Artist: THE BOYS OF SUMMER Winslow Homer's Croquet Challenge Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility
Toronto
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I have just released my final artwork in The Zantar Triptych.
Zantar is my best work and – for now – I can do no better.
zantar.chan.gallery
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So, you probably want to know ALL the juicy details about what happened at the Castle in Prague last night, huh?
Well, here's a thread... 🧵
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Simply unbelievable. Thank you to everyone who has believed in this project, taken the time to read about it, discuss it, and share it. Thank you @justinsuntron and @apenftorg for officially placing it IN THE CANON.
I just spent 569 #ETH ($2M USD) on three Digital Zones Edition 83,8&92 from @mitchellfchan and donated it to @apenftorg as a collection. You can check on my opensea collection opensea.io/Justinsun #NFT
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Pay the people who build culture.
Pay writers.
Pay curators.
Or else get stuck with a zerosum cesspool ponzi culture.
No points on the package.
No reflinks.
No "exposure."
Pay. Them. Money.
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I love NFTs because I can spend a year being super serious about making an artwork, release it to the public, and then see that it was minted by someone named drwhetfaaartz.eth and be genuinely delighted.
You just don't get this anywhere else
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🚨ANNOUNCEMENT TIME🚨
I’m very excited to share my next artwork release,
"THE BOYS OF SUMMER"
A year in the making.
An interactive art game,
containing a PFP collection, producing a market performance.
Coming VERY SOON on @Wildxyz.
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Story time:
Back in 2021, one of the most legendary wallets in the space was an account named fartlord.eth. Massive collection. Ridiculous floor sweeps. The wallet was full of really IYKYK top-notch fine art (remember Folia?) and also ridiculous degen PFP rugs, with no distinction made between them whatsoever. It was a really fun account, and FartLord and I became good friends.
Around the same time, a very successful artist in the trad realm asked to meet with me at the art fairs. This artist has top-notch gallery representation, and is, by several orders of magnitude, much much wealthier than me. I was excited to hang out and chat. Nope. They wanted to ask me a favour: could I please, PLEASE introduce them to FartLord? They NEEDED to meet FartLord and they needed ME to make it happen.
And I will always remember walking through Regents Park, with this artist who was far out of my league, bedecked in Dolce & Gabanna, looking at me pleadingly and saying the name out loud again and again: "FartLord." "FartLord?" "FartLord!"
And that's when I knew that NFTs were the great equalizer.
I love NFTs because I can spend a year being super serious about making an artwork, release it to the public, and then see that it was minted by someone named drwhetfaaartz.eth and be genuinely delighted.
You just don't get this anywhere else
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ok listen up nutlickers
i am truly and honestly embarrassed to be walking towards this debacle BUT
if we are really – really? – really going to have this conversation about who made the first Yves Klein "The Void" coin ...
then i guess I have to do this turdhumping thread
I appreciate your work and have always been interested in conceptual artists who push boundaries and question the nature of art. This has been the case with many artists I admire, such as Klein, Duchamp, Rauschenberg, John Cage and many others who explored concepts of absence and nothingness. I believe art is inherently a dialogue of repetition and shared references. I see Void very differently in many ways, it draws its primary inspiration from Klein’s 1958 exhibition at Iris Clert.
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I am unspeakably grateful.
These works, the ones I'm putting out to the public this week, are challenging!
They don't employ the instantly digestable meme-vernacular; they build their own language and demand viewers' time.
They're not techno-optimist congratulatory; they're pretty dark.
They don't look like most things that are easily lumped into a "fine art" basket.
But a significant number of people in this space and the trad art space invested the time to fully experience this work while it was on display at @nguyenwahed, and they GOT IT.💡 And a small number of those people – a cabal, if you will – had enough conviction to support the work in this very generous way that will help me to keep pushing boundaries for a long time.
After all this work is out in the public, I'll talk a little bit more about what that future roadmap looks like.
For now, hold on, clear some time out of your schedule this week, and enjoy this artwork.
🖼️ 24 HOURS OF ART 📊 July 16, 2025
🎮 Contemporary Video Game
'Zantar' by @mitchellfchan sells for $300,000 USD to a private collector via @nguyenwahed.
Shown at the 'Insert Coin(s)' Exhibition at Nguyen Wahed, it is the fully playable video game centerpiece of a series of interactive artworks, 'The Zantar Triptych'.
The game is framed by a story of technology's impact on a young man's life. In the words of artist Mitchell F. Chan, if art has a duty “it is to render visible the conditions in the world which are ubiquitous but otherwise invisible".
Via @miminguyenmimi of Nguyen Wahed:
“It’s exciting when collectors embrace gaming as artistic medium, recognising its potential to truly transform how we experience and participate in contemporary art.”
The first interactive artwork collection in the Triptych - 'Overture' - debuts with @artblocks_io and @opensea on Thursday.
🏛️ Sotheby's Recap
'Contemporary Discoveries' auctions conclude at @Sothebysverse, as 23 Lots sell out for $337,058 USD in total.
Highlight Sales (in USD):
- 'CryptoPunk #6425' by @larvalabs: $114,300
- 'INNERSPACE' /2 by @beeple: $60,960
- '3546 Loopify Lane' by @lphaCentauriKid: $35,560
- 'Emerging Face - Neural Net Imagined Portrait (644 Strokes)' by @VanArman: $33,020
- '𝘴ᴏɴ 𝔴ʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ 𝚍0ɴᴇ 𝔀ɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏɴᴇ 𝘄ɪʟᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴏᴜ$ ɢᴀ ₥ ᴇ ᴏꜰ ʟɪꜰᴇ' by @m0dest___: $33,020
- '#44 The Bluffer' by @DesLucrece: $12,065
- 'Confession I: I don't want to hide anymore' by @DrifterShoots: $5,715
- '"Rising" 2018' by @CharlesCsuri: $5,080
- 'DeepDream Classic 00' by Alex Mordvinstsev: $3,810
- 'Realiti #3' by @tyaagnliu: $3,810
- 'Kirlian' by @rainisto: $3,302
- 'Quantum Climates' by @LibbyHeaney: $3,302
- 'Dave' by @osinachiart: $3,048
- 'Oscillating, On The Oustide' by @tonywallstrom: $3,048
- 'Blue Waterlily' by @miaforrestphoto: $2,794
- 'Fragmented Memories of Grasmere' by @danoramas: $2,794
- 'APB' by @margaretonline: $2,159
- 'Parallax' by @Jesperish: $2,159
- 'Sirens calling to Odysseus' by @kev_esh: $2,159
- 'DK Dance' by @8thproject1: $2,032
- 'The Chairs - Silent dialogue #1 & #2 by @_sigmaX_: $1,270
- 'Keyboard' /5 by @seerlight: $889
- 'Killing your ego pt2' /10 by @_dotpigeon: $762
🪟 Pictured: Highlights
- 'Zantar' by Mitchell F. Chan
- 'INNERSPACE' by Beeple
- '𝘴ᴏɴ 𝔴ʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ 𝚍0ɴᴇ 𝔀ɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏɴᴇ 𝘄ɪʟᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴏᴜ$ ɢᴀ ₥ ᴇ ᴏꜰ ʟɪꜰᴇ' by m0dest
- 'CryptoPunk #6425' by Larva Labs
- 'Emerging Face - Neural Net Imagined Portrait (644 Strokes)' by Pindar Van Arman
- 'Closehead' by @DinihariStd, collected by @Cryptoknightgal
- 'Rare Opepens, Set 072, Ed. 1' by VVD, collected by @Vince_Van_Dough
🗽 Today: 24H Founder @RogerDickerman is reporting from the Christie's Art+Tech Summit
🌐 2025 Subscribers
Read the full report here:
24hours.art/daily-report/24-…
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PRIZE RESULT SPEECH THREAD:
1)
I am beyond delighted to have won top prize in Optimism’s We ❤️ The Art Competition in the 1/1 category, alongside the talented and delightful @shavonnewong_.
EXCLUSIVE: @Optimism has revealed the top "We ❤️ the Art" contest winners
1/1s: @shavonnewong_ @mitchellfchan
Music: @thepark @roadtoaly
AI: @pegasus_vfx @cammurdochmusic
Generative: @0xShiroi @cyberjock11
We spoke to @binji_x, @earemu and a number of the artists to get all the details ⬇️
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Doing final tweaks to Boys of Summer PFP collection. So excited.
I think the classic 90's LA black-and-white look slays, especially with flat top and backed up by a bat-with-spikes-on-it.
hello Jermaine Rodgers.
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HELL YES I AM FLEXING THIS.
Thank you @BuffaloAKG for the LIFETIME membership, ultra-slick “Artist In The Collection” tier.
Certified.
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Boys of Summer mint is tomorrow at 1pm ET (allowlist) and 1:30pm ET (public).
Here is a handy visual guide to help you decide whether or not this art project is for you.
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Announcement:
In May, I premiered a brand new collection of works at the gallery @nguyenwahed in NYC. Beginning July 17, that work will come online to the public, in collaboration with @opensea and @artblocks_io.
Stay tuned.
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Reviewing first proofs of LeWitt Generator Generator physical prints. These are gifts to collectors of my @artblocks_io project!
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Today, @Sothebys opens auction of my artwork, "Digital Zone of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility Series 0, No. 10"
metaverse.sothebys.com/nativ…
Auction runs until Oct 26. Info on the sale, resources about the project, and thanks to longtime supporters follow...
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UPDATE!
it turns out we HAVE an audio recording! Thanks to the folks at @artblocks_io and Crowley Theatre for finding it.
I'm gonna add my slides to it and post it next week, then maybe we can do a Spaces Q&A.
Stay tuned!
One of the major highlights of Marfa this year was @mitchellfchan’s talk
It was sharp, funny and extremely well constructed. People were buzzing about it afterward.
The question of how we make art with technology that means something is one many of us are grappling with.
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It has been an absolute joy watching people enjoy The Boys of Summer.
Watching you all playing the game, come up with stories about your statistical outputs, sharing them online and ruminating on what it all means...
I could not have dared dream of a better day.
But I just want to say, especially to my small group of close friends and peers (you know who you are): that your reception and support and the kind words you've said about this project have meant everything to me. You bunch are the reason I do this.
I am going to take tomorrow off-line (it's also my 10-year wedding anniversary tomorrow!), but I'll be back Friday, after people have had a bit more time to play and reflect, and I'll share some more thoughts on the project.
Got a sneak preview of @mitchellfchan's Boys of Summer, with my very own "honorary" named Goose Derringer (der-RINGER), and I have to say it was an emotional experience. The first play through legitimately made me feel depressed.
It made me reflect a lot on life, and the way we live nowadays. Also made me think a lot about how in life we don't necessarily get to play things over versus in a game. It's almost always worth it to stay in school than swing for the big leagues, but the glory of going for it is so human that I feel like it's the natural thing to do.
In my first play through I got absolutely destroyed by the machine that is life, jobless, in debt, destitute, two kids out of wedlock with different women, and dead at 65. And then I tried again, focusing on putting in the work at school and ended up an investment banker at Goldman Sachs with a fat savings account and no life partner.
Near the end of game you get to see what your characters "natural" talents are and appreciate the reason why you maybe went undrafted.
10/10 good art. Mints tomorrow. Maybe you'll get a rare one and win the Championship: wild.xyz/mitchell-f-chan/the…
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FULL DETAILS on Boys of Summer dropped today in this @decryptmedia article!
⚾️what is this project about?
⚾️how does it work
⚾️WEN? (Release date on @wildxyz )
🖼️out-of-band PFP output preview
🎥Gameplay video (warning: spoilers!)
ITS ALL IN THERE👇
'Moneyball' Meets Crypto in 'Boys of Summer' Experimental NFT Game
► decrypt.co/150909/moneyball-… decrypt.co/150909/moneyball-…
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I didn't want to do a white cube show. 🚫🧊
I wanted to do a gallery installation that represented my values; what I believe about art. You can make people comfortable before you present them with uncomfortable ideas. 🫂➡️🧠If your art really is challenging, then you ought to be welcoming and accommodating to the people who are doing you the honour of engaging with it. 👐➡️👊
Thank you to @nguyenwahed for seeing the vision and making it happen. You can join us on our sofa until May 10.
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7 years ago, I released this project that I thought told a good story about the ways that cryptocurrencies advanced art. And nothing happened. And nothing happened. And then EVERYTHING happened. What a crazy time. I remain very grateful for everyone who discovered this project and who’s ever spent time thinking about it and discussing it. Mostly I’m grateful for everyone I met — directly or often very very indirectly— through this project.
🎨 ON THIS DAY IN CRYPTOART HISTORY...
30 August 2017 - Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility by @mitchellfchan is minted at InterAccess in Toronto. As one of the earliest NFT artworks exhibited in a legacy gallery, it reimagines Yves Klein’s conceptual project by exploring how NFTs can separate an artwork's commodity form from its experience, transforming the relationship between collectors and art.
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Announcement!
New work.
A lot of it.
May.
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A technical thing about The Boys of Summer that maybe you didn't realize:
The game itself – the central artwork in this entire project – is a unique 1/1 token.
The game runs in-wallet, & includes a feature allowing the game token owner to write to the game itself.
It was really important to me that the game itself, as the major artwork at the hub of this entire massive project, be an NFT.
Partially, that was as a statement of intent: I believe that the NFTs that dominate the digital art market can be so much more innovative, experiential, and advanced. Here's proof.
But also, remember when we were all talking about the importance of Digital Provenance? It was a great narrative for a bit? Yeah, I still totally believe in that!
So the Owner's ability to write to the game's title screen was about that. In a future where digital exhibitions and provenance really matter, artists really need to create their own space for "wall text." For me, that's the game's title screen. Since a physical museum would have a line about the artwork's provenance in the text accompanying the work, Boys of Summer needs to have an on-chain function where the owner of the artwork can keep provenance information on the digital "wall text" up-to-date.
There ya go.
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Many thanks to @FingerprintsDAO , @Sothebys , and everyone -- EVERYONE -- who has supported me through this crazy journey. I'm completely overwhelmed.
#AuctionUpdate Digital Zone of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility sells for $1,532,500 USD. It is one of the first blockchain-based artworks to situate the technology within a longer history of conceptual art and its discourse of dematerialization. #NativelyDigital
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This is a typically understated (classy!) announcement that is actually a big deal.
Many talk about expanding the playing field, weaving together different art worlds and discourses. @nguyenwahed continues to just go ahead and do it.
This is an organic partnership with an international arts/diplomatic institution, based entirely on conviction and belief in the quality of art.
This gallery is weaving programs like this alongside exhibitions by digital/generative/crypto-artists. It's making these connections in a very neglected stratum: the sweet spot between the grassroots DIY-kids-scene and the manufactured-donor-funded-blockbuster-event.
@miminguyenmimi is too classy to go shouting on twitter that it's a big deal... but it is, so I'll do it instead!
(I'm biased but I'm right.)
Nguyen Wahed Gallery is pleased to announce ‘Material Resistance,’ a group exhibition opening next month co-organized and co-produced with @PolishInstNY. The exhibition features work by Anna Barlik, Marlena Kudlicka, Magdalena Abakanowicz, and Agnieszka Kurant.
This exhibition is co-organized and co-produced with the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and supported by Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Agnieszka Kurant’s ‘Sentimentite’ (2022) is on loan from a private collection.
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Absolutely amazing time at the 3-day @wildxyz retreat in New Orleans. Best art event ever and if you’re lucky enough to be invited to next year’s, for heavens sake DO IT.
Alpha: it’s 90% artists, with a peppering of wonderful and smart curators and a very select few collectors.
Everyone is on site together, so there’s no hustling from event to event to do the same small talk over and over: just actual quality time with 75 great ppl.
Couldn’t possibly tag everyone whose company I enjoyed over the last 3 days, but thank you so much for your company and conversation to all who were there.
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🚨🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🚨
The (probably) largest acquisition of NFTs into the permanent collection of a major American museum.
🎊IT JUST HAPPENED. Quietly. 🤫
❓Guess the museum, and the artists collected...
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5 YEARS AGO TODAY I released Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility, or IKB.
IKB connects conceptual art & blockchain. It posits crypto as harbinger of a fully dematerialized world, & conceptualism as a tool for understanding it.
in the 5 years since release...🧵1
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In this month's @Artforum :
I wrote a diary about this year's @artblocks_io weekend in Marfa.
I discuss the ways that the Art Blocks community has evolved into a full-fledged art movement, influencing (and being influenced by) the larger art world.
artforum.com/columns/art-blo…
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Because You Demanded It! (??)
An encore presentation of the lecture I gave in Marfa last month. Live in Toronto at @InterAccessTO . Brought to you by @artblocks_io and @opensea !
Come see it Mon. Dec 16.
(This time we'll record it 😉)
interaccess.org/event/2024/4…
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So many haters — I can only presume they came from Web2 — they said to me: you can’t shoot the rock after you’ve been in an exhibition with Marcel Duchamp.
They said that as soon as you win the World’s Biggest Art Prize(TM) you’ll lose your skills on the hardwood.
Abolish adversity. Embrace excellence.
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✍️"The Boys of Summer is profound, its technical complexity matched by its conceptual intricacy—made accessible through the essence of the game"✍️
The wonderful @Lucy2Scribbles and @nbakercahill offer brilliant insight on BOS in this review
brooklynrail.org/2023/09/art…
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🕹️🖼️Boys of Summer⚾️📈 was named in @outland_art’s “Best Digital Art of 2023” feature!
I was so humbled by the reception this project received this year. Thank you all for your support! Working hard to follow this up with something worthy in 2024!
outland.art/best-digital-art…
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It’s a great honour to see my work mentioned in Artforum! The article also reinforces some of the ideas that I was exploring with the Digital Zones back in 2017: namely the connections between: conceptual art & tokenization; monetary policy & abstraction.
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I got to spend 2 days touring my cool and totally-not-imaginary internet friends around my IRL home and country. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦. @ArtOnBlockchain , @redbeardnft : thank you for being a part of my world!
Just out of frame: @_deafbeef : well… you’re always here, but I appreciate you all the same!
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Installation shot of Digital Zone no. 6 currently on display at @ArtSciMuseum in Singapore.
Many thanks to @claracxw
I love the sealed laptop.
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Excited to announce SOLANA Digital Zones...
it's exactly like Digital Zones, but if you burn one it turns off the entire Solana network for 24 hours making the artwork TRULY immaterial.
/joking
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The sheer *magnitude* of this new era... you're not gonna believe the magnitude of it!
A truly magnitudinous era, perhaps the MOST magnitudinous era of all time, is nearly upon us.
The Threshold of Entering.
[takemymoney.gif]
If you believe the hype of artificial intelligence has come to an end, you're greatly mistaken. We are on the threshold of entering a new era of unprecedented magnitude.
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“this is, for better and for worse, the craziest show on view in Venice right now.”
My crypto ppl in Venice… if you wanna come see this with me, meet up outside the @brtmoments mint space at noon tomorrow. Open invite.
artnews.com/art-news/reviews…
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8 months after releasing them on @artblocks_io, going through 140 prints of my pieces to sign and send to collectors (finally!) I was really struck by how much I enjoyed experiencing these works anew as ink on paper...
🧶/1
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My biggest concern about the long-term health of the NFT space: We need to build more infrastructure to reward writers, developers, curators, community organizers, and designers who create CULTURAL VALUE.
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Anyway, the point of all this is that being the first person to half-ass something is a pretty lame accomplishment. But being the four-thousandth person to half-ass something that's already been done well is worse!
Have a great day!
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It's been 2 years since I put out a major body of work ("The Boys of Summer").
In 10 days I put out another: 🖼️4 major artworks, 🧠1 theme, 📖1 story.
Here's a preview of them, and how the fit together.
I don't like doing "drops." I like to build up a collection of new works that create a single holistic experience.
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🤨
I thought there was a fine line between scammy and sublime, but when I see it laid out like this, I guess it's not so hard to distinguish.
I did it first,
and better,
and smarter,
and 8 years ago,
and with tech that I was making up as I went.
etherscan.io/address/0x88ae9…
$VOID
6gh8b2mqUrVb6Ew8Mwt89tNyN9keCDNstzT5cdp5pump
3m now
gmgn.ai/sol/token/nRB7sjjD_6…
dyor - $Ban Dev (Sotheby's CEO Michael Bouhanna @michaelbouhanna ) just launched a new token, and it's already shot up to 5M right from the start?
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8 years ago, I made a conceptual artwork called Digital Zones. It proposed that conceptual art and crypto currency created the same kind of ownership experience. 🟦
Two years ago, it was purchased by @justinsuntron. 💸
Last week, he and other major crypto holders all jumped into the bidding to own another conceptual art project. 🍌
Today, on @RtClick_Save I published an essay on how crypto's newfound enthusiasm for conceptual art validates those 8-year-old ideas, and the legacy of Digital Zones:
rightclicksave.com/article/t…
How we almost bought the banana for $2.5m
The bloody war where a billionaire outbid us...
And my #1 lesson from it all (which may be good news for you)
1/ A full 3 weeks before the banana came up for auction, I mused in my newsletter about what might happen.
"Comedian" (as it's officially called), by Maurizio Cattelan... had caught the art world by storm when it debuted at Art Basel in 2019.
The work is an ed. of 3, with 2 artist proofs.
One is at the Guggenheim, the other in private hands, and the 2 APs lay with the artist.
5 years later, the only available version was making its triumphant arrival at auction.
In the days and weeks earlier, there was much chatter in collector circles.
Who would buy it?
Would there be a bidding war, or would this flop?
If it did sell, for what price?
And most importantly, who the hell would pony up $$ for a banana and duct tape!?
The day after I initially mused about the banana, I get a message from my friend @kukulabanze.
If you don't know Ryan, he’s one of the world's Top 200 Art Collectors (as ranked by @artnews), and the big brain who owns @beeple's 'Human One'
Anyways, Ryan tells me he has been on the trail of the Comedian for a while.
So when this particular edition of Comedian came up for auction, Ryan was excited.
He wanted to scoop it, and suggested we do it together.
Now, I’m not as plugged into the contemporary art world as some of you, so I’m trying to wrap my mind around what the work is in the first place.
So we get to talking and he makes a very interesting point…
He says it’s perhaps the most iconic work of the last decade.
I turn to my team, we ponder the question…
How many works are instantly recognizable by millions of people?
We all quickly agree… it’s in a league of its own.
So we decided to team up, in hopes of taking down the banana.
As auction day approached, there was much chatter.
@kdean tells me there are memecoin whales circling.
A contemporary insider I know tells me Chinese private museums may be bidding.
The estimate for the work was $1m -1.5m.
Auction day comes around, the energy is electric.
If we scoop this for 2 or 3m, I feel it could be one of the great art acquisitions of all time.
Auction starts.
Bids start firing.
Who are the bidders?
Could it be those memecoin whales Dean spoke of?
Or perhaps the private museums?
It matters not.
Bids were flying.
Online and in person.
And before we know it, the auction is past $5 million USD.
Yes, 5x the estimate.
That is before buyer’s premium!
And it lands at $5.2m…. Or $6.2m, with fees included.
This auction was so legendary, news of it made every major outlet.
Even we, as the underbidder, received a snarky mention from @nytimes!
Quickly after the hammer fell, we are all scrambling to learn one thing:
Who bought it?
Turns out, the buyer was a crypto billionaire, @justinsuntron… who’s known to splash on culturally significant works.
My #1 lesson - and why it may be good for crypto art
I was sad to miss the banana...
But the attention around this work -- which consisted of merely a certificate, banana, duct tape and hanging instructions -- gives great tailwind to crypto art.
Why?
Because the frenzy around this auction showed clearly to the entire world...
How great fanfare can build around being the one to verifiably own an artwork.
Even if it can be copied... like the banana.
Or right-click saved, as with works of cryptoart.
As the great @XCOPYART asked, with his seminal work...
"Why would I own it, when I can right click and save?"
For many contemporary collectors, I feel this auction gave a similar ah-ha moment...
Why would I pay for it, if I can just buy a banana and tape?
The answer to some, is obvious (continued) 👇
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Sincere congratulations to everyone involved in @ToledoMuseum ‘s “Infinite Images” exhibition.
The exhibition was not a cross-section or a survey; it was not a greatest hits show. It was a story that connected the current iteration of algorithmic art from its historical inspirations through to the most essential examples of its recent explosion in abstract generative art, and then to its emerging applications as the atomic building block of complicated representational systems.
It did all this while never getting hunkered down in jargon or tech speak, nor ever seeming irreverent or silly.
Everyone involved should feel very proud. It was a pleasure to be there with you this week, and also for the past 5 years.
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This video is a great 2-min introduction to my most massive project ever. The ideas, innovative mechanics, and aesthetics of Boys of Summer.
🔊 INTERVIEW with @mitchellfchan 🔊
Coming to you from Toronto, we talked to Mitch about ‘The Boys of Summer,’ his upcoming artwork debuting on Wild on August 16. Tune in to hear all about the collection, how it works, and why you won’t want to miss this. ⚾
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ZANTAR IS COMING
May 2025 at
@nguyenwahed
NYC
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Setting up @ArtOnBlockchain ‘s LIFT in its native display format took less than 5 min and was immensely satisfying!
It’s fun to have this at my desk permanently, and mashing the buttons is more satisfying than clicking in a web emulator.
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I'm hearing generative art is ded?
July 17 on @opensea x @artblocks_io we'll see if this maybe this ol' dog doesn't has a few new tricks.
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Here are some Punks and Meebits beside some 17th-century PFPs. Profile pics as status symbols? Surely you jest, ser!
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Thank you so much for the shout out! Solo exhibition of brand new work, my first in two years and last for two more (probably) opens tomorrow!
New York City Digital Art Guide by @lovidlovid @emailyedelman @delta_alpha_ohm & @monkantony_tez
Our curated overview of the galleries, neighborhoods and artists that define a world-renowned scene
📖 lerandom.art/editorial/new-y…📖
Mentions: @ChristianePaul2 @mitchellfchan @mccoyspace @JennMcCoySpace @JacolbyS @yoshi_sodeoka @annaridler @cory_arcangel @JannaLevin @laurasplan @Jen_Stark @rottytooth @carlagannis @petereburr @0x113d @justinaversano @dmitricherniak @DanielCanogar @EvaDavidovaNY @Damjanski @zachlieberman @steviepxyz @hahajohnx @newrafael @luke_shannon_ @emilyxxie @bitforms @heft_gallery @nguyenwahed @SuperRare @harvestworks @PioneerWorks_ @rhizome @Yeche_Lange @friezeofficial @observer @MovingImageNYC @whitneymuseum @metmuseum @YesClaudiaHart @mayaonthenet @matto__matto
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You know what’s great about Sol LeWitt sculptures?
The fact that he kind of sucks at making sculptures!!
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1/🧵 : ON ROYALTIES :
This is a proposed extension to ERC721 which grants NFT creators the ability to deny specific marketplaces or smart contracts the ability to spend tokens on an owner's behalf.
gist.github.com/mitchellfcha…
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This is an excellent, must-read essay on the work of @mathcastles at @outland_art
It deftly explains the complicated technical foundation of the work, AND the brilliant artistic proposition that Mathcastles extracts from that tech.
👏👏👏
outland.art/mathcastles-zero…
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Today, a limited edition of 101 physical copies of the Blue Paper entered production.
Each edition consists of:
- hardcover book
- physical "Cachet de Garantie"
- clamshell case
Book & case are all bound by hand. Cachet de Garantie is riso printed.
All hand signed&numbered .
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When people think about blockchain landscapes, I want them to think about @mathcastles Terraforms, rather than Otherdeeds, because I'm proud of being part of the same avant-garde as Terraforms, and I want the public to see how smart and insightful art on blockchain can be.
👇
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In 1 hour, @billyrennekamp , @travess , @matto__matto and I are soft-launching a new live YouTube show, called Art & Videogames.
This week, we'll be playing Mountain and Everything by David OReilly while talking about art for 2 hours.
Will post the stream link when we go live.
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At long last!
Here is the talk I gave in Marfa at this year’s @artblocks_io Weekend. (as retold back home in Toronto)
My thoughts on:
What makes art good?
What is Generative Art about?
what have the last 4 years meant for the development of the medium?
Enjoy!
Running it back to last year's Art Blocks Marfa Weekend with a re-recording of @mitchellfchan’s inspirational lecture at the Crowley Theater, “What Do You Do After You Change The World?"
Presented by @opensea
piped.video/OoZL5xj7P5c
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I am deeply interested in both art-video-games and fictional art. I began my current WIP hoping I could make a contribution to both fields. But then I saw this and it seems like perfection and there's nothing left to say and now I don't know what to do with my life.
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📢My latest works – Zantar, Ladyboss, and Moonboi (pictured) – will be presented by @deSarthe at Frieze Seoul! 🇰🇷
Incredibly excited to be bringing this artwork across the world, to a new audience.
More details in my Discord.
P.S. International Art Game Supercycle.
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Submitted to the @Optimism We♥️ the Art Competition (1 of 1 category):
Web 3 Buddha
A fully interactive digital painting.
Rumination, self-discovery, and meditation.
Networked. Optimized. Gamified. Spiritualized.
web3buddha.chan.gallery
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6 Years ago today, I minted Digital Zone of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility #0.
etherscan.io/tx/0x4ba23590f8…
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🟦The Blue Paper - Deluxe Limited Edition 🟦
Free for IKB holders.
Snapshot: November 1, 2022.
piped.video/ZDCy3oFOqus
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Here are the dates:
My first new major series in almost 2 years!
On exhibit May 6-10 @nguyenwahed
Contact @nguyenwahed for information regarding viewings.
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How do you not love Timothy Thomas here?
First of all, the baby phat. (Fun Alpha: chubby characters are more likely to play catcher or 1st base in the Boys of Summer game)
The freckles... the unibrow.
And his (randomly-generated) name is TIMOTHY THOMAS.
Adorable.
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My Digital Zone of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility No. 10 will be featured in Sotheby’s ‘Natively Digital v1.2’ Auction.
#NativelyDigital is back!
Sotheby’s is proud to welcome our second dedicated NFT sale - 'Natively Digital 1.2: The Collectors.'
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Honestly: a very good week when I can get a new Rhea Myers on @verse_works the day after picking up a terrific @travess piece on @FeralFile
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Thank you so much to everyone who turned out for my talk at @artblocks_io Weekend in Marfa, to @opensea for inviting me to speak, and @matto__matto for the pictures!
One of the major highlights of Marfa this year was @mitchellfchan’s talk
It was sharp, funny and extremely well constructed. People were buzzing about it afterward.
The question of how we make art with technology that means something is one many of us are grappling with.
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A wonderful profile of @hollyherndon & @matdryhurst and their important, thoughtful work in AI.
newyorker.com/magazine/2023/…
I feel lucky that we have these people.
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1/3 Delighted to announce that my heavily-teased new work — my first release in 1.5 years — will be released November 21st as part of “Peer-to-Peer”, the first major American museum survey of blockchain artists (according to NYT) …
I’ve been teasing this, but holding off on a big thread until we could announce the full artist list. Which is now! 😃
Over the past year, I’ve been working for the @BuffaloAKG on the first US museum survey of the leading artists who have engaged with blockchain technologies.
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Don't create "Project Roadmaps."
Create a transparent and demonstrable 15-year history of genuinely giving a shit about your art, its legacy, and the people who support it. Then just keep doing what feels right.
This is also a good substitute for "Utility."
Reviewing first proofs of LeWitt Generator Generator physical prints. These are gifts to collectors of my @artblocks_io project!
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Argh argh argh I know I should be investing much more time and energy gambling on memecoins and ponzichains but instead I'm stupidly building art-adjacent stuff to give away for free. NGMI.
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Here is a 33 page essay about how Yves Klein's "Void" (which he would later retitle "Zones de Sensibilité Picturale Immatérielle") is a perfect analogy for crypto tokens.
It was written by this sexy guy back In the summer of 2017.
github.com/mitchellfchan/IKB…
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@artblocks_io TORONTO Meet-up:
From L:
@mal_levy
@_deafbeef
@carlagannis
@dmitricherniak
@mitchellfchan
@lm_netwebs (just outside frame)
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A gift for owners of Lewitt Generator Generator:
I'm giving away 75 signed physical prints to holders.
Each edition will 11x14, printed to the highest quality standards, and signed by hand under an embossed seal of authenticity.
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@kevinrose is not paying royalties on the NFTs he’s selling.
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🟦The first Digital Zone of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility (IKB) was minted August 30, 2017. Monday will be the 4-year anniversary of the project. To mark this occasion, I will be putting Digital Zone Series 0, number 17 up for auction on OpenSea.🟦
opensea.io/assets/0x80f1ed6a…
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To people saying that reviews, by @jerrysaltz and others, of the @MuseumModernArt 's recent NFT-adjacent exhibit are unduly harsh and even mean-spirited:
I think...
👇🧵
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Today my newest artwork, "LeWitt Generator Generator" will be released on @artblocks_io. Anybody interested, pls take the time to read this essay about the history of ideas referenced in this work, and inherent in the Art Blocks platform itself. medium.com/@mitchellfchan/nf…
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Exciting exhibition news:
🖼️🕹️Boys of Summer🧠⚾️ – your favourite Conceptual PFP Sports Management Fine Art NFT – will in Tokyo in January as part of the exhibition "Proof of X - Decoding PFP Culture"
📣【Press Release】📣
本日 #ProofofX 次回展示のプレスリリースを配信しました
【Proof of X - Decoding PFP Culture】
本展では、「PFP」に焦点を当て、デジタルアイデンティティ、インターネットカルチャー、金融化現象、ミームカルチャー、キャラクター表現、コミュニティやDAOなど、その可能性から問題点まで多角的な視点から、このカルチャーがもたらすその意味を探求します
期間：2024年1月12日（金）- 1月14日（日）
会場：渋谷パルコ・ギャラリーX
アーティスト：
Akihiro Kato @croe_c
Baku @_baku89
CryptoCitizens(Bright Moments) @crypto_citizens @brtmoments
CryptoPunks @cryptopunks
int art @intartNFT
KUMALEON @KUMALEON_
Milady Maker @miladymaker
Mitchell F. Chan @mitchellfchan
Nahiko @Nahiiko
PIV @piv_piv
Toshi @toshiaki_takase
Thanks to EXCALIBUR @ENN for the key visual
#DecordingPFP
🔗プレスリリースのリンクは↓
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This weekend, the @nfcastle exhibition and gala in Prague showed us the PERFECT model for how traditional art institutions can embrace and adopt NFTs.
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REKT. Cannot believe the Frieze instagram account is trying to killshot my career like this.
POST-meme??? How the fuck am i supposed to sell NFTs to degens if I am POST-meme?
I would like to assure everyone here that I am very much PRE-Meme. So EARLY in the memes. PROTO-meme, even!!! My memes are so gestational that they are protected by the Supreme Court.
I would like to assure you that I did not ask for this designation, I was not consulted on this post, and I didn’t even pay for an advisory to plant it. I am livid. Also, I have never “interrogated” shit in my life.
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I felt so much appreciation and validation reading this essay by @KevinBuist for @outland_art .
This is the perfect explainer of everything that I have been working towards for the past 7 years.
It's wonderful feeling when a writer does this amount of research, clearly spends a lot of time with the art, and finds all the connections and ideas that I've been laying down and developing through a lifetime of creating art.
Humbled. ♥️♥️
𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 | 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠
Before @mitchellfchan takes the reigns as the next #OutlandGuestEditor, we commissioned critic @KevinBuist to profile him.
Read on to learn more about the artist as we enter our issue on #GAMES ~
📰: outland.art/mitchell-chan-nf…
ALT A stylized polygonal portrait of a baseball player against a green gradient background. “Osmarie Jimenez” from Mitchell F. Chan’s “The Boys of Summer,” 2023
ALT A digital abstraction of green wavy lines forming a loose cube, reflecting in a pair of shadows against a pale background. Mitchell F. Chan: “LeWitt Generator Generator #477,” 2021
ALT Certificate from Mitchell F. Chan’s Digital Zones of Immediate Pictorial Sensibility, 2017/2021
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A special issue of @outland_art about ... 🖼️🕹️GAMES🎮 kicks off with this essay I wrote about why I think games are an essential medium for contemporary art.
This was a really important essay for me to write. It marks the first time since I started making games that I actually sat down to explain, in words, WHY I'm passionate about making them.
Over the coming weeks, @outland_art will release more essays about games & art from a host of other writers whom I admire greatly.
For now though, please give this one a read and let me know what you think.
𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 | 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞
Today we’re thrilled to embark on our special issue on #GAMES 👾🎮
Now online, #OutlandGuestEditor @mitchellfchan introduces the issue with a discussion of agency as an artistic medium.
📰: outland.art/art-games/
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After far too long standing on the sidelines as a conscientious objector, I have finally made the brave decision to enter the Culture Wars. Specifically, it’s time to call out one of biggest villains in this or any other space: @steviepxyz
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I am really really really grateful for other artists who take the time to look at my stuff, which is often not quick to look at, in the absence of any hoopla or FOMO or incentives, just for the hell of it.
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