Bare your fucking soul. This is the advice I'd give @filter8_tez after seeing them express doubts about Opepen Set 030 making it to a reveal. I wrote a long message to them, but I've decided to share it publicly. While this is written for @filter8_tez specifically, the more general takeaways may prove helpful for an Opepen artist who is facing a failure to reach consensus. Here's what I wrote: Bare your fucking soul. Tell us what the images are…I’ll be honest, I don’t know or recognize what some of them represent or depict. Tell us how you relate to the images. Tell us why the Windows 95 aesthetic is meaningful to you. Tell us your first experience with a computer. I find this set harder to connect with because I used Macs when I was young, so I have a deep sense of nostalgia for @drrrrck's recent work, but I’m sure people will have this feeling for set 030 too. Talk us through the process. Invite us in to the thinking and consideration that went into the editions. What's the common theme between editions? What separates them from each other? How does the set connect to the rest of your work? What other layers of meaning are in the set? Idk if English is your first language, but if you need help communicating I’d be happy to help, or I’m sure there are people in the Opepen community that speak your language and would love to help too. If it doesn’t reach consensus, don’t sweat it. That’s part of the game. Failing was the best thing that could have happened to me and my art. If it fails, put yourself into a hyperbaric chamber training at 100x gravity and come out as an unstoppable fucking art force. Let that shit ignite a Falcon 9 rocket under your ass that fuels you to grow and adapt as an artist. I wasn’t familiar with your work until this set was announced, and Jack’s thread definitely helped, but if people are opting into the art, they're opting in to YOU. There’s a reason people blind opted VVD...they have an intense familiarity with him and his work. His set was not my favorite (subjective ofc, I just felt the thinking was lazy, nothing personal), but there were people also who love him as an artist that didn't love his set. Connection with the artist matters. If Opepen opters don’t have that connection with you as a smaller artist, this is your opportunity to establish yourself in the network. I faced a similar uphill battle as a small artist, but I had strong relationships in the VV community to rely on, and I still didn't get Set 016 pushed through. At least I know that the people opting out of 016 did so because they didn't connect with the art, not because I hadn't given them the opportunity. That's my advice. Bare your fucking soul.

NEW TECHNOLOGY #5 is out for auction and is a social experiment. 👇 opensea.io/assets/base/0x1ca…

Art of Day Artist: @filter8_tez

set 030 new technology by @filter8_tez "3 decades of magic." opepen.art/sets/030

🧵1/4🪡 🎉 🎈🍾 Congrats to @filter8_tez & @dutchtide for having their Opepen submissions LIVE!

"Colornomics" Collection @filter8_tez 🙏🫡

We definitely need more glitch in opepen

"the most valuable thing we have is time" "...a universal truth across cultures...that's why the 1/1 is a clock" (summarizing somewhat but great insights from the artist behind set Set 30: New Technology @filter8_tez - link below)

GM 🌇"Colornomics" 7'

Dinos everywhere I look! The Tiny Dinos really are showing the cc0 nft space how it should be done. Dinos together strong #rawr

opepen mic opepen dot art slash home

let’s turn jesse into a chonkie fam! jump into the studio & give it go 🧑‍🎨 we’ll ask jesse to pick his favourite one - hopefully via a pfp change