One of the first individuals to jump onboard our project. A seemingly jack of all trades kind of person, who also happens to have a unique eye for film.
Check out his work and thoughts on Instagram and Twitter.
@relativebilanz shared his history with olive oil and NFTs, and thoughts on how the technology with change with future challenges and industry shifts.
Can you share with us a little bit about yourself
Sure, first off, you can call me Jason (aka @relativebilanz).
Originally, I was born in India just as the rest of my family. However, when I was 6 months old I moved to Düsseldorf, Germany where I spent the first 16 years of my life. I then went to study in the beautiful English countryside and then later to LA.
I grew up in a multi-generational fashion family so an aesthetic sense was ingrained in me and is second nature. This creative spirit was further developed when I was in school through my art and photography classes.
In the past four years I continued my journey and development (pun intended) with film photography.
Why were you attracted to the project Aisthisi?
The Aisthisi endeavor was quite interesting to me on multiple facets.
First and foremost, I love traditional and quality olive oil. My dad’s work colleague has given us olive oil from his family’s farm in Greece for the past couple years.
Of course, I have been delving quite deeply in the world of crypto since 2017. NFTs were first on my radar with crypto kitties and NBA Top Shot which have been a few of the projects to take the world and culture by storm.
Lastly, sitting at the intersection of blockchains and physical products really intrigues me as this can be expanded to a plethora of industries if executed correctly.
Tell me about your strengths and/or focus as an artist? Is there maybe a particular art piece you are especially proud of, or a project that you still have in mind — which was it?
It’s tough for me to point out my strengths as an artist as I am still very early in my development.
I usually focus on landscapes and/or natural environments. I have not done many pieces of people or animals. Maybe more to do with this in the future…
I am honestly quite proud of some of my recent 35mm film photography shots while traveling in through South East Asia. Specifically, the black & white ones as they capture a sense of nostalgia and deeper feeling of emotion.
Can you describe your day to day as an artist?
My day to day currently varies quite a lot.
My day jobs usually include more of the traditional business roles like marketing, sales and strategy. However, in the evenings I love to dive deep into crypto and anywhere else my curiosity has taken me for the week.
Currently, I am between jobs, enjoying the summer, and taking time to reflect on next steps as COVID has changed a lot.
Can you tell us your story of how you came into the crypto world and NFTs?
I fully found crypto during university when I was talking to my roommate and best friend.
We of course discussed how bitcoin was being used for things like Silk Road but also discussed the potential for such a token and distributed database.
What really caught my eye and curiosity was the founder(s) — Satoshi N.
I really dove in during 2018 and 2019 and haven’t looked back since. The use cases and future of this technology look brighter than ever to me.
Do you have thoughts on what is the future for NFTs and crypto in general?
I am not going to claim I can predict the future as only a fool will tell you that with conviction.
However, I am quite confident that blockchains will have an increasing role in our and societies life / function. Nevertheless, this does not mean we will all be using a truly decentralized cryptocurrency to transact.
I am also not sure if we will be calling NFTs by the same name in the future. Hopefully this technology is so seamlessly integrated and ‘normal’ that it is just how we go about our usual day.
NFTs will also revolutionize the game in the fashion industry.
What I do want you to keep an eye on is when quantum computers become a reality — this may change how / if we can use hash functions such as SHA256 (bitcoin) or if we will have to re-invent the industry all-together again… which may not actually be a bad thing!
Can you give us a sneak peek into the work you are planning to release and your process?
Honestly, I was caught between two opposite modes of thinking. I had a willingness and urge to explain my piece a little further as I am curious if that helps bring the (subtle?) message across. Nevertheless all of you know how the saying goes: art lies in the eye of the beholder. I wouldn’t want to bias you. So take my words with a grain of salt as I try to walk this fine line.
By now you realize I am going to write a little about the inspiration — again, note this is a contradictory way of thinking which is so very human of me.
At a high level / basic structure the olive oil (physical) bottle consists of an artwork that is going to be slightly different than the digital artwork. Both are on 35 mm film shot on a Canon AE-1. Both have elements of a Fibonacci sequence. Both use B&W and color photographs. The difference is in the photographs and the constellation they are put in. Buyer beware!
The Fibonacci sequence was chosen since — if you are familiar with the mathematical formula and visual representation then — you realise that the more you zoom in and look at the details the more novel patterns you will depict. Just like in life, the deeper one looks, the more one learns about the nuances of a situation. Nothing is ever black & white. Mostly everything is grey.
Further, looking at the photographs themselves — I wanted to focus on the discussion of climate change and make the bidders and community aware of this. This theme was decided before Aisthisi started donating a part of the profit to the Greece Fires cause. The viewer should be brought to complete awareness of how Homo Sapiens have changed the natural world, and to what sheer degree we have changed it!
At the essence of the piece(s) you will see one natural environment photograph and another of a man-made (commercial) one. They are interwoven with the Fibonacci sequence silhouette.
I want to bring attention to the fact that commerce/shopping first started by buying/trading natural resources exclusively. Software came much later…
The viewers should remember, there’s a relative balance between nature and commerce (/man-made worlds). You cannot have one extreme without the other to live a happy and fulfilling life, at least not as a human being.
In this crypto/NFT mania of 2021 it seems like our society is tending to an extreme. To which one? To one where all our conscious time and brain space will be in a digitally man-made world. There are of course, extremes of people going ‘off the grid’ which in my bubbles is happening (seemingly) at an increasing rate. Maybe just maybe we will soon see a nature reserve built in a meta-verse.
To end my monologue I want to remind you that everything is relative even the balance that we all seek. The balance will change so you cannot say what is right today will be the same in 50 or 500 years. The game we all play has a moving target.
That is all the wisdom I can impress on you at this time my friends.
Enjoy your journey.
We will continue to interview the collaborating artists and share overall project progress, so join our community to stay updated!
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/aisthisi
Website: https://aisthisi.art/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aisthisi_nft
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aisthisi_nft
