Week II February 2023 - SamJ Studios

Hi everyone and thank you for receiving my first of many letters to come in the future! To just get into it I will start with a brief recap of the year so far.

I celebrated New Year’s 2023 in Bangkok and in the following few weeks explored the country absorbing all forms of inspiration. I found the culture super relaxed and welcoming, which made it easy for me to feel comfortable in the new spaces that I ventured into. I spent a lot of time researching the Buddhist practices of the many temples I visited, and found some unique parallels between the ethos of particularly Zen Buddhism and the artist statement behind Collective Illusion, my recent 1/1 from December minted on my manifold (currently available for offers).

I’ve made a video speaking on the the interesting ways the meditations of Zen Buddhism and the observations I’ve made in regards to our consciousness that I express in my piece. The small synchronicities such as this that happen in my life bring me deep satisfaction and help me to sharpen the trust I have in my intuition as a creative.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit London and talk with Matthew Stone and Joelle, alongside Aleks at the NFT Gallery that is currently exhibiting my generative 1/1/10 editions currently available until Feb 9 with Vertical Crypto Art (0.15 eth). These pieces were derived from the motion generated by Collective Illusion as a 1/1 and "photographed" to become the editions for sale here. We were promoted with an in-depth look into what it means to create with a digital canvas as an artist, and how it compares to creating with analog media. Here are two highlights of questions that I really enjoyed answering about the problems that art solves alongside whether or not open editions can be considered art.

My main take away was someting Matthew Stone mentioned that I'll summarize here: it is impossible to separate the hardware in which we view digital art from the digital art itself, always reuniting the digital work with a physical experience.

I’m happy to have the opportunity to travel and speak about my experience in the NFT space as an artist, and I’m hoping to see the girls out in NFTParis, as I am preparing to be there for a few days too.

Wrapping things up I just want to say thank you to everyone for an amazing 2022, and although I feel like there’s a lifetime between then and where we’re at now I’m excited to focus my work and efforts into 2023 (especially towards the fashion industry). I’m going to continue exploring what blockchain technology has to offer not only myself as a creative, but the space as an entire decentralized community. I’m going to try to follow this up every week and I hope to find a rhythm so we can keep in touch.

Oh, and here is a spotify playlist I am updating weekly or so with songs I listen to daily, along side a more curated (although still best on shuffle) hyperpop/techno playlist I listen to when I need to get focused and productive!

Slay the house down boots besties,

SamJ