Leopard Print Publishing

𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕-𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 - 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 I’ll be presenting a series of exhibitions in partnership with the engineering team of the Distributed Gallery collective, under the curation of Georg Bak and with the support of ChainLink. Each month starting from May 2024 - May 2025, select artists will be releasing new bodies of work on verse through a bespoke protocol [aside]. These include Anna Ridler, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Rhea Myers, Jarred Tarbell, Travess Smalley, Obvious, Ubermorgen, Addie Wagenknecht, Ivona Tau, Leander Herzog, 0xFFF, Mathcastles and Primavera de Filippi. We all know that smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into the lines of code. In digital art, smart contracts introduce a dimension of authenticity, ownership, and interactivity. They enable artists to create works that are not only visual or auditory but also programmatically dynamic, allowing for art that can evolve over time, respond to external data, or even incorporate rules for audience participation. For me, it’s a form that challenges and expands our understanding of what digital art can do, and challenges current traditional art market structures. By leveraging blockchain technology, these works question the very nature of art ownership and distribution. [aside] is a protocol (system for organising the buying and selling of digital artworks) with a custom time-lock feature that links the liquidity of artworks to real world events through the use of oracles. The oracles of ancient Greece were conduits, providing a means of communication between mere mortals and the gods. Utilising a Chainlink oracle we will be able to communicate between the decentralized Web3 ecosystem and the ‘outside’ world, connecting on-chain and off-chain infrastructure. This temporarily immobilises tokenised assets on the Ethereum blockchain, rendering them non-transferable for a predetermined duration or until a specified event, be it social, natural, economic, astrological. By extracting an NFT from market mechanisms, the [aside] protocol restores a stillness outside the flow of exchange. The artworks gain a presence independent of the economic sphere: aside from markets, aside from speculation, aside from value. I remember few times when some of the artists in this selection shared with me their ideas for the time-lock, and when I learned about [aside] I realized we could finally make this happen. I’m really excited and grateful to be able to work alongside Georg, the Distributed Gallery Collective & Chainlink together with all the participating artists, each of whom I’ve been looking up to for the last few years. Stay tuned 🔮