PROOF Signal: Week of July 31

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PROOF Signal
August 03, 2023

Welcome back to PROOF Signal, your exclusive gateway to the world of all things PROOF. Let's dive into the latest updates.

TL;DR:

  • Mythics Updates: Enhanced UX with Hearth Feed improvements, rarity percentages, and sharing choices. Still to come, the 'Shrine of the Unwoven' to explore unchosen Mythics.

  • Grails IV: Mint passes airdropped, mint open August 7-10, artist reveal on August 11, and exhibition from August 4-20. Don't miss the live reveal and party!

  • Community Updates: Join the European Moonbird Meetup on August 26. Community art collabs from Mark Mograph, SoBeAsh, and JAM x Mike Elf.

  • An Inside Look: Discover why Grails keeps artist identity secret until mint. An art-focused piece by guest writer Clara Peh.

PROOF Updates

Mythics Upgrades

Our Mythics collection continues to evolve, and we've been working on iterative improvements to enhance your experience. Some of the latest updates include:

  • Hearth Feed Improvements: Our Hearth Feed, showcasing all newly hatched Mythics across Volaria, has received UX updates! You can now see who chose which Mythic and which have been left "unwoven.” We've also introduced rarity percentages, visually representing the total rarity distribution of each Mythic, making your choices even more engaging.

  • Collection Browser: We've re-released the Collection Browser, with a fresh design and updated it with newly-revealed Mythics alongside Moonbirds and Oddities. This browser updates in real-time as Mythics are minted.

  • Share Your Choices: Deciding on a Mythic can be challenging, but now you can share your choices with friends! Introducing 'Review Your Mythics,' a direct link to show off your available options publicly, including embedded images for Twitter/X.

  • And coming soon, the ‘Shrine of the Unwoven’: The browsing platform will allow you to explore all unchosen Mythics, that will forever remain dormant but live on in the Shrine!

Toobins Raffle

In the world of Toobins Run, congratulations to the lucky winner of the first Mythic Egg in the Toobins Run Raffle, cristoabl! Don't miss out on this week's raffle for another chance to win. Want to get involved? Learn more here.

Grails IV Loading…

Prepare for the latest season of PROOF's prestigious art collector experience - Grails IV! This season brings 20 artists with limited edition, series, and generative artworks. Exciting details and important dates:

  • Mint Passes Airdropped: Mint passes were airdropped on August 1st to the PROOF Collective and 25 Diamond Nest Moonbird Holders.

  • Mint Dates: Mark your calendars for August 7th as the mint opens, and make sure to mint your desired Grails artwork before minting closes on August 10th.

  • Artist Reveal: Be part of the live artist reveal on August 11th, where artist identities will be unveiled for the first time!

  • Grails IV Exhibition: Foundry will host the Grails IV Exhibition from August 4th to 20th, showcasing the stunning collection.

  • Live Grails Reveal and Party: Grails IV holders are invited to the live reveal and party on August 11th. RSVP and get more details here. Keep an eye out for IRL opportunities with featured artists post-reveal!

Foundry x Mythics Launch Party

We're still reeling from the epic Mythics launch party, exhibition, and mask-making workshops at Foundry. Relive the excitement through event photos and the recap video!

Community Updates

Our community is buzzing with IRL and digital activities and artistic contributions. Here's a look into some upcoming events and community collaborations:

  • European Moonbird Meetup: Join us in Munich on August 26th for an exciting event featuring art raffles donated by community favorites IDerech, Andrew Mitchell, Dnifty, Holo, and Justin Mezzell! Stay updated by following @europe_birbs.

  • Shoutout to Mark Mograph: The talented community artist behind animating all 10k Moonbirds for the gold nest Infinite Objects rewards is now animating Mythics! Contact him to bring your Mythic to life.

  • Community Artists Drops: Congrats to SoBeAsh for their Genesis drop ‘Bed by Midnight, Sleep by Bug-Bite’ launched last week on Sound.xyz! And a special to shoutout to both JAM x Mike Elf for their upcoming remix on Bcc0- more news to come soon.

An Inside Look: ‘Why Grails Reveals Artist Identity Only After Mint’

This week’s art-focused piece is written by Clara Peh an independent curator and art writer based in Singapore. Twitter: @claracxw

Is it possible to separate the art from the artist? This has long been a debate throughout art history, as the identity and reputation of the artist has continuously influenced and been intertwined with an artwork’s intention, context and meaning.

In NFTs, we have continued this tradition, whether it is to recognize pioneers and first movers for their role in the ecosystem, in attempts to price where the market sees an artist’s career to be, or otherwise. PROOF’s Grails subverts this narrative and puts forward a new way of considering how we perceive and value an artwork.

In Grails, the identities of the artists are kept anonymous until the minting period has closed. Collectors are invited to consider the artworks based on the work itself, rather than the artist’s reputation or market standing. It removes preconceived notions based on the artist’s name and pushes viewers to interact more intimately and directly with the work, prompting free and fresh appreciations.

This mechanism echoes Roland Barthes’ 1967 seminal essay, “Death of the Author”, where Barthes champions the disconnection of the art from its creator and suggests that the true interpretation of a work emerges from the viewer’s interaction with it, rather than the artist’s intention.

Traditionally, the market has favored artists with a signature and recognizable style, such as Takashi Murakami with his colorful smiling flowers and Jeff Koons with his balloon dogs. To challenge this pattern, Grails enables and encourages artists to break away from these expectations to experiment and even deviate from their artistic history.

In Season I, for example, Dmitri Cherniak presents “횡단보도”, with lines applied onto a photograph of an iconic traffic intersection in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. The work is entirely unlike the Ringers, a generative art series Cherniak is best known for.

횡단보도] by Dmitri Cherniak

Reuben Wu presents “Tempelfjord” in Season III, an expired Polaroid Time Zero photograph from 2011. While continuing in his usual mode of working in photography, the image deviates from Wu’s well-known style of sublime landscapes with drone lighting.

Tempelfjord by Ruben Wu

The anonymity provides the artist a liberating platform to diverge, to evolve, or simply, to play with their practice, and present an unexpected creation. So, is it possible to separate the art from the artist? Maybe, maybe not. But Grails sets an example for how we can at least try, and what surprises might emerge if we do.

This Week in PROOF Media

Here is a quick rundown of some of the top highlights from PROOF’s weekly content!

PROOF Daily NFT Countdown

This week, our Director of Research, Sam, highlighted DeGods Season III on PROOF Daily NFT Countdown. Catch the insightful discussion here. 

100 PROOF

Don’t miss last week’s 100 PROOF chatting all things Mythics launch, featuring an exclusive guest appearance by Michael Bouhanna from Sotheby’s. And tune in on Youtube or Twitter Spaces for this week’s live 100 PROOF, Friday at 10am PST with special guest Mitchell F. Chan.