Latest Art Blocks-Curated News
Art Blocks announced a strategic "focused period," pausing new project launches to enhance its platform and artist collaboration.
The Deets
- Strategic Pause: Temporarily halting new project launches.
- Self-Publishing Studio: Introduction of a web3-native model for artist self-publishing.
- Curated Selection Refinement: Future releases to be more selective, emphasizing quality.
- Enhanced Support: Continued support for Engine partners and regular updates via social media.
The Bulk
Art Blocks is taking a step forward by announcing a "focused period." This strategic pause in new project launches marks the beginning of a new chapter aimed at refining the platform's collaboration with artists and enhancing the collector's experience. With the recent acquisition of Sansa, Art Blocks is set to revolutionize artist self-publishing through a web3-native model, providing a separate and unique experience within the Art Blocks ecosystem.
This focused period allows Art Blocks to finalize the development of its independent self-publishing studio, which promises to offer a more relaxed and casual minting environment for collectors.
Moreover, the refinement in project selection for Art Blocks Curated projects signifies a move towards releasing only the most exceptional and groundbreaking generative art, with fewer launches overall.
🎤 Platform Prose
For some time now, we’ve been listening, building, and carefully shifting Art Blocks toward an experience that is more aligned with future goals, artist needs, and collector expectations — a much needed change.Art Blocks
For more web3 and NFT news, visit the Lucky Trader newsfeed.
Art Blocks announced its acquisition of Sansa, a digital art collector platform and secondary marketplace.
The Deets
- Sansa's focus: A platform dedicated to showcasing digital art collections
- Artist Support: Providing visibility and creator royalties for each sale
- Collector Experience: Easy access to diverse, curated art selections
- Future Integration: Plans for blending Sansa with Art Blocks for a seamless experience
The Bulk
Art Blocks, the leading generative art platform, is expanding its horizon with the acquisition of Sansa, a digital art marketplace.
This acquisition marks a significant pairing of two influential parties in generative art. Sansa’s unique approach to simplifying the discovery of artworks aligns with Art Blocks' vision of a collaborative and forward-thinking ecosystem. Collectors benefit from this union through easier access to a diverse range of high-quality digital art, enhancing their collecting experience.
Behind the scenes, efforts are underway to integrate Sansa's platform with Art Blocks, aiming to create a unified and more engaging experience for users.
🎤 Founder Feedback
Building in web3 is hard, and seeing a nimble team be able to build something so aligned with what I am excited about felt like a no brainer in exploring the opportunity to work together.Snowfro, Founder of Art Blocks}
🔜 What's Next?
While Sansa's app will continue running as a standalone for now, more updates are expected as the platform is integerated into Art Blocks.
For more web3 and NFT news, visit the Lucky Trader newsfeed.
Art Blocks shared the RSVP form for the third annual Art Blocks Marfa Weekend that takes place September 21–24 in Marfa, Texas, via Twitter.
The Deets
- The Art Blocks Marfa weekend will be hosted in Marfa, TX, at the Art Blocks House, located at 109 W. San Antonio St.
- The festivities will start on Thursday, September 21, in the late afternoon and wrap up on the morning of Sunday, September 24.
- In order to have the most accurate headcount this year, Art Blocks is asking each member of your party to complete the RSVP individually.
❗ Why It Matters
Art Blocks is responsible for some of the most expensive NFT generative art in the space, and it will be n weekend full of art, conversation, and friendship, with the added bonus of the unveiling of a new art exhibition in the gallery taking place as well.
The feedback from NFT NYC was that the IRL aspect was a great change of pace as far as making connections and meeting new people, so this Art Blocks gathering could promise that same type of positive energy and enthusiasm.
🎬 Take Action
Those interested in attending should fill out the RSVP form here and consider booking their accommodations sooner rather than later, as Marfa is a small town and hotels, rental properties, and campgrounds are filling up fast.
🧠 Learn More
More information regarding check-in and the weekend’s schedule will be shared in the Art Blocks Spectrum article as we get closer to the event.
Art Blocks announced the launch of its own secondary marketplace to address security, authenticity, and royalties.
❗ Why It Matters
The new Art Blocks secondary marketplace is meaningful because it's safe, ensures the buyer is getting the original artwork, and protects the creator royalties that have been a bedrock of the web3 space (that is, until Blur and OpenSea both opted to make royalties optional above 0.5%).
The Deets
The Art Blocks secondary marketplace addresses three primary pain points:
- Security: The Art Blocks secondary marketplace is safe, "built on top of the battle-tested Seaport protocol for in-product listings while aggregating other marketplaces with Reservoir so that you know you’re getting the best price."
- Authenticity: All listings on the Art Blocks marketplace are from legitimate Art Blocks projects and artists.
- Royalties: The two largest secondary market platforms have both made royalties optional, so Art Blocks is making sure to honor them on its own marketplace. Art Blocks has consistently been committed to royalties and views the trend of declining royalties as harmful to digital artists’ ability to make a living.
🎬 Take Action
- See the new secondary marketplace in action with Art Blocks' latest Curated release, Cargo, here.
- Read Art Blocks Editorial: Our Secondary Market is Kind of a Big Deal
🎤 Community Quotes
This is huge. Everyone has an opinion on royalties. It's awesome to see @ArtOnBlockchain and team actually do something about it all.Axu.eth
The Art Blocks secondary marketplace will boast lowest fees whilst fully honoring artist and creator royalties, says purplehat.eth.
❗ Why It Matters
Art Blocks has made it known that creator royalties will still be protected for purchases made on its own marketplace, amidst the backdrop of the ongoing feud between Blur and OpenSea that has targeted those very royalties.
This move comes less than a month after Art Blocks added support for secondary purchasing directly on its website, a move that was also designed to enforce royalties and support creators.
What It Means
- The secondary marketplace functionality has been expanded to include native listings/delistings, removing the need for another marketplace at all.
- Aggregated listings that don't include creator royalties will be royalty-normalized to properly include them.
🎤 Community Quotes
And there it is. If I read this right, we now have a place where we can actually see the art (unlike how it doesn't load on OS and Blur) AND support artists by honoring royalties AND no marketplace fee.harristotle
Art Blocks has added support for secondary purchasing directly on the Art Blocks website, according to a developer announcement in the community Discord.
❗Why It Matters
Art Blocks adding secondary support for its NFTs ensures that the platform will no longer need to rely on any other secondary marketplace or third party for its sales. Additionally, all sales on the Art Blocks marketplace will automatically enforce royalty payments, supporting creators whilst removing any anxieties from purchasers about whether or not royalties are being supported.
The Deets
All NFTs will be listed at the lowest price based on listings from the following NFT marketplaces: "OpenSea, LooksRare, X2Y2, Sansa, Zora, Foundation, CoinbaseNFT, Rarible, Sudoswap, and Reservoir." At this time, Blur is not supported but the team is hoping to add it soon.
🧠 Learn More
The next Art Blocks Curated project, "WaVyScApE" from artist Holger Lippmann will only boast 315 total NFTs, according to the newest listing on the platform's website.
❗ Why It Matters
As far as Art Blocks collections go, this is a very limited edition with only 315 NFTs available. The Dutch auction for the collection will start at 13 ETH, a higher-than-normal starting price, likely as a result of the collection size and perceived demand.
The Deets
Holger Lippmann is a German digital artist with multiple exhibitions at notable museums worldwide. A full list of his works can be found on his website.
⏭️ What's Next
The auction is happening on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, at 1:00 PM ET.
🍎 Learn More
Art Blocks and Bright Moments will launch an official partnership, according to announcements from both organizations on Twitter.
What It Means
This collaboration will pair the best of both organizations, from artist curation and minting technology from Art Blocks, combined with Bright Moments' unique IRL minting experiences.
❗ Why It Matters
This marriage of the vaunted Art Blocks minting technology, and the Bright Moments IRL minting mechanism is likely to lead to unique innovations in generative art and the continued physical manifestation of web3.
⏭️ What's Next
Art Blocks tweeted, "The first collaborative release will be Metropolis by @mpkoz. Metropolis is a long-form generative art collection exploring the node-based systems that enable modern society."
Metropolis will feature on-chain traits tied to each of the Bright Moments locations around the world, adding a unique facet to each piece.
Formal details are yet to be announced.
🍎 Learn More
The third annual Art Blocks Marfa weekend will take place September 21–24, 2023 according to a tweet from the platform.
The Deets
The Art Blocks Marfa weekend will be hosted at the Art Blocks House in Marfa, Tx starting on Thursday, Sep. 21.
Opening night will be followed by two full days of activities on Friday and Saturday, Sep. 22-23.
⏪ Back it Up
At last year's event, Squiggles came to life with dance music from talented British beatmaker and producer, Jamie xx and OpenSea held a backyard barbecue. The Art Blocks Engine was also at work in partnership with artist Steve Pikelny who provided a 48-hour open edition, live mint of Instructions for Defacement.
🎬 Take Action
Although more details are still expected to come, Art Blocks users interested in attending are encouraged to book their accommodations shortly.
🍎 Learn More
Art Blocks will update its event guide as more details are released.
Art Blocks has started a 24-hour Twitter Spaces referred to as "Blocktalkathon" at 1 p.m. ET today, in celebration of the generative art platform's 2-year anniversary.
The Blocktalkathon, named after the primary chat channel in the Art Blocks discord called Block-Talk, is meant to celebrate two years of generative art and is kicking off with none other than the CEO, founder, and Squiggles artist Erick Calderon (a.k.a. Snowfro) and CCO Jeff Davis.
The Spaces will feature 1-hour blocks of programming spanning a full 24 hours, hosted by a variety of community members, Art Blocks staff, and artists around the globe. Some notable topics include:
- On-Chain GenArt: Past, Present, and Future (3 p.m. ET)
- Art Blocks Engine (4 p.m. ET)
- Data and Analytics (5 p.m. ET)
- 日本語でブロック (Block in Japanese) (2 a.m. ET)
- Punk6529 (5 a.m. ET tomorrow)
- Friendship Bracelets (12 p.m. ET tomorrow)
Find the full schedule and more details in this Art Blocks blog post.
