Digital Artist | Founder @EuskalRidge | Co-Creator @lifeofmuga | Ex-Director of Curation @niftygateway
Orange County
- Tweets 8,430
- Following 5,495
- Followers 9,582
- Likes 21,911
Had the pleasure to be the fly on the wall on a few of our calls with Pak in preparation for this drop on @niftygateway While sales numbers make the headlines @muratpak is truly focused on the narrative, execution and being innovative 🤛🏼👏🏻thoughtful and present ⭕️
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Today marks my last day at @niftygateway Instead of writing a cookie-cutter tweet, I prefer to offer you a glimpse into who I am. I think this will help you understand how I got to this decision. This will likely be a super long post, so I apologize in advance, but if a handful of people read it and get to know me a little better, then it was worthwhile.
Those who've had the misfortune of working with me or interacting with me via DMs are probably already smiling, knowing I can’t string together two sentences without having to go back and make edits, and this is due to my dyslexia. Who knows how many times I’ll have to go back and edit this post before it gets published, and I will certainly miss a few typos along the way that I’ll just let them be as the final coat of varnish that seals a brand new painting.
Being dyslexic has allowed me to grow and perform better in other areas, so I’ve learned to just let it be part of who I am and embrace being a little different as it allows me to explore life in a slightly different way. If you are curious about dyslexia, go to Google and search what people with this condition tend to exhibit in the workplace; hopefully, you'll find it enlightening.
This leads me to another aspect of neurodiversity. We know this space makes fun of autism; and heck, even one of the accounts people find reliable in crypto goes by the name of ‘Autism Capital,’ but I’ve embraced meme culture knowing there’s likely no ill intent even if it makes me shrug as a parent of two beautiful autistic kids who may struggle with transitions and general context but who started playing piano by ear on their own at the age of two and three. They can read simple sentences and are drawing much better than I would have expected, often stealing my iPad to later find their scribbles in my Procreate folder. As I lay them to sleep every night, without fail, I start to worry what this life has in store for them with their particular situation, and I’ve decided to just be a lot more present in their formative years to give them the best chance for success in their adult years and I’ve already started taking a small step and signing up for volunteering opportunities at their respective schools. Nothing would make me happier if it they choose to continue down the path of art, music or explore any other creative field.
I have no doubt in my mind that some of the most revered artists in history were neurodivergent, observing how my kids self-regulate through sound and drawing after a day of sensory overload, so I remain hopeful and I keep my fingers crossed. The reason I am telling you all of this is because I hope this gives you a bit of insight into what has influenced Muga in many ways and why this project is so special to me. The four NFTs we released early on narrate a relatable story and I hope that with context you are curious to re-explore them.
I entered the crypto scene in 2013, as I have always been fascinated by emerging technologies and disruptive innovation. I think I’ll never leave, after experiencing the wildest things for a little bit over 10 years. In between the madness, the scandals, memes, and cyclical markets, there’s a wealth of incredibly talented individuals who are writing the next chapters in the history of a nascent movement that changes the financial world and started a revolutionary shift in the way we transact and demonstrate why a digital asset is valuable. We've gone through five stages in the evolution of money and we have been venturing for a while now into the sixth: Commodity Money, Metallic Money, Paper Money, Credit Money, Plastic Money, and Digital Money.
This remarkable technological innovation known as crypto, which has birthed countless possibilities for disrupting entire industries, has oddly paved the way for me to explore art through NFTs. It took me decades to understand that I was an artist and that spending hours hyper-focused on my synths making music with no formal training or obsessing about color theory were just signs of being a creative person seeking an outlet.
Artists expend a lot of energy in their creative process, something Rick Rubin really gets into in his book 'The Creative Act: A Way of Being'. He talks about how artists can make incredible things because their emotions are so wrapped up in their work. This intense emotional investment is great for creating art that stands out, but it also means that the artist needs time to just relax and recharge after (touching grass is real!).
On top of my day job and my art, I've got this family background of immigrants who always valued hard work and left everything behind for a better future. Some left Lebanon to escape religious persecution in the early 20th century, others left Spain at different stages to seek new pastures. I believe that our familial history, and what our ancestors went through, really defines who we are. For me, 'immigrant mentality' means working hard for what you want, something I've been doing since I was a kid. Whether it was doing small jobs to buy toys or taking on bigger projects like building an in-shoe pedometer in college for an ex-Nike employee years before wearables were a thing.
Taking breaks has always been tough for me. Apart from a brief pause in college for that wearable project and a little time off I took when I shifted to crypto, I've been pretty much non-stop. As a result, I've missed a lot of simple things like going to the movies (pre-COVID likely), going on hikes, meeting up with friends just for the simple pleasure of having a warm conversation. I can’t remember the last time I worked out regularly, or when was the last time I experienced the joy of catching the first rays of sunshine while getting ready for a morning surf.
Life's been flying by as I try to keep up with everything. This constant rush isn't just tiring, it has undoubtedly impacted my ability to create. I'm now seeing that in order to create work that not only fulfills me but also hopefully impacts others, I need to strike a balance and force myself to take breaks. It's not about just fitting in art whenever I can or neglecting family time on weekends. My wife's been incredibly supportive, but I know I need to adjust my approach to ensure that my art remains authentic.
I wish endless capital was a thing, but I’ve managed to save enough to give this more relaxed approach a try and be able to consciously create again. Will I get a job again in a few months? Who knows, but I’m okay making that gamble for now, and if in the future a new opportunity presents itself in NFTs that scratches my itch I will evaluate it.
Both in my previous career in high tech and these last few years in crypto, I have been fortunate to work with incredibly bright and hard-working people, and I continue to think about our time together, hoping to cross paths again with them in the future. If they are unlucky enough to be in a group chat with me, they know I send them the most inappropriate memes and the cringiest Photoshop botch jobs, and it’s just a way for me to compensate for my inability to express to them that I am thinking about them, that I care, and that they matter. As the market shows signs of resilience and projects start to hire, feel free to reach out as I am sure I know a handful of excellent people that can help elevate your projects.
I am also going to miss working with an incredibly long list of people at Gemini and Nifty. The talent there is insane and just know that working with you all on a daily basis always made me extend my departure a bit more, but I knew it was time.
Lastly, I’ve always struggled to ask people to bet on me when I wasn’t fully invested in myself, so this is also a big motivation for this move as I strongly believe in what I can create. I am all in on @ekaitza_ and @lifeofmuga , and I can’t wait to continue working on what we have ideating these last few months and a few things I’ve been playing with over the years that I haven’t brought to fruition yet.
This is the part where I’d typically try to say something funny like, “I am available for podcasts, quinceañeras, bar mitzvahs, and going for a coffee in the middle of the workday,” but instead, I’ll just close by saying… be nice to one another, keep in touch and never lose your sense of curiosity.
Un fuerte abrazo,
Javo
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My last available artwork in the primary market anywhere!
Encuentro paz en la inmensidad de la oscuridad🇪🇸🇲🇽 (I find peace in the vastness of darkness ) 🖤💀🙏
superrare.co/artwork-v2/encu…
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hey @Em0n33y if they do I'll match the donation🖤
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Super happy to add The Mitter from @DesLucrece to my collection today 🖤
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The final collab for today is with Des Lucrece. We've recreated his signature character in 3D & it is also the first time we incorporate traits we reserved for the pfp project. Working with Des has been a breeze and all I can say is that awesome things are brewing🖤🧿
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Mask of Destruction
We break the cage not to destroy what was, but to free ourselves, to finally soar toward the light that’s been quietly waiting for us all along.
What a beautiful surprise this morning getting a call from Sam to let me know i was receiving this mask 🖤🎭🙏
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Getting closer and closer to revealing the project I have been working for months now with @zigor. We are really pouring our souls into it and hope everyone enjoys it as much as we have. I will try to not spam you a ton here so please follow 👇for updates!
nitter.app/lifeofmuga
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I am really proud of my bro @DesLucrece, An artist I met after I fell in love with his Happy Track artwork that I collected and someone who i've had the honor to call a friend since. I know he has big plans and I am here to see him win and take his brand to the next level 🖤🚀👏
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Incredibly proud of the outcome of our @niftygateway x @CyberBrokers_ event during NFT NYC. Both teams worked tirelessly to bring this idea to reality 🖤🚀 Thanks to everyone that stopped by!🤛
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These are my last remaining artworks in the primary market only on @SuperRare as 1/1's. These also happen to be two of my favorite to date 🖤🚀
👉bit.ly/3ufbbIp 👈
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never forget those who helped you get started/believed in you however successful you’ve become. A support system is always instrumental to reach milestones
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A few collectors on tomorrow's drop will be able to claim this NFT as my thank you for supporting fellow artists. More details will be provided by the @niftygateway team prior to the drop 🙏💀🖤
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On Monday subscribers to the @lifeofmuga newsletter and existing collectors will receive a live link to mint the claim card for our first physical collectible
👉bit.ly/3ekcAKu👈
Mint will be available to the general public on February 8th at 1PM Pacific!🖤LFG!🚀
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Sharing our @lifeofmuga collaboration with fellow artist @DesLucrece this piece was released as part of our first Lagunak series on @niftygateway that dropped on June 6th 2023. One of the nicest dudes in the space and someone I am lucky to call my friend 🤛🖤
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Next Friday I will release my first explorations with AI on Nifty.
What is it? 101 AI generated Images
How long did I work on this? About 2 weeks
How many iterations did it take? 808
What was the goal? I was trying to understand if I could develop a style via repetition and iterative inputs without external tool manipulation
Am i ripping off @muratpak? I don't think so 😅 I am a massive fan of Pak's work and their gentle soul. I hope this work inspires some of you as much as Pak's work inspires me on a regular basis to find beauty in simplicity.
Why mint this? I want to share something I consider beautiful with all of you and capture a moment in time where AI still has its flaws which in itself makes the process super fun and the output imperfect which I love.
Cuanto cuesta? A buck a pop
Will I continue to use AI? I will and I think AI is an invaluable tool to incorporate into the creative process like any other tool or brush. Next explorations will likely rely less on the output of the AI itself and will just be step in the process more than likely.
Cheers all!
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I't feels amazing to be in this space both as an artist and as a collector. The friendships I have made here will last a life time. Someone I have been fortunate to cross paths with is @Coldie which I am proud to rep and support any day 🤛
oh I also got this amazing 1/1 2day 🔥
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just got a call from our vet, our 10 year old dog who just had surgery is now cancer free. We’ve had few rough weeks but this call lifted my spirits like you have no idea. hug your pets! 🐶
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Today is the day! Months of planning and taking this from concept to reality.Our collaboration with @ALIENQUEENNFT Minting today on @niftygateway at $99 per edition. OE open for 24 hours. The outcome for this drop dictates what happens in phase 2 😉 Link in the comments!🙌
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The last edition piece my drop tomorrow on @niftygateway is "A tribute to Yayoi"
Yayoi Kusama is an institution that has challenged the art scene for decades and has continued to remain a tour de force to this day into her 90's and I enjoy every bit of her work 🔴
5 editions
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The last artwork for my @niftygateway drop on Wednesday will be Herakles - Vires in Posterum
8 editions
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Now that there has been a lot of interest in @skygolpe 's secondary market, I felt it was prudent to share the following piece. This is Skygolpe's genesis piece which came in as an edition of 5 via a collaboration with @MattiaC Minted April 2020. Edition 1/5 is listed for 6.9 Ξ on KnownOrigin 👀
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I am grateful for the people i've met in this space. I've been in it since 2013. Ideals change, bags change, markets pump, markets dump, projects rise and fall but between memes and mints a ton of incredibly people make make it all worth while on the daily 🤛
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Extremely proud of my team. That’s it. That’s the tweet 👏🏻🚀 @niftygateway
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One of the artworks on tomorrow's drop on @niftygateway
21 Reasons #Bitcoin - If you know you know 💀
10 of these will be available for purchase
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When I asked @money_alotta how he wanted to be portrayed on the cover of the curating crypto podcast he sent me a few iconic movie scenes with his face photoshopped in. We settled on John Goodman in @TheBigLebowski. He was nervous about being interviewed in english but those nerves faded after a bit of small talk to ease him into the recording. Since then we developed a very casual but strong friendship and while the space started to grow and inevitably drama started to flourish he always remained down to earth and never took himself or anything he did in the space seriously. Tu me manques mon ami, et j'espere te revoir dans une vie future🖤🤛
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My wife decided to take a break from work to spend some time with our younglings during the pandemic. I figured I would test how liquid NFTs in my collection could be and put the proceeds to work by investing to match her income. Week 2 and I am already 1/4th there 😅🚀
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I've been in NFTs for 5 years now and I am still absolutely mortified about reaching out to fellow artists for a collaboration 🥲 If i've ever reached out believe me that I spent 5-10 minutes debating clicking the send button and I probably deleted my message 5 times 💀🫠
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Our first @lifeofmuga collaboration drop will be on June 6th on @niftygateway and @zigor and I are super excited to start strong with 3 artists that we are lucky to call friends @bryanbrinkman @DesLucrece @vanortondesign. More details to come in the next few days!
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I was just reading a group DM with fellow artists from 2019. Artist supporting artists, artworks selling below $100 a pop an everyone was beyond excited. No influencers asking for a cut, no bitterness just good vibes. Magic 👏🏻🖤
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Big thanks to everyone who showed up to my drop today, your support means the world to me! I'm grateful for all the messages pre/post drop. Also, congrats to those who snagged an exploration! I heard there were 2000+ purchase attempts in the 1st minute. Reveal is set for Monday🙏
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Next week! last artworks for me this year.
Dropping on @niftygateway 🙏💀🖤
👉🗓️ December 9th 👈🔥
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One thing @zigor and I want to do with @lifeofmuga is to collaborate with other web3 artists.Thus far we have 8 confirmed collaborations for digital/large scale sculptures.More details will be shared soon but here's a mockup I made that I shared with some of the confirmed artists
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345 editions minted thus far and one of those tokens reached the low cap mint limit in under an hour. I wonder what happens Friday when the tokens reveal the collaborations 👀 A big thank you to everyone who has placed their trust in us and our collaborators!🙏🖤
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I am really enjoying receiving pictures of Mugas in their new homes. @zigor & I have been working really hard the last couple of years on this project and we are really excited for this next phase 🖤🙏🚀 Keep an eye on the @lifeofmuga account for news soon ⏰
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"The battles within"
The second piece on my @niftygateway drop tomorrow. I am hoping this starts a conversation around #MentalHealth health and how we need to be mindful and perceptive of those quietly asking for help.
20 editions hoping it reaches a wider audience 🙏
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getting really excited about the launch of @lifeofmuga The anticipation brewing…I missed it man 🙌🏼 Will people remember me after a year of not minting? I guess we’ll find out August 31st 🫢My most ambitious project by a mile and grateful to have my bff @zigor along for the ride
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I haven’t minted as ekaitza in exactly two years today! I’ve been focusing on my role at nifty and my @lifeofmuga project with my brother @zigor but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been creating. I will share some details soon on a $1 mint. 🙏🏼 thanks for always being there for me.
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This will be a lengthy post but will have all the info around the 1. Abiapuntua card 2. the burn and 3. claiming your physical toy. This post will be pinned.
So what happened today? We released 69 additional Muga physical toys. If you have been following the @lifeofmuga account you have probably seen how these are look on people's home by now.
so what's the link to mint this set of 69 mugas?
app.manifold.xyz/c/mugaclaim…
ok I've bought my Abiapuntua card, whats next?
you will need to burn your Abiapuntua card and decide
if you want the blank matte MUGA (GURE):
app.manifold.xyz/br/abiapunt…
or the iridescent MUGA (GUNE):
app.manifold.xyz/br/abiapunt…
Ok I've burned my card so what happens next?
you are ready to claim your physical toy! to do that go to this site and with the wallet where you have your GUNE or GURE NFT you should be able to claim your toy
lifeofmuga.myshopify.com/
wait, i just burned it and I tried to claim and it says I am not eligible?
The snapshot is manual so I run it every night, post a message in this post if you are not able to redeem or try the next morning and more than likely it will work.
wait, why is shipping so high?
Shipping costs are a bit unpredictable and there was no good way to estimate it dynamically so what we've done is to set a max limit essentially. Once I print your label I refund the difference to your card. If I see you ordered multiple I condense them into one order. So far every order has been under the max limit we've set and we are shipping with Fedex and have had a ton of luck with customs on international orders which represent 75% of Muga toy holders.
hope this helps but if you have additional questions post them here as others may have similar ones.
Thanks y'all!
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Until next time Philippe 🖤 A larger than life personality that hid such a noble and thoughtful human being that always reminded us not to take things too seriously. Crypto art has lost an incredible human, artist and friend. Continue to be a bad ass upstairs 🤛🙏
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Ambitiose posterum (Exploracion de texturas) available on @SuperRare_co !
This nymph I rendered at 300 pixels per inch so probably worth zooming in to see the detail of the mesh against the curves and folds🙏💀
superrare.co/artwork-v2/ambi… 🚀
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