🖖👽 - 06 - Six is a perfect number.

Just the best stuff from the world of Web3 and Art from TMFA Community. Weekly.

Nov 29, 2021

gm!

Welcome to our sixth straight week of The Art Brew, a collaborative newsletter created by our growing community of artists helping artists succeed.

Here’s a fun question:

Did you know that six is a “perfect” number?

Meaning, six is both the sum and product of its factors:

1 + 2 + 3 = 6
1 X 2 X 3 = 6

Math, I know…

To further pull on this thread and quote some SEO optimized pages on Google:

“Perfect numbers are known for being both harmonious and stable, which are the main characteristics of the number 6.”

“The number 6 is also associated with responsibility.”

Oh, the R-word…

Responsibility.

I know I'm not too fond of the R-word.

I started making art because I wanted less responsibility.

I made art to find freedom.

But as I became more successful in my practice, I observed that it was up to me to put into place responsible habits to accelerate my career.

Inventory management, marketing, content creation, emails, sales, accounting…

All the boring stuff became my most important job.

FML.

So I guess the sage message in this word soup of an introduction for our 6th newsletter is:

The artist must reframe responsibility in their mind on their path to a harmonious and stable career...

Responsibility is not something to avoid but something to perfect.

See what I did there? :)

-Matty Mo

Unrelated postscript — I’d like to acknowledge and take a moment to honor the late Virgil Abloh. He was a strong creative force and deeply influenced so many. Thank you, V. You will be missed. Rest in Power.

In this week’s edition of the Art Brew we’ll read about:

interesting art + web3 news and links
community updates
notable tweets

Let’s get into it.

🎨 Art News

If I Mint a Photo of Famous Art, Can I Sell it as an NFT?
Ownership and IP in the art world is already prickly, but curator Ben Moore now finds himself on the pointy end of barbed complaints from a retinue of famous artists who are furious NFTs of their work were minted and sold without their permission. Moore says they were informed accordingly. Who’s right? Bonus: Stormtrooper helmets on display.

Ecosystem > Egosystem: Scenius As the Antidote to the “Lone Genius Myth.”Congratulations! You’re part of the first global, internet-native Scenius. The what? “Scenius” is a term coined by musician and producer Brian Eno to counter the idea that innovation in art and culture comes from a few Great Chosen Ones. Read here about why this is a good thing for everyone, especially artists.

Is This Thing On? New Ideas for Old Brains [Podcast]
Introducing any new idea is challenging because humans aren’t so great with change. Most of us think the best way to win people over is to push harder. But organizational psychologist Loran Nordgren says a more effective approach is to focus on the invisible obstacles to new ideas. Listen in for an informative look at how to win over your audience without losing your mind from HiddenBrain.

Nove Tendencije (New Tendencies): One of Europe’s Forgotten Avant-Gardes
A small group of little-known artists opened in the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, and the art world (and the regular world) hasn’t been the same since. New Tendencies exhibitions launched between 1961 and 1973 attracted hundreds of artists, which nurtured neo-abstraction, early premonitions of op-art, and the beginnings of computer art.

Art Basel Hit With Criminal Cyberattack
High-end art fair Art Basel has been hacked, and the wealthy individuals and art dealers who attend the events have been warned their contact information may have been stolen. The Switzerland-based company has now filed a criminal complaint (but admits it doesn’t know who the hackers are. In other news, water is wet.)

💎 Web3 News

NFT.NYC, a gathering for nonfungible token enthusiasts, offered a taste of a crypto-filled future. Crypto is no longer fringe, it's culture. The conference attracted a crowd of over 5,000 guests, plus 3,000 more on a waiting list. Most of the action happened at night, at what many of the attendees referred to as “Crypto Coachella."

Change Your Life with Another Ride on the Ferriss Wheel: Tim X Balaji
This podcast episode from Tim Ferriss is titled: Balaji Srinivasan on Bitcoin, The Great Awokening, Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, Open-Source Ecology, Reputational Civil War, Creating New Cities, and Options for Becoming a Sane but Sovereign Individual. That says it all. Folks loved Tim’s episode on Web3, and this one’s just as good.

Let’s Get Digital: TIME Magazine enters the Metaverse (But Just for Six Months)
Old-school magazine TIME throws its hat into relevancy after closing a deal with crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital in a collaboration to educate readers. TIME Magazine will hold ether (ETH) on its balance sheet for the first time, along with its list of “TIME 100 Companies” for the metaverse, highlighting those making the most impact within the space.

Probably NADA: first-ever cryptocurrency art prize to be awarded in Miami
Juried by writer and curator Andrew Beradini and contemporary artist and MobileCoin Art Director Inga Bard, the prize is the first of its kind within the cryptocurrency sector, establishing MobileCoin as an industry pioneer thoughtfully navigating the intersection between art and cryptocurrency. It will be awarded to one of the 170 plus exhibitors at NADA Miami 2021 in the form of $7,500 equivalent to MOB.

Laughing All The Way to the Banksy: The artist’s paintings sell for over $12M/Ξ3K in the first crypto-denominated auction.
Banksy cashes in in the first time auction powerhouse Sotheby’s first auction in ETH, with two pieces: “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air” (2006) were estimated to sell for $5-$7M and $4-6M respectively. When the hammer came down, the combined sale surpassed expectations and marked a new era for both cryptocurrency and the art world.

👋 Community Events

Tonight 11/29 at 8 pm PT (0400 UTC) — TMFA’s Brand Identity Map Review will take place in the Round Table voice channel on Discord. Ry will be presenting the survey results from a brand identity exercise he lead that 25 members contributed to over the last week. Here is a link to the recording of the first session of this exercise in defining what TMFA means to its members.

Hey TMFA — What are you working on? — Send your work, shows, exhibits, flexes, drops, collabs, updates, and all-around art-fren news.

You can contribute links to this newsletter via our #art-brew channel in Discord too.