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MetaSavvy
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Everything you need to know about Metaverse in one place.

Selected news and opinionated views on Art, Fashion&Fintech in the digital realm.

#Art #Fashion #Metaverse #AR #VR #NFT #News
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TODAY IS THE DAY FOR A #SUPERGUCCI DROP

Later today we will finally see the long-awaited results of collaboration between luxury fashion house Gucci and Superplastic, the leading creator of animated celebrities, vinyl and digital collectibles (including limited-edition designer toys and apparel).

SUPERGUCCI is a collection of 500 NFTs co-created by Gucci's head of design Alessandro Michele and Superplastic’s animated celebrities Janky & Guggimon. Each NFT incorporates classic Gucci patterns, and comes with an exclusive 8-inch tall white ceramic SUPERGUCCI SuperJanky sculpture, hand-crafted by Gucci’s own ceramicists in Italy.

For the 3-part series of NFTs each with their own handcrafted porcelain sculpture, Superplastic’s synthetic artists Janky and Guggimon combine their digital style with the House’s historic codes. In the first release, the famous SuperJanky figure finds itself within ten different whimsical scenarios inspired by Gucci Aria.

This first collection dropping on Feb 1, 10AM ET will be available on Superplastic via Gucci Vault.

The owners of Superplastic NFT (CryptoJanky or Headtripz) will have an exclusive early access to the drop (146 NFTs available).

SUPERGUCCI NFTs will be priced at 1.5 ETH per NFT (which is $4200 at the time of writing).

20 of the 500 SUPERGUCCI NFTs are reserved by Gucci and Superplastic, bringing the number of available NFTs for sale to 480 in total.
AMBUSH REVEALED ITS ROADMAP

It is fair to say that the history of AMBUSH started in 2002 when Yoon Ahn (a founder and creative director of the brand) was running a namesake design company. At that time, she was creating original album covers and this is where connection with the hip hop scene appeared.

Shortly after that, Yoon Ahn started to design jewelry which gained quite a traction from hip hip celebrities and related fashion clique. In 2008, Ahn and her husband Verbal launched AMBUSH® as experimental jewelry label, known for innovative pop art inspired designs capturing a distinct Tokyo aesthetic.

After teasing fans with the announcement of the first friends and family NFT project as a homage to the design genesis of the brand (POW!®), AMBUSH® finally revealed its roadmap denoting the date of POW!® “Reboot” NFT drop.

14 Feb 2022, AMBUSH® will mint 2,022 NFTs which supposedly will grant some perks for POW!® “Reboot” holders in the AMBUSH® very own METAUNIVERSE.
The legal battle between French luxury brand Hermès and the creator of the MetaBirkins — virtual interpretations of the famed bag sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — is shaping up as one of fashion’s big intellectual-property fights of the blockchain era.

In its lawsuit Hermès argued that Mason Rothschild misused the Birkin name by selling a collection of 100 MetaBirkin NFTs in December.

“Many people assume that, when you talk about an NFT, the content of the NFT is inside the token, which it is not, and because it is not, there is no unauthorized reproduction,” said Primavera De Filippi, co-author of “Blockchain and the Law”.

Even if the luxury brand wins its case against the creator of the virtual interpretations of its famed bag, the NFTs can’t be erased, at least not in any conventional sense.

While there is a chance the parties will settle before the case makes it to trial, the fact that Hermès decided to pursue a case at all is interesting in itself.

Marc Bain, Business of Fashion
「12 MONTHS OF AFTERLIFE」 ARE READY FOR THE SECOND DROP

Vogue Singapore
is not new to tech. Launched in 2020 during the pandemic, it began with a 360-degree digital experience in place of a launch gala, and soon after introduced augmented reality “holograms” that enable readers to see 360-degree, moving models in their own space by scanning a QR code (technically backed by Beem). The September print cover is also a QR code that, when scanned, introduces multiple digital covers – VOGUEBUSINESS

So it's not at all surprising that Vogue Singapore stepped into 2022 with a new NFT project and its first contributing metaverse editor Krista Kim.

This time it is a collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Luna Ikuta. The 12-piece collection by Ikuta is noscriptd 12 months of Afterlife —veritable digital floral wonders composed of 12 bouquets. Her striking aesthetics are created through merging bioengineering and aquascaping—a process that clears the plant compound’s pigments and chlorophyll, leaving the flowers’ form and structure perfectly intact – Brytehall

The first drop – magazine’s actual cover, that as NFT calendar, combines 12 bouquets, took place on SuperRare, Jan 2022.

The second drop, which is additional 12 NFTs (also available on SuperRare) is announced for 8 Feb 2022, and judging from the artist's teasing, those NFTs are truly mesmerizing.

All 13 artworks are brought to life as looped videos. Each NFT comes in edition of one and also includes a Vogue Singapore x Luna Ikuta calendar featuring the collection, signed by the artist.
ECHOES EXHIBITION PROPOSES A VIRTUAL PORTRAIT OF REIMAGINED LA
ECHOES is a virtual exhibition that reimagines a specific site in Los Angeles by digitally remodeling its landscape and incorporating the 3D sculptures, architectural renderings, and digital interventions around the area. In the tradition of speculative architecture, ECHOES deliberately creates a fictitious narrative about the real physical space in order to understand the social landscape that resonates with the sound of underrepresented voices in the most natural way.

ECHOES is an experimental collaboration between EPOCH gallery and LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab featuring the latter's grant recipients and organized by artist and EPOCH creator Peter Wu+. Similarly to all the latest exhibitions by EPOCH, it will be minted on Algorand blockchain as singular NFT (containing the artworks of all participating artists), in edition of 5.

The exhibition’s virtual landscape is modeled after the physical excavation area of LACMA’s east campus, as well as neighboring locales around Wilshire Boulevard in LA. When encountering the digital twin of the LACMA campus virtually, one has this eerie Freudian feeling of “strange within the familiar, the strangely familiar, or the familiar as strange” (Mark Fisher). Yet it’s not a bad or necessarily wrong experience, it's a rather captivating one…

To a certain extent, ECHOES structure is reminiscent of echo verse. It seems like every line, every art piece reverberates through the digital environment, in an attempt to prolong the previous statement. In this manner, liberation that can be found in ever-changing non-binary gender identity (explored by Lukas Avendaño, EYIBRA, NNUX and Oswaldo Erreve in Avatar Muxe project) poetically echoing the themes of a physical confinement from Electropods by Jen Liu and culminating in Moat, sonic oasis by Kiyomi Gork and Rhett LaRue. In a similar way, the localized social issue appears as a recurring motif across the exhibition: Urban Light (domestic monument proposed by American Artist) which recalls the other side of American dream, is being followed by a striking metaphor of Landlords (by Sarah Rara) pointing out the housing problem, that finds its answer in spectacular architecture of lightness (Swarm City by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello). And then, while marveling the floating Swarm City of LA (with its reduced need for cars), we found ourselves at The Archive (by Lawrence Lek), being captured by the haunting imagery of the fictional smart city of SimBeijing build to test sentient autonomous vehicles and urban surveillance systems. At this point, the Death Drive (the noscript of upcoming CGI film by Lawrence Lek) brings us back to Freud and his “unheimlich”, the strangely familiar recognition of a newfound place...

ECHOES is available online through February 4 – May 6, 2022

On Feb 15, ECHOES NFTs will be available on the gallery's website, priced at 9494 ALGO each. 70% of revenue will be split evenly between all the participating artists, 10% will remain with EPOCH, and 20% will go back to LACMA to help fund future projects for their Art+Tech Lab recipients.

@mzm2night
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JULIAN ASSANGE & PAK LAUNCHED NFTS COLLECTION CENSORED

Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and digital artist Pak launched their NFT collection on Feb 7. The proceeds will go toward Assange’s legal battles, as well as freedom of information causes.

Vivienne Chow, Artnet
GUCCI PURCHASED THE LAND IN THE METAVERSE

High-end luxury fashion house Gucci announced that it is building its own virtual world on Sandbox.

Under the brand’s Gucci Vault, online concept store created from the vision of Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, upcoming virtual space promises immersive experiences and, of course, digital wearables.
PRADA LAUNCHES DIGITAL LOOKS FOR RIDERS REPUBLIC VIDEO GAME

Prada's technical sportswear-infused line Linea Rossa has entered the world of fashion gaming. Following in the footsteps of other luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, who previously partnered with League of Legends, or Burberry, who created the skins for Honor of Kings, Prada have debuted three sporting outfits for the video game Riders Republic® in partnership with Ubisoft - SHOWstudio

As a result of this partnership, each player will be able to customise its character by choosing Prada Linea Rossa outfits – The Flame, Wild Stripes and Camouflage Rock – and sports gear – skis, a snowboards and bikes – created especially for the game by Prada.

Starting February 8th, players are able to explore the Riders Republic social hub with some areas bedecked with Prada Linea Rossa colours and immerse themselves in a new themed experience - Prada
GENSHIN IMPACT'S MIHOYO PROMISES TO CREATE IMMERSIVE CROSS-MEDIA VIRTUAL WORLD

All-new HoYoverse is planning "to create a vast and content-driven virtual world that integrates games, anime, and other diverse types of entertainment, which will provide players with a high level of freedom and immersion," said Haoyu Cai, co-founder and CEO of HoYoverse.

"We will continue to focus on long-term operation strategies, consistent technical research, and innovation in a variety of fields, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and pipeline construction, to ensure that sufficient content is created to meet the expectations of players worldwide for a virtual world experience".

Therefore, once again we witness the genesis of the metaworld with separate ecosystems yet there's still some hope for interoperability on a higher level.
Due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, the work of this channel had been on pause. It felt wrong to write about NFTs, metaverse or fashion while Russian army is killing peaceful citizens of Ukraine, raping defenseless women in front of their children and destroying entire cities from the sky.
We have Ukrainians in our team.
And it still feels wrong to talk about NFTs, metaverse or fashion. But lately we have seen numerous cases when fashion and NFTs are working for the sake of people and the common good. Therefore, we are ready to move on. Until someone stops Putinizm, WE ARE UKRAINE.

#standwithukraine
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"Now our thoughts and souls are occupied with other things, since war started in Ukraine. All days we are busy with activity that can support our country in any possible way, coordinating information via social media (that became a wartime full-scale instrument for helping each other), finding accommodation for refugees, collecting and making donations for urgent causes (as we follow how the situation is changing in real time and adopt donating to the most urgent cause of the moment). Now we see our art as one of the ways, not just to inspire people, but to physically support somebody’s health and life, as we donate a lot of funds from selling our prints and NFTs to support Ukraine" - Ukrainian duo Synchrodogs for SuperRare Editorial

You can support Ukraine by purchasing their prints and NFTs on:
SuperRare
Foundation
OpenSea
LAST HUMAN MOTHER AND BABY- NFT BY UKRAINIAN ARTIST BELIAEVA.

The artwork of Julia Beliaeva consist of two pieces – a digital print and virtual world, which can be entered by using virtual reality gear. In this way the viewer is invited into the picture to explore a dystopian scenario where only the savage self-reproducing nature and helpless people survive, including the last mother and her baby left alone in jungle.
The use of virtual reality glasses brings the viewer back to the golden age of the primeval times. It is the way it was seen by “naive” painter Henri Rousseau, whose painting The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope (1905) is reinterpreted in the animated jungle scene. Beliaeva has replaced the hungry lion and its prey with herself and her son with raises doubts about the mother’s intentions: Is she licking her baby in an act of care or is the gesture a deadly warning? Is she taking or losing control of her instinctive acts in survival situation? - 1stDIBS

#standwithukraine
Kenny Schachter is an art writer, curator, digital artist and the second name coming to our minds when we hear "NFT". Recently he demonstrated how art/crypto community could actually help to those who need it most.
Kenny teamed up with David Cash and proposed to artists around the globe to donate their NFTs and support Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion. In no time, a collection ennoscriptd NFTUkraine was launched. The list of participating artists is growing, and all proceeds will be donated to the official Ukrainian government-sanctioned ETH account.
The point is to band together to help in whatever way possible to address the unprovoked atrocities at the hand of (now) war criminal Vladimir Putin - artnet news
You can check the collection on OpenSea: NFTUkraine
Perhaps some unique work is waiting for you there.
#standwithukraine
In case you want to know about our choice from NFTUkraine, it's Intimacy by Jason Ebeyer.

Personal choice of @sabbathhawk
ARTISTS FOR UKRAINE, an online only benefit auction is Grisebach’s way of lending a helping hand to the victims and refugees uprooted by the war in Ukraine.
33 works of art donated by 34 contemporary artists will be sold online by Grisebach between April 1st and April 10th. All the proceeds will be donated to Be an Angel e.V., an NGO currently working with Ukrainian refugees.
Among participating artists you can find Tamina Amadyar, Eliza Douglas & Anne Imhof, Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg, Sam Durant, Ólafur Eliasson, Gregor Hildebrandt, Christine Sun Kim, Alicja Kwade and others.

Cover image: Olafur Eliasson Spheres of power and care (mind map), 2017.
NFT of the day.
Road Knight Helmet by Ukrainian artist/designer stanis.slav.
Stanislav had been working with with Frederik Heyman (and you might remember that Frederik is our all time favorite). Therefore, it's a double love trouble.
#standwithukraine