Only a few hours left (NFT)

Rhizomatically represented

Buy and watch its movement on Nifty Gateway here

“Origins” is an open source version of VESA that is still available for a few hours.

Only 7 have been purchased so far and it was on display via the Morrow Collective at one of the most sought after museum spaces in the world – the Museum Of the Future in Dubai last Friday.

What is it about?

The Flower Of Life pattern is found in ancient temples all over the world. It is said that everything comes into existence through it in the material realm. The unity of this one pattern reveals the whole multifaceted, diverse cosmos. As humans, we have much in common, but we are as unique as our fingerprints. This constitutes the paradox of our existence. We are both centralized and decentralized at the same time. The war of perception between the two races in most people. We require many states of consciousness to explore the sunbeam in which we are suspended.

Origins is also a fitting name for a featured work in this space, as VESA has been a front runner in three art movements: integrated art, crypto art and NFTs.

The room was full of people from the origins of crypto art and NFTs. The show was put together with the help of the UAE Embassy in the United States.

What was the show about?

Coexisting and cooperating people and ideas support the growth of the entire ecosystem. Increasing the number of nodes or hives of activity increases the productivity and utility of the organism, whether it is the Internet or a city we observe.

This co-creative, transformative nature of our contemporary creative endeavors is the backbone of the art exhibition ‘Rhizomatic’ by Morrow Collective at Nifty Gateway. The bridge building straddles the mirage-like line of physical and digital and represents the burgeoning, rhizomatic principles from the curation of the artists to the physical exhibition space. What does a show like this say about the UAE as an emerging crypto hub? And is it an alien spaceship?

Was cool to arrive at the show in a 3rd street legal full blown art NFT car

Dream Team

The curatorial team at Morrow Collective has stepped up like crazy in the time I’ve known and worked with them. Much love and respect to Anna Seaman, Clair Harris, Jen Stelco & Dave Shannon for pulling this off ❤️

The curation

The curator of the drop and the show itself celebrates artists from and working in the United Arab Emirates. The country characterized by fusing nationalities together is emerging as the leading launch pad for crypto and NFT projects worldwide.

The artists have all embraced Web3 concepts in their practice and set out to distill individual, yet common narratives. Mattar Bin Lahej, Sacha Jafri, Orkhan Mammadov, Abdulla Albedwawi X Salem Al Zaabi, Madga Malkoun, VESA, Fabin Rasheed, Nujoon Alghanem and Kristel Bechara are handpicked to exhibit. The curator, Morrow Collective, is known for collage together past and present, rooted in strong concepts and expressions.

The work of Orkhan Mammadov was innovatively exhibited on the carpets from which he draws inspiration.

The works of Mattar Bin Lahej, who also designed the calligraphy for the museum itself, are absolutely stunning. It was a great pleasure to meet him.

Morrow Collective drops run parallel to their real-life exhibitions, presenting a multi-faceted experience for the future savvy collector.

Open Editions are closing soon: https://www.niftygateway.com/collections/open_rhizomatic
Limited editions:

Providing a platform for the release will be a very well-known player in the space, Nifty Gateway.

The location of the physical exhibition, The Museum of the Future in Dubai, called the most beautiful building in the world, is a magnificent backdrop for Rhizomatic, perfectly in line with the desire to build new and nurture lineage at the same time.

It was also a great pleasure to meet Coldie from the OG team to us 10 first artists in the crypto art space overall.

Meeting Jon from Superrare was similarly a great privilege. He was one of the first professional talks I attended here in 2018.

It was the dream of Anita aka Krypto Granny many years ago that we would be able to exhibit my work at the Museum of the Future. It was great to share this moment with her and my wife. She just launched her new website so go check it out.

Dr Marwan was eloquent on the panel as always!

Look forward

Recent events in crypto have settled us again among some familiar questions; trust, user experience and practical utility when concepts are floating in the air. Many have commented on how this type of event damages the entire ecosystem, older world players entering the scene or indeed prestigious art venues may be more difficult to secure for projects with blockchain or Web3 connotations. On the other hand, staying the course, focusing on partnerships and players who are not in their first rodeo is an absolute must, and Rhizomatic is one of those examples of a platform, a collective and artists who are in it for the long haul and recognize best place in the world to do it.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, mind the bear when you fly the falcon.

VESA
Crypto and NFT artist
All links to physical, NFTs and more below