Crypto Art Seoul 2024: A Round up of Asia’s Premier Web3 & Crypto Art Event
Into the Phygital World — Redefining the boundaries and intersections of art and technology
Crypto Art Seoul convened 20 of the brightest founders, chief execs, curators & art experts from around the world to discuss the intersections between crypto art and contemporary art, all in a world combining the physical and the digital; the Phygital.
Crypto Art Seoul is Asia’s premier annual crypto art event. CAS seeks to capture the essence of the intersection of technology and art, discovering synergies and promoting meaningful discussions and innovations in the art and technology spaces.
This year’s Crypto Art Seoul event theme was;
Cross Pollination: Into the Phygital World
‘Phygital’ refers to the fusion of the physical and digital realms, which is precisely the intersection at which crypto and digital art play, and essentially points to the integration of opposing ideas.
Cross-Pollination describes the process of pollen transferring between flowers for fertilization. In art it can be used as a metaphor for fusing ideas, fertilizing the ground on which they stand to entice new ideas, innovative synergies and novel ways of growing which we may not have foreseen.
Crypto Art Seoul serves as the fertile ground for the physical and digital to intersect, intertwine, providing a space for new ideas and artistic innovations to take root, leading us into a Phygital world.
The Crypto Art Seoul Event
The second annual Crypto Art Seoul event took place at Uncommon Gallery in Seoul, South Korea, on the 6th and 7th September 2024.
CAS is a collaboration between AI Network and Aeon Studio, and attracted over 500 innovators, contemporary artists, blockchain enthusiasts, digital artists and those passionate about art and technology over the two day period, offering the unique opportunity for attendees to engage with artists, experts and like-minded individuals from all over the world.
**Crypto Art Seoul Speakers**
Hosted by Aeon Studio founder Lucia, Crypto Art Seoul brought together 20 high profile speakers and panelists from the worlds of crypto art and contemporary art.
Day 1 — Phygital Art Initiative in Web3
Day 1 focused on phygital art initiative in the Web3 space, discussing topics ranging from scarcity in art & art collecting psychology to digital art NFTs and the dialogue between human and machine.
Wonjoon Yoo | Director of AliceOn | Professor, Yeungnam University College of Fine Arts
Wonjoon Yoo kicked off the event with a keynote speech on digital art captive in the NFT chain, the dynamics and implication of digital art held on the blockchain. Wonjoon is director of AliceOn, a media art platform exploring digital and interactive new media art forms, serving as a cultural and academic hub showcasing a range of interdisciplinary art projects, symposiums and discussions.
Primavera De Filippi | Co-founder of Alias.studio | Legal Scholar, Harvard University
Primavera de Filippi spoke through live video link on infusing life into the lifeless through blockchain, illuminating how the blockchain can make the static dynamic. Primavera co-founded Alias.studio, a generative AI platform focused on creating AI models that reflect artists’ unique styles, while ensuring their intellectual property rights are protected.
Kika Nicolela | Curator at Objkt One
Brazilian artist and independent curator Kika Nicolela delivered a fascinating talk on what creates scarcity and value in digital art, and the similarities and differences in these dynamics from traditional art. Objkt One is a platform focused on curating digital & NFT art exhibitions, and features artworks from a wide range of artists.
Minhyun Kim | Founder & CEO, AI Network
Crypto Art Seoul is run in partnership between AI Network and Aeon Studio. AI Network is an AI development and GPU infrastructure ecosystem built on the blockchain. AI Network founder and CEO Minhyun Kim spoke on what happens when an AI developer meets art, discussing how art and technology meet at the intersection of Web3 and AI and the synergies/outcomes from the marriage of technology and creativity.
Erika Kang | Mindfulness Therapist
Erika Kang held a meditation session in Korean and English on both days of the Crypto Art Seoul event. Erika Kang has been a mindfulness therapist since the late 2010s and ran calming session for attendees at Uncommon gallery.
John Crain | Co-Founder, SuperRare
SuperRare co-founder John Crain had a rousing fireside chat with Aeon Studio founder Lucia Kang about the psychology of Web3 art collecting, particularly from the angle of NFT art, as SuperRare is a world-leading curated marketplace for digital art NFTs.
DarrenSRS, The Memes by 6529 Art Collection. Manson, Art Collector
DarrenSRS, digital art curator of The Memes by 6529 Art Collection and Manson, prominent art collector, discussed what they anticipate to come in the digital art market in the near and more distant future. The spoke of how digital art is continually becoming more widespread, memes as art and the lines blurring between digital and contemporary.
Ania Catherine | Half of Artist Duo ‘Operator’
The artistic duo ‘Operator’ are exhibiting ‘Human Unreadable’ at Uncommon Gallery; a curated selection from the Operator collection in both physical and digital forms, while also displaying aspects of the underlying creative and technical processes. Ania Catherine, one half of the Operator duo spoke with Lucia Kang about the dialogue between human and machine and how these dialogues create art through influences of both sides on each other.
Day 2 — Phygital Future Story
Day 2 focused on the future story of phygital assets, like where the fusion of physical & digital art could be leading us, how to design physical sensations in virtual reality, and the importance of discussing art in web3 in the first place.
Kwangsuk Lee | Prof. at Science and Technology, Seoul National University
Kwangsuk Lee, professor of Science and Technology at Seoul National University and author/co-author of 34 publications in the topics of science & tech, gave the opening keynote of the second day of Crypto Art Seoul. He spoke on phygital reality and where it might be guiding us a species in the coming age of Web3.
Jieun Hwang | Prof. at University of Seoul | CEO of TechCapsule
TechCapsule, led by CEO Jieun Hwang, is a platform designed to empower individuals through professional development, providing educational resources and courses. Jieun delivered a poignant talk on preserving the value of urban spaces for the future, and the role of heritage, culture and identity in the coming phygital world.
Rene Hyewon Lee | CEO of Giioii | Producer
Rene Hyewon Lee gave a fascinating address on designing physical sensations in virtual reality and what this may look and feel like. This field is Rene’s speciality, given that she heads up Giioii, an immersive storytelling studio specializing in blending technology, art, and diverse cultures to create cutting-edge virtual reality and mixed-reality experiences. Giioii is known for their work in immersive theater, utilizing XR (extended reality) to create participatory and interactive experiences.
NIINOMI | Director of NEORT Inc. | Media Artist
Niinomi, a media artist and creative coder, explores the concept of System as Art, where the system generating the art becomes the artwork itself. Niinomi is a director of NEORT inc, a platform focusing on digital and generative art, particularly leveraging blockchain and NFTs. Niinomi spoke expertly on the practicalities of optimizing digital art experiences in exhibition settings.
Fireside Chat: Kohui, Audiovisual Artist. Deekay, Artist. Sey Min, AI/data Artist.
Kohui, an audiovisual artist based in Seoul, works with 3D and generative softwares to create virtual landscapes through algorithmic processes inspired by natural phenomena. Deekay is a prominent digital artist known for creating animated NFTs, his work often combines vivid animations with storytelling. Sey Min, data visual artist, visualizes scattered data to reveal new meaning, to show the invisible value of data and our actions through data. The three of these prominent Web3 art figures had a frank and honest fireside chat about their own experiences as artists and what sustains them as digital artists.
Lucia Kang and Hana Yun | Aeon Studio
Lucia Kang and Hana Yun, founder and director of Aeon Studio respectively, had a vibrant fireside chat about why we’re discussing art in web3 in the first place. Many topics were touched upon, including inclusivity in web3 art, verifiability of ownership and new directions in creativity. Aeon Studio is a Web3 creative studio that explores the artistic value of works created at the intersection of technology and art. Having collaborated with 300+ domestic and international artists, Aeon helps artists innovate where crypto art and blockchain converge.
Hyunuk Ryu | Composer & Sound Artist | Founder of Modern Music Society
Crypto Art Seoul concluded with a sound performance from Hyunuk Ryu, whose work combines traditional composition with contemporary sound design, emphasizing the intersection of music and technology. Hyunuk founded the Modern Music Society, a platform focused on bringing together musicians and sound enthusiasts, with the aim to foster collaboration and experimentation in music composition and sound artistry.
Summary
Overall the second Crypto Art Seoul was a resounding success, with artistic innovators, digital creativity pioneers and prominent founders in the art space converging and discussing phygital reality and future of Web3 art.
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