![]() ![]() It now boasts a full curatorial team that carefully selects and admits digital artists to debut their collections on the company’s massively popular platform.Ĭalderon attributes Art Blocks’ enduring success to its refusal to indulge in practices that became standard for most NFT projects at the height of the speculative bubble in early 2022. Vasquez)Īrt Blocks is a 40-person company and growing, despite the devastating effects of the crypto bear market. But we fought so hard to isolate ourselves from that.” Erick Calderon (L) at the Art Blocks Open House in Marfa, Texas, November 2022. That means creating internal organizational culture, which is really hard to do in crypto, where everybody's remote and hinging on the price of a CryptoPunk. “They survive on culture, and they survive on their teams. “Why are we betting our companies on nascent technology? Companies don't survive just on crypto,” Calderon said. This fixation, he believes, only temporarily obfuscates the deficiencies of a company’s product. Jogging- but earning crypto! Sweatshirts- but in the metaverse! Cat pictures- but make them NFTs! A mediocre TV show concept- produced by a DAO! “But we also want to transcend crypto.”Īs Calderon sees it, far too many companies in the crypto ecosystem hinge their value propositions on the novelty of underlying technology. “I used to say that I want Art Blocks as a platform to transcend crypto-you drop the word crypto, you drop the word generative, you drop the word NFT, and you just have art,” Calderon told me. ![]() According to the event’s host, Art Blocks founder and Squiggles artist Erick Calderon (aka Snowfro), it was because the gathering, and his NFT company, have pretty much nothing to do with NFTs, and even less to do with crypto. That wasn’t because NFT people feel immune to market fluctuations. And yet, the FTX armageddon felt as far away from the gathering as any big-city happening back in the times when news was delivered by covered wagon. One might assume the vibes at an event centered around non-fungible tokens -which in the last two years have won obsessive devotees and furious haters in equal measure-would be deeply affected by the pulse of the crypto market. Art Blocks Open House in Marfa, Texas, November 2022. It was November 11, 2022, and 500 admirers had descended on the tiny town of Marfa, Texas, for Art Blocks’ second annual Open House-a gathering of collectors, artists, investors, and schmoozers involved in the company’s growing ecosystem. “Pray to the squiggle!” his friend yelled giddily. “Squiggle, squiggle, squiggle, squiggle!” “Squiggle!” one reveler next to me kept yelling, as he raised his hands towards the vibrating monitors, jumping in place. ![]()
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