both questions. It has to be the digital ownership, as well as the authenticity element. For years I’ve been illustrating for other people or organizations. Magazines, books, websites, apps, the list goes on. And they’re owned by companies, and agencies I worked for, with no mention of my name. But in web3, not only can you see who owns my work once it sells, but they are all tied to my own smart contracts, so you know the work has come from me.
Q: What do you believe your biggest struggle in the Web3 space has been? Why? How do we change that?
A: Trying to combat bots, for sure. Having an edition drop sell out in a matter of seconds feels incredible initially, but then when you realize it’s been botted by flippers who immediately list on secondary. And learn your real followers and supporters have missed out, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. In terms of changing that, I tried building a community allowlist. Basically, it’s a database of all my friends, collectors, and people I connect with along with some of the most active followers who always show up on Twitter. I then run raffles or handpick people from that list each time I drop an edition and make it accessible to them only. But it’s a lot of work, collecting the wallets, and verifying the correct wallet they want to mint from as a lot of people have vaults. Making sure the same people aren’t selected each and every time and so on. So I think there’s a lot of room for improvement there. But I’ve recently had conversations with Premint and given them ideas for new features they can implement for hand-selected allowlists. So hopefully they manage to build that out and make life easier for us all.
Q: What role do you see NFTs playing in the future of the art world? How do you see the relationship between technology and art evolving in the future?
A: I hope that the traditional art world continues to embrace digital art and NFTs, which I think it will. But I also think it will help with authentication. NFTs act as a certificate of authenticity and are directly linked to a physical piece. I know there are people already exploring this with clothing and sneakers, so I’m sure we’ll see it in art as well.
Q: What has been your favorite piece that you have created? Or maybe favorite is not the word. Maybe it’s the most memorable or most impactful piece you’ve created.
A: I can’t choose just one. But there are some that stand out for different reasons. For example ‘Under Surveillance’ was my first piece to feature my CCTV camera. ‘Blank Canvas’, is my first SuperRare piece. Then of course ‘Burn Event’ which sold at Sotheby’s. And I genuinely have to say ‘Poolside’ because I’ve been working on and improving this piece since November, so It’s by far the piece I’ve put the most time into.
Q: I’d love to learn more about your artistic process, could you talk about that a little bit?
A: Generally it isn’t that exciting. Ideas come to me in various different ways. I may see something on Twitter like a notifiable event, meme, or news story I can put my own twist on or poke fun at. Or it could be something totally random that pops into my head while in the shower or walking the dog. I’ll then create a quick mockup of the idea on paper or just a rough illustration in Illustrator. And if I’m happy with the basic composition, I’ll then start to create it in more detail. One thing I’ve started to do recently is throw these rough ideas or scenes into MidJourney, to get inspiration. Sometimes the AI will output a composition or detail you’ve overlooked or not tried. But ultimately everything is created as a vector in adobe illustrator.
Q: You’ve exploded onto the Web3 art scene over these last 6 months, could you share any turning points that occurred through your journey, where you felt things turn around in terms of your success as an NFT artist?
A: For me personally I think it was when I joined SuperRare in December. I was at a stage where all my work previously minted on Foundation had sold out and there had been a couple of secondary sales on my 1/1s. I knew there was a little bit of demand for my work, so I decided to keep people waiting and take a break over Christmas. I used SuperRare to start fresh on a new marketplace, new year, new contract, and new series of work. This is why my Genesis SuperRare piece is called ‘Blank Canvas’, and references some of my earlier work. I love that there are tools for artists to create their own contracts, mint, and sell using their own claim pages, etc. But I think Marketplaces like SuperRare and Foundation are key to having your art discovered by collectors. From the sales bots to being featured on the home screen, whatever it may be, it helps get your work in front of new eyes. I know for a fact a number of my collectors discovered my work there, told their friends about me, mentioned me on podcasts, etc. Maybe the fact my first SuperRare collection was a series of connecting pieces, may have played a part. Maybe because it was something different, very carefully thought out, and kept people engaged.
Q: You recently participated in a Sotheby’s auction, I am curious if you have ever participated in anything like that. For most artists that can be life-changing, I would love to hear your story and perspective about this!
A: Never before. It was an incredible experience. Firstly just having their team reach out and express an interest in my work was an honor. But when we started talking about selling a piece with them, my jaw dropped. I was lucky, my piece actually sold for a new all-time high. But for the most part, sales at Sotheby’s (and Christie’s) can be a little lower than usual. Some collectors don’t want to go through the KYC process, or maybe think they can only pay in fiat. But even if it hadn’t been an all-time high, it’s more about the recognition. Being able to sell at Sotheby’s, almost feels like a stamp of approval and gives you even more passion and drive to keep creating.
Q: The last thing. I wanted this to be an open opportunity for you to share anything upcoming that you’re excited about!
A: I’m not sure when this is going out but I have of course got two pieces being displayed at NFT NYC. The first is ‘Poolside’ with yourselves and SuperRare. But also a second piece, again with yourselves but also Proof for the Outliers project. I’m really excited to tease what we’re working on, I think it’s going to push people’s vision as to what can be done when you combine NFTs and art. And finally, I’m part of Proof’s upcoming Diamond Exhibition drops where I will be dropping a new edition. Other than that, I’ve just left my day job to be a full-time artist, so you can expect more art!
