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VESA at Cypher Capital
Hi fam,
Today we’re celebrating a union that took place recently when VESA travelled to Dubai for a month of meetings, partnership calls, keynotes, and conferences.
A juicy sized catalogue of VESA works moved into the Cypher Capital Hub in October and this time, we want to celebrate this incredible handshake and share the stories behind the artworks you can see on the walls.
In their own words, Cypher Capital is focused on investing in Web3 infrastructure and applications that will drive the digital economy in the future. The Cypher Capital Hub in Marina is shaping up to be one of the sleekest and most functional spots to work, meet and network.
The Hub has always been a place for art, most notably two works by Banksy in the main conference room – now featuring a VESA as well.
Let’s dive into the stories behind the pieces you can see on the walls of the Hub!
Next time you stop by the Hub, please snap a picture of yourself and your favourite VESA work and tag:
Cypher Capital Group / Vesa Kivinen // LinkedIn
Cypher.capital / artbyvesa // Instagram
https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Cypher-Capital-VESA-video.mp4
Refresh has an honorary place at the VIP room alongside two Banksy pieces.
https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/vip-room-Cypher-capital.mp4
Integration
First VESA piece you see on the wall as you walk into the space is Integration. The piece represents the dichotomy of worldviews present in our society in relationships between men and women. On the one hand women occupy positions of power like never before and work incredibly hard to pursue and execute those positions. On the other hand, there is a view that supports tearing down all structures of hierarchy in capitalism and science, as they are seen as an oppressive force, rather than a liberating one.
Integration was exhibited at Art Dubai 2022 via the Morrow Collective.
Million Dirham Hotel
Residing in the sleek meeting room, is the Million Dirham Hotel. The work is a part of the larger Mirrors- series, which explores value, experiences, and identity. Million Dirham Hotel evokes images of what a hotel with such a high-ticket price would look like. It is an invitation to a world that challenges the ownership vs access paradigm.
The Million Dirham Hotel, like all works in the Mirrors- series entices the viewer with its offering of leveraging IP unseen in the traditional art market. Download the Artivive app and experience the AR version, when you stop by.
Truth or Dare- the Currency of Ganesha
Next to The Million Dirham Hotel is Truth or Dare- The Currency of Ganesh, or Ganesh for short. This work belongs to the pantheon of VESA’s early crypto art, inspired by the thousands of years old Hindu tradition of faith and worldview.
Lord Ganesh is revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and a higher being of intellect and wisdom. In this piece, Lord Ganesh and his entourage have assimilated cryptocurrency symbols and blockchain code alongside traditional wealth displays. Gold, platinum, and diamonds hold a historical place in our minds as keepers of value, but as an example the smart contracts layered on top of Ethereum are building the wealth of today and tomorrow.
Ganesh is probably THE most complicated work VESA has ever made. It took over 2000 layers of photography of individual paintings and other images before Ganesh started taking shape.
Red Eye
Red Eye shows the reality of someone falling into the rabbit hole of crypto. The whirlwind seems endless, and the new information pouring into your consciousness sometimes claims your ability to sleep.
This piece is another one with stunning merits, as it was featured in Forbes in their first ever article on this new movement of art and money in January 2019.
Red Eye was also exhibited at the opening of the immersive Dubai gallery Art In Space. It launces into its AR version via the Artivive app to showcase motion and sound.
Compound Defiance
On the way to the VIP room, you can see Compound Defiance on the wall. This work is steeped in legendary moments and is a part of crypto art history. The fluid motion forming a solid symbolizes the decentralized financial system that has no point of central control and therefore free to define its own rules. This freedom has its positives and negatives, but more options mean a more expansive, rather than repressive experience. The jarring pattern blending endlessly might seem chaotic at first, before the beautiful pattern presents its holistic face.
Compound Defiance was the first artwork used on a street legal NFT VESA Art Car in Dubai and it has a VR version made by Zoan.
Refresh
Residing in the elegant VIP room, is a piece made in honour of the UAE, called Refresh. It was made in 2020 and it represents the forward-thinking, technologically competent, and culturally mesmerizing country in an artistic way.
The round planet in the centre of the piece is Mars, referencing the Emirati space program. Galloping alongside is a tokenized royal horse, modelled after a real-life specimen.
The two people featured are the CEO of the Dubai Blockchain Centre, Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni and his wife, Mariam Al Zarouni. In the artwork, the two are immersed in the Bitcoin genesis code, as they witness the evolution of their country.
Refresh comes alive with the Artivive app. It has an original soundtrack, and it has been exhibited on large stages in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as extensively in crypto media.
Team VESA wants to thank Cypher Capital for showcasing these works!
Until next time,
VESA & Lotta
Crypto & NFT Artist
All links to physical, NFTs, and more below
http://linktr.ee/ArtByVesa
SOLD OUT Synthopia NFT Drop & Updates
Listen up, degens
Summer’s out, and it is time to gear up for another season of Web3 and NFTs. Team VESA has enjoyed the refreshing (too much so at times) weather of our native Finland and some interesting connections and projects have immediately sprouted. Currently, VESA is in Switzerland for a top Web3 conference with the fastest growing crypto ecosystem in the world, Crypto Oasis, but more on that a little later.
First, it’s time to give a shoutout to a friend who is a fellow pioneer in the scene with a sold out project VESA is an advisor for.
Selling out was just the beginning.
Fusing art, culture, music, gaming, film, and AI, ‘SYNTHTOPIA’ is a creation of DESTABILIZED, an art collective founded by creative industry veteran ‘QVANTVM‘, with contributions from Scott Page, renowned for his work with Pink Floyd, and a network of strong partners who have contributed to award-winning AAA games, music, and films, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Batman, Warner Bros, HBO, Universal, Netflix, and Disney.
SYNTHTOPIA Rewards
Of course, the project offers a range of rewards to its holders, categorized into different tiers based on the number of NFTs held – from TRAILBLAZER (1-4 NFTs) to PROMETHEUS (200+ NFTs).
Each tier unlocks a unique set of benefits including but not limited to discounts on merchandise, special roles on Discord, exclusive access to events, earning passive income, and having a major influence over the project’s direction. For example, TRAILBLAZER holders can access discounts and participate in airdrops and raffles, whereas PROMETHEUS holders can receive signed designer toys, lifetime free access to all events, and the opportunity to co-create projects or influence the direction of major endeavours.
Other notable privileges for intermediate tiers include:
-
- Executive producer credits for music/film
- Major involvement in project direction
- Character voice roles for movies and animations
- Collaborative opportunities with top-tier artists in the ecosystem
- The potential to become a project advisor
- Masterclasses from creative talent
- All-expense-paid trips to live shows
- Passive income from merchandise, video streaming, IP licensing
- Unique 1/1 art pieces tailored for the collector
- Token airdrops from the Synthtopia ecosystem (third party)
- Music team collaborations
- More dynamic utilities TBA
More links on the project:
Website:
www.synthtopia.world
Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/cErcnDh2YM
The very cool Live performance from ETH Toronto:
https://www.youtube.com/live/UnIZlFrFWIY?si=js0D6SgRUVw1BRtm&t=23105
VESA and QVANTVM are good friends and have collaborated on many projects. The soundtrack on VESA’s intro video was composed by QVANTVM.
Switzerland ongoing right now
The Br8ve at Swiss Web3 Fest
Back to Switzerland. The ongoing Swiss Web3 Fest has established Switzerland as another Dubai-esque sizzle spot for all things Web3 and it was an honour to see how this maiden voyage to Switzerland facilitated a fantastic next chapter of VESA Digital, which is the Mirrors series
Main player in the Swiss Web3 Fest is Arte Marketplace by Tokengate, an NFT platform associated with Crypto Oasis and the larger Arte community.
Arte Marketplace is a highly curated platform that leverages the ecosystem. VESA’s new collection, Mirrors, is now featured on the platform, ready to be discovered.
Check out Mirrors on the front page of Tokengate here.
“Arbiter” is a motion artwork and now available as a 1/1 for 3.2424ETH
Mind-Lama is an edition of 10 only available for 0.2919ETH
THE MIRRORS SERIES
The Mirrors started its lore at the Museum of the Future where it was the most collected artwork of the exhibition.
A familiar face joining the Swiss Web3 Fest is Thomas Cermac from Cermac-Eisencraft gallery in the Czech Republic.
His gallery that stands for impeccable taste and vision has represented VESA for a while now, and will soon be hosting the brand-new Mirrors- series at its location.
HER EXCELLENCY AND THE FINN TEAM
One of the most prestigious fine art events in Finland, the Night of the Arts, took place again mid-August. VESA exhibited notably at the event and one of our most treasured friends and patrons, Her Excellency Amna Fikri, the UAE Ambassador of Finland, attended the event called “Art Before AI”
Her Excellency enjoyed the virtual reality version a selection of the Veena Malik project.
The entire Finn Team was also in attendance. Anita ‘Krypto Granny’ Kalergis, Pekka Kelkka aka Papa Blockchain and Elias Ahonen are all Finnish Web3 professionals, who most of the year influence in Dubai, so this was a rare treat.
VESA and the rest of the Finn Team want to thank Her Excellency for visiting the exhibit and sharing the evening with us.
NATIONAL GALLERY
A visit to the museum future of Finland
A fresh connection that kindled soon after returning to Finland courtesy of another Finnish Web3 enthusiast, Sointu Karjalainen, was meeting Johanna Eiramo, the Director of the Digital National Gallery in Finland.
Johanna said that the iconic National Gallery is interested in energising its massive catalogue of works, digitizing, and possibly turning them into NFTs.
We touched upon how these iconic institutions already have precious physical real estate and presence in the real world but are now turning their attention to their presence in the Metaverse and how to utilize technology going forward.
We enjoyed the exhibit on the day and look forward to seeing what the future holds for this collaboration.
VESA did a presentation at Sointu’s web3 gathering in Tampere in October
Deepest Wish
On a rare occasion, passion and profession collide. A community that has been incredibly important for team VESA is ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and especially our local Helsinki temple.
During the biggest celebration of the year, the Sri Krishna Janmashtami, VESA presented a work called The Deepest Wish, portraying some of the spiritual themes paramount to a path of God consciousness.
The objective was to auction the 1/10 artwork and donate the proceedings to the temple, since they had been struck with a large bill for the temple’s electrical repairs.
To our great delight, after being introduced to the stage by the temple president Tapo Divyam Das, Mr. Veer Ji Wangoo immediately bought the 1/10 artwork and we got to connect with him off stage.
Hopefully this project continues to serve the community and give thanks to God who ultimately gives us the talent and intelligence to pursue these extraordinary life paths.
Let’s spring into this new season with energy,
More on the Swiss Web3 journey soon,
Keep your flag high,
Lotta for
V E S A
Crypto & NFT Artist
All links to physical, NFTs, and more below
http://linktr.ee/ArtByVesa
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