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TEZOS ARTIST SPACE | #Objkt4India
Recorded: Aug. 28, 2023 Duration: 2:13:22Space Recording
Full Transcription
Hey.
Just give me a sec.
I'm just setting things up.
Hey, hello.
Hi, Simone.
How's it going?
Hi, Vani.
Hi, everyone.
Good.
I forgot about the space.
I was sitting and watching a movie.
Guns and Gulabs.
Oh, God.
Too much fun.
I remember at like
9.29
and I was like,
I mean, I
remembered, but I forgot.
It makes sense.
Yeah, yeah.
The same thing happened to me.
But yeah, it's good to be back.
It's been a while.
Good to be here.
Hmm.
I'm gonna just send some invites.
Just give me half a minute.
Cool.
We have Swati and Kandria.
Hi, guys.
Let me come up.
I'm gonna come up.
I'm gonna come up.
I'm gonna come up.
I'm gonna be coming.
Well, I'm gonna go out.
I'm gonna come up.
I'm gonna take it.
I'm gonna stop.
We have a great day.
Let's wait for, you want to wait for some more time for people to log in?
I think it will take another five, seven minutes and people log in.
Yeah, we can wait.
We can wait a bit.
Stay humble, Karan.
I hope you guys want to come up.
Swati, Karan.
Hey, Karan, what's going on?
Good to see you here.
Varun, are you speaking?
I don't need to hear you.
I don't need to hear you.
I don't need to hear you.
I don't need to hear you.
Maybe it was just my connection or I think Twitter is acting funny sometimes.
Yeah, I think you disconnected and rejoined as a speaker.
I'm going to try and make you co-host again.
Yeah.
I can't seem to be able to do that.
No, I think it's okay because what will happen is I don't want to let it go off again.
But yeah, we can try.
Give me a minute.
You should see it now.
No, I don't see.
But that's okay.
Maybe we'll try in a bit for now.
I think we can start.
I don't see a co-host request, but it's okay.
We can start off.
Yeah, it looks like a Twitter bug.
It's showing that it's maxed out co-hosts for some reason.
I don't understand.
I don't understand.
So, hopefully, yes.
Yes.
Okay, let's get this going.
Hi, everybody.
You guys want to come up and speak?
Please do.
It'll be interesting.
I don't know if Varun has met most people here.
Of course, you know Karan.
Karan is...
I don't like the word OG.
I will use senior citizen.
I don't like the word OG.
I think he'll appreciate that for some reason.
He'll raise a toast to you.
Yeah.
But...
Hi, Kant.
What's up?
Hey, Simran.
I'm good.
I'm good.
Hello, Tiek and Varun Do.
Hello.
You're doing great as well.
Yeah.
Yeah, Varun...
Varun Do.
Yeah.
That's how he...
That's his...
That's his...
His artist's name, Varun Do.
And Kant, of course.
There's Swati, Silk Swati there.
Very well.
There is very...
I mean, the volume is very low from your site.
I don't know what is happening.
So just allow me to go out of the space.
Then I'll come back again.
You can hear me?
Is it clear?
Can someone...
Yeah, yeah.
I can hear you.
It's clear.
Yeah.
Are you, like, on two devices, Varun?
I am on two devices, yes.
Ah, maybe.
I used to do that for colors of my cord.
It's quite a tough.
The other one is off, kind of, the sound as well.
So it shouldn't be...
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's two devices because this is a TX space.
So I wanted it to be hosted by TX.
And we could have gotten on as co-hosts, but seems to be blocking that for some reason.
Yeah.
I can actually...
You know what?
I can step down to just see if you can be made co-hosts and then I'll see if I can join.
If not, I'll be speaker.
But let's get things kicked off first, I would say.
Yeah, I mean, everybody here is an active speaker.
So maybe you can send them invites and they can come up and speak.
This is interesting.
But I'd love for you to tell everyone about Tez India and Tezo's art and culture.
I think that's also...
Cool.
A quick introduction to Tezo's India Arts and Culture.
It was started in 2022 in July.
So it's completed one year this year.
And during that time, initially it started off as just a knowledge base for artists to
understand how the blockchain and the Tezo's blockchain specifically works.
So Discord channel, we used to have a lot of spaces, talk to artists, put the spotlight
on them, talk about what they've minted that week and things like that.
And over time, a lot of the work started getting more involved with IRL gallery and festival
events.
So we participated in India Art Fair by doing a large outdoor installation with four generative
artists from India.
And then we participated in India's first AI festival that was in Bangalore at the International
Center.
And subsequently a lot more and have been planning a lot more things.
So one of the things that we did do way back, so we're looking at the first month of TEAC
starting, was Object for India.
So it was just like this event to invite all artists from India to just be heard and celebrate
Independence Day in the process.
But just like say, hey, we're from India, we're on the Tezos blockchain, we're doing this
kind of, whatever we're doing, diverse expressions as artists.
And that went pretty well.
A lot of the work by Indian artists today on Web3, a lot of that stuff is in that collection
last year.
So this is one year since, so it's just an invitation to people to use the hashtag and
mint their work because it goes into this kind of historical repository of Indian artists on
the Tezos ecosystem.
So that's a quick introduction.
It's a very casual thing.
We're here for artists to just talk about their work.
Maybe talk about, if you're on the Tezos ecosystem, maybe talk about how you got on there and
even ask questions because that's something that could be interesting because we have a
lot of things planned, but I'd rather answer questions than give a long speech about what
we have planned.
So we invite all of you to come up and speak.
Yeah, I don't want to add that last year we, I was excited.
I think that was when I actually accelerated my Tezos journey during the Durga Puja time when
we had 99, what is it called?
I forgot now.
But we were minting every day for the night, for nine days, we were minting one color every
day, artwork of one color every day.
And it was priced at 0.99 Tez.
And I was excited.
I was, in fact, much later, I went at Bangalore and I met people at the Tez event and they're
like, oh, we've collected your work.
I was like, when?
And I have no idea.
And they're like, oh, but when it was at 0.99, the Tez event.
And so I think that is that it was exciting.
Although I missed out, I think two days I got too lazy because I didn't have enough work
with me, but I was like creating every day, like nine days, nine colors.
It was a lot of fun.
So I really enjoyed that part.
And I also feel because I've been here for two years, as much as I am happy and proud
to be a part of the Indian community, I also feel that somewhere I self-proclaimed I am
to take care of the Indian community.
I have to take care of a lot of it that where is this going and how people across blockchains
and in the NFT community look at Indian artists.
So for me, I think I take it very personally.
That is something for me, which is very important.
So I make sure, you know, we put our heart and soul into it.
And we do have excellent, excellent artists in the NFTs, in especially the Indian community.
And now more so, I would not say just Indian community.
I love, I would, you know, Angad used to call it Desi and I used to be like, what is Desi?
It's such an American way of saying it.
But now I do call it Desi because now I feel like all of us are like, it's the same thing,
whether it's India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal.
So for me, I think all of us, it's somehow, it's just the thread is just running across.
So that is, yes, that's when I have to stop talking now.
But it's so nice to see everybody.
Hello, please come up.
We'd love to hear from you.
Ambi is here.
Hi, Ambi.
And of course, everyone else, Humble, Fami, Swati, Twinkle, Rohan, please come up and speak to us.
Oh, and I have to say, sorry, I'm going to have to say, Varun Do is like one of the OGs of the OGs of the OGs of the OG in the Indian community.
Like, if you haven't heard of Varun or Pixelkar, they are very, they're like anti-social beings.
I'm also an anti-social being and so is Rohan.
But it's just that we're just too in your face.
Like we're that kind of people.
Like we like to be around people and then we say we're anti-social.
But Varun Do and Pixelkar, you see them once in a blue moon.
And Pixelkar is like one of my closest friends.
And of course, Varun also.
And I didn't know Pixelkar that well.
And I only knew Anga at one point.
And I was like, what is this drawings?
What is this art?
This is not even art.
And Anga's like, please, it's called generative art.
I said, what is this generative art?
There's just some lines and dots.
This is not art.
And then he's like, I think you need to lower your tone.
Because like that is, there are a lot of generative artists in this place.
I'm like, what is this?
This is art.
He said, it's like this.
And then I, you know, cut to now.
Like Pixelkar and Varun are people I can just pick up the phone and speak to.
Like they're such good friends of mine.
And who are the best generative artists I have ever seen.
And also Karthik.
These three, they are like, they were at the India Art Fair.
Like, come on.
What else can we talk about?
They were there and I'm super proud of them.
So yes, generative art and I will still never understand each other.
But I understand the artists because they're human beings.
But yes.
That was really, really nice to hear.
I hope Pixelkar shows up at some point of time.
And you're absolutely right about being a bit antisocial in that sense.
Yes.
When it comes to a lot of these events, to do workshops, happy to talk to a lot of people.
But in general, I still feel a bit awkward when I have to do the spaces.
And you're the expert.
Community connection in that sense.
I don't know if I'm the expert.
Probably I'm just, I just annoyed the, let me just not, this is a recorded space.
Let me be nice for a change.
Yeah.
I just annoy people to start talking.
I think I just, that's what I do.
I don't know if I'm very good at it.
I just, I just like bother people so much that they're like, okay, you know what, we have
to talk otherwise.
She's really annoyed the fuck out of us.
So, including Karan, who speaks after 2 a.m.
Yeah.
So, I'm getting, I'm getting to start getting to that point where I can get him to start
speaking at like 11 p.m.
Progress.
Work in progress.
Let's hope.
Hi, Luna.
Please go ahead.
Yeah.
Very nice to make everyone's acquaintance in the space.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good evening.
Just curious.
So, the space is called Tezos, but I'm trying to get a sense of, should I say, the myriad
of blockchains that your community uses.
So, are you all predominantly on Tezos or are you on Tez and ETH and Polygon and all the
other chains out there?
For me personally, it's Tez, but that's a personal choice.
But I think for most artists, they're cross-chain, multi-chain at this point of time.
And it just makes complete sense to do that and be present in Web3 as an artist in every
which way.
So, what do you say, Simran?
I predominantly started with ETH since I've been here for two years.
I was on ETH for a very long time.
I still am.
I will not say no.
I am the curator for Maker's Place.
But I've, over the last one year, I've really gotten fond of Tez because of the people, because
I love how transactions work here, whether it's community or people or just art.
So, I think that's what I like.
So, I have really gotten fond of Tez for now, yes.
And I'm minding a lot of work on Tez almost twice a week for now, yes.
I'm doing a lot of work on Tez for now, yeah.
No, that makes perfect sense.
And I think everything you're saying is exactly what we're seeing across the whole Web3 ecosystem.
And, yeah, it's always interesting just hearing from artists about their own personal decision
and journey in deciding what blockchain to go with.
So, if it's not so much of a bother, you know, nobody else seems to be talking.
So, here I am talking.
Can you just share a bit more about what influenced your decision to, you know, transition from ETH to Tez?
You mentioned a bit about the community.
Is that one of the deciding factors in your decision to go with a blockchain?
Or are there other things that, you know, influence that decision?
So, for instance, would you migrate to Immutable X, you know, in the future or Solana or, you know,
or do you just try them out or, you know, what keeps you on a particular blockchain?
Well, for me, yes, the community, for sure.
There were two reasons why I actively started posting, started meeting a lot on Tez.
The first reason being, I love the community, I love meeting people, and I've met so many people from across the globe.
And the second is a very personal one.
I'm an artist and I need some sort of validation every day.
So, that's who, that's a personal thing and not everyone is like that.
This is me.
So, for me, I don't mind putting my work, I thought about it.
In fact, I spoke to a friend of mine and I said, me putting my work on Tez, sorry, on ETH at a higher price and let it sit there for a bit.
I do have work like that, but I also have work that I want to put on Tez and I want more people to collect it because as an artist, that gives me a little bit of satisfaction that, okay, yeah, there's something going on in my life.
There is some act and that pushes me, drives me to create more.
So, I am actually fluctuating between creating intense pieces that take me a lot of time and, okay, you know, I can put those on ETH.
And I also have pieces that I'm revamping now, like my, there are two collections of mine, which are work that I've upscaled.
So, I enjoy putting that on Tez because I want more and more people to collect it.
So, that, these are mainly two reasons why I'm, at this point, yeah, very, very inclined towards Tez.
You know, everything you said is exactly what I've been hearing about the Tezos community.
So, I'm personally not on Tez, but I've been hearing a lot about the Tezos community and it's all been positive stuff.
So, it's a big community.
Everyone is super supportive.
And, in fact, I was in a Tez space and I was very surprised to see that even when you're not present in the room, they still present your work to others in the space.
And, you know, if anyone is interested and they buy, you get the money and all that.
So, I thought that was very supportive because everyone is in a different time zone.
So, not everyone can be awake at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. or, you know, whenever the space is.
So, to have somebody actually present your work when you're not there, represent you and help you sell, I just thought that was fantastic.
So, it makes sense.
So, I share that just to say that, you know, you mentioned the community and you mentioned the validation.
I think it really ties with everything I've heard about Tezos so far, the Tez community.
Yeah.
And also to add to what you said, and this happened to me.
I was, I, this is my time, usually 9.30, 10 p.m.
India time is when I'm hosting.
And everybody in this space are my friends.
And we're all chilling or either, you know, doing art spaces or stuff like that at this time every day.
Um, I was in one of those spaces.
I was hosting a space and I had two sales on in another space.
Somebody pinned up my work there and I had two sales.
So, I, I know that's how it works because somewhere somebody will talk about your work or might just spin up your work or, you know, randomly you might have sales.
Like this morning, I picked up about six, seven pieces from five artists because I had noted it down and I was like, no, this is work that I need to collect.
And I set reminders on my phone and I was like, no, I have to do this.
So, um, looking at that, I picked up one piece and, and, and when I tweeted about it, uh, this particular photographer, he had five more sales.
So, I think that's also, uh, depend, also depends on the price.
And this, I will definitely, I have learned it from Warundo.
I have definitely learned it from Warundo because, uh, you know, pricing is very important.
If you want people to buy your work at the drop of a hat and Tez is not like Ethereum.
I, I did that mistake initially, uh, I would kind of weigh my pieces, uh, compare them from Ethereum to, uh, Tezos.
Uh, yes, I do put up expensive pieces.
I do have two, uh, pieces of mine, which are priced at 400 Tez, 450 Tez, uh, it's a one-off one.
Uh, but if I want more people to collect my work, I mean, look at Leslie.
She's one of the biggest artists in the Tez, you know, her, she doesn't price her work anything more than maybe 15 Tez.
So, when people price, if you're going to price your work 20 and above, you need to have that kind of a community who's going to buy it.
And I learned that very early from Varun because he said that, make sure that, that, you know, people buy it quick and then it's on the secondary.
And that's exactly what happened, what I was talking about earlier, um, uh, you know, when we were talking about the, the last, last year above that, uh, Diwali, um, sorry, my God, I just blanked out.
Yeah.
The Durga Puja one where we did nine days, nine colors.
One of my pieces that Varun picked up is up for 400 Tez because, uh, and there's another one, which is 400 Tez and people buy on secondary.
Of course they buy, but if it's, um, you're pricing it only very high, then people are not going to buy it.
It, that's how this works.
This works that way and different blockchains work differently.
I mean, I would love to hear from, um, Ambi, she, she, her work is great.
Her work is, uh, also people flip it.
So, and she, she's been here for a while.
So I'd love to hear from her.
I keep calling you Ambi, please don't kill me.
Oh, Simran, I missed that you named, named, uh, me and I was like, you're describing someone.
And then I'm like, okay, who's she talking about?
Yeah.
Ambi is fine.
My name is Irina, but I'm very much fine with Ambi.
I like it.
So, uh, you know, some people call me Ambi or AmbiDex.
It doesn't feel that it doesn't have this fine ring to this name, but Ambi, I like.
So feel free to call me that.
But yeah, what you are saying is right.
And, um, um, secondary market on Tezos is quite good.
And, um, I had a few sales on secondary, like, extend or probably something like that.
Um, some people are very crazy.
They put, um, they put, um, price like 1 million, 10 million Tezos.
Those are my friends who have my, um, original pieces like physical ones.
And they say that they need all the Tezos in the world to part with an NFT part of it.
Like Jimmy, uh, Jimmy Albert and Lauren, they just put this crazy amount.
I think it, uh, it's, it looks lovely.
It makes statements, but, um, I think it, it's not going to sell, of course, for that, for
that price, but maybe in like 100 years when I'm dead and famous, uh, yeah, but, um, what
I really think about, um, secondaries is that, um, you don't have to limit yourself on
the amount of percentage of royalties, because I'm, I'm all over the place with it and I'm
still kind of making my way through it.
But, um, initially my thought was that if I sell for this low, I want to put secondary,
um, not secondary, the royalties for 25% from the price.
Uh, because, um, my art is selling for like $1, $2 price now.
And, um, it's peanuts from what I used to sell on Etsy, for example, and stuff like that.
And if, uh, I want it to be available for my friends, then it's okay.
But then I want to have, um, some profit when they sell it for the decent price, which I think
it should be sold by, and, um, I used to put, uh, higher, uh, percentage on lower priced, um,
things that I meant.
And then sometimes if I put like 17, 20 Tezos, then I put lower percentage, like 15%, maybe
12, but, uh, I think that's it.
Leslie says she puts 25% on everything.
And, uh, and I think that's smart to be honest.
And, uh, I've heard from some collectors that they can be put away if they see high percentage,
but, and I won't curse here because it's recorded, but you can, you can guess what I would like
to say.
Um, I mean, if you are only here to flip my art and you don't like it per se, then just
don't buy it, or if you want to sell it a bit higher, then count those percentages and
just make sure you don't sell.
Like, I don't understand people who, who buy, for example, for five Tezos and then immediately
put it on sale for seven Tezos.
It doesn't make sense.
It's, they don't make any profit.
It's just to flip.
So if those kinds of collectors can be taken back, uh, from the percentage, then I don't
mind, uh, may them not collect my art.
I I'm fine with that.
And, um, on, uh, Tezos, what I see is indeed a great, great way to sometimes collect something
very, um, cool from a very big artist, uh, just like open edition or some, sometimes there
is a sneak drop or something and you just can be quick and grab it and then probably flip
it, but, uh, just don't be very, uh, in a hurry and, and price too low.
Like, for example, uh, some people that I know for a very, very long time and I got their
pieces like last year's Tezos tuna event, for example, like Violet Bond or Claire Uma.
Uh, and I have a bunch of those works and, uh, back then, like in November, I priced them
for what I thought was okay, like with, uh, Tezos value, $2 and stuff like that.
And then I just forgot because I collected quite a lot of works and then I see something
is selling for like 15 Tezos and I'm like, what?
I, I don't want to part with it for like 50 and then I was, oh yeah, okay.
I put it on secondary, uh, last September last year and I bought it for two Tezos and I put
it on sale for 15 Tezos.
I thought it would be okay, but it doesn't look okay to me now.
And I just have to, I think I just have to go through 23 pages or how many I have of collected
items and just reprise them higher.
And I always postpone it.
And then Jimmy Albert piece sells for 20 Tezos and I'm like, no, I love this one.
I don't want to sell it.
And I just forgot.
I, I put it on sale to just to like, I don't know why, like really like linked and, and did
a stupid thing.
So think twice when you are putting something out there on secondary.
I know what you mean because Maheen, her, uh, Genesis on Tezos was, uh, priced at 12 Tezos
and the moment, you know, it got sold out.
Um, I remember having this conversation with Hind and Hind and I were like waiting.
We were just waiting.
Like somebody is going to put it on secondary and you will not believe it.
Somebody actually put it on 24 Tezos.
I was like, really, you can't be doing this.
Like you need to make more money out of it.
Like what's the rush.
And before we could like people were, you bought it for 12, you're putting it for 24.
And even in that 24, she's got like, I think 15 or 20%.
Uh, so what, what's your point?
Like you're just barely earning anything.
What's the rush.
So sometimes, uh, I do feel that people need to like, you know, wait for a bit before you
can rush.
Yeah, I, I agree when you said, I also don't like it when people buy my work just to flip
and I don't, I don't really put work on secondary that easily.
I don't think I don't put work on secondary and, uh, I'm just going to sit with it.
So, but I do, I do want to hear from Warundo because Warundo, you have been here since ever
and you are like a pro at primary and secondary.
So give us some points so that Amby and I become rich.
Sorry, not Amby, Irina, I become rich.
Let's hear from you.
I don't know if there's a secret to doing that.
I can tell you the secret of collecting an enormous amount of objects, NFTs.
That's the secret I can tell you.
But a funny incident happened.
We did a workshop, um, this Saturday and, uh, during the workshop, all the participants
minted something.
So when we do these workshops, what I, I figured instead of teaching people how to use TA or object
and then waiting for them to decide what they want to mint, because we always have a very
limited time and there are about 20 people with their laptops and phones and things like
that.
So I've come up with a new workshop system, which we've been implementing the last few
times.
So it's, uh, making a piece of pixel art.
That's eight by eight pixels and, um, just minting that it's on a website called eight Bidu.
So it's, it's only eight by a pixel art.
It's a very quirky thing in, uh, this ecosystem, but anyway, um, we had the exercise, all the
participants minted it and, um, everyone priced it at a certain amount and then people within
the workshop, they bought each other's work.
So they got that first feeling of making something, minting something, swapping something, collecting
of, you know, your neighbor's work, you know, just get, share that feeling with people.
So there's, there's a lot of, uh, you know, like camaraderie and stuff like that.
But later on we saw like, there was this one guy, he was a, I guess he was a trader and
he got really excited that he had access to this.
So he did everything without any logic.
We saw that he'd collected a whole bunch of the participants NFTs for like 0.1 tests and
he started listing them at random values, like 0.03, 0.25, 99, 150, you know, just no logic
whatsoever and putting them out.
And for a moment, like object was filled with these strange valued, uh, things.
This just happened yesterday.
So it was really funny.
But, you know, since we talk about the irritating side of things is also like the ridiculous
side of things.
I, if I had to give advice about all of this, there's a lot worse things that happen and
I can tell you about it, but I really don't want to go down that road.
I just ignore that stuff.
I think eventually, even if people are flipping your work, it doesn't hurt you.
Um, a lot worse can happen to hurt an artist.
Um, and I can touch upon that later, but I think just flipping it for little, for little
to no profit doesn't really hurt the artist as such.
So I think as long as people are interested, I think if flip, even if flippers are interested
in your work, that means you're doing something right.
So every artist should at least aspire towards, to the point where people try to start flipping
your work or clone your, your account and try and impersonate you.
Oh my God.
Oh, ouch, that is scary.
But, um, before we move on to the other speakers, I do want to bring this live example.
Uh, I was, I obviously I was looking and I'm a little scatterbrained.
All right.
Everybody knows that.
Like, unless I see things, I, they don't stay in my head.
And now while, while, uh, Irina was speaking, I went to her TES account and I was like, Oh,
this is interesting stuff.
Now, why I'm saying this is this, I want to bring this example.
Like while we're having this space and while I'm co-hosting this space, I've actually picked
up a piece because it's just two TES.
Uh, you know, she has this legendary hustlers.
And it's like a guinea fowl digital watercolor illustration.
So, uh, it's become like a habit now, like two TES, four TES is, you know, you feel like,
Oh, this is interesting.
I want to buy this work.
For me, uh, there are two ways to it.
Obviously how most people function.
One is I really liked the work.
And two, obviously I liked the person.
I also believe in this person.
I see how they active, they are in the community, how, what the community also thinks and how
they interact about, uh, with the community and how they've built their image over a period
of time in the community.
Uh, having said that I also collected from newcomers.
It's not that today I collected from, um, someone I've never met.
I saw that Sia had collected from him, uh, was beautiful, beautiful work, photography,
black and white photography.
And I collected that work and it was amazing.
So again, that was like five TES.
So, uh, what I'm saying is again, I will repeat what Varun and I've learned from Varun and
Pixilkar is that, uh, this is interesting work.
One, you, you kind of get to pick work.
Somebody buys your work.
And second is that, you know, you're getting to know people.
Like today I got to know three new people because their work was very interesting.
So that also works in the TES community.
So I think that is something that I will definitely watch for.
But we have a lot of new speakers and I'm going to stop talking now, but I do want to
also want, uh, Manoor to come up because I have seen, uh, Manoor has also, uh, done a
lot of good work on TES.
Okay.
My dog.
One second, please.
Thank you, Simran.
So I'm spending, I'm sending speaker invites out.
I hope I get this order correct.
Um, based on who joined, uh, I think we have Fermi next.
Hi, Fermi.
Hi there.
Good morning.
How is everybody doing today?
It's great to see all these wonderful people down here.
This is my first time coming to y'all space.
I have not met, I don't know what the host's name is, but T-I-A-C and Varun, but I do know
Simran very well.
And so I follow Simran around whenever I, she's up and awake and I'm like, Ooh, I wonder
where she's going next as we all do.
And we love to support her all the time.
And I must say, appreciate this conversation you're having about promoting TESOs.
And somebody earlier said, and I wanted to just say, clap along with it and agree that
the community that is built around TESOs is absolutely, uh, like really very supportive.
And it's very unusual.
It's not commercialized, even though it's a sales place.
So the commercialization is automatically there.
But even in that, they have got this promotion that they do about helping each other out and
promoting new artists.
And I hear a lot about education, awareness raising, understanding how the whole blockchain
and wallets work and TESOs.
And just now I heard this fantastic thing about the workshop and my ears perked up.
Now I am an art educator myself and a practicing artist.
So, and I'm not, I've come from the physical world of art and I'm pretty new.
Well, I shouldn't say new.
I've been here for about, uh, uh, more than just over a year.
And I started out with TESOs, the object.
I did have to be hog tied down before I could mint because I was just not sure what the heck
I was doing.
So my friends did hog tie me down.
And once I started, it was really, uh, very easy and it was very interesting for me, the
interaction that took place.
So I am extremely happy that this thing is happening, but I want to know more about this
workshop Varun was talking about and how does one get involved with it?
Is it something that's recorded?
I think it's fascinating because I believe in educating the, those who are not in the Web3
environment.
You know, I know people hate people saying that, but those who are not into this NFT
environment and knowing where this whole blockchain thing is, what is it that we all talk about?
And I want to learn how to further, um, talk about it in a more educated fashion instead
of just BSing out there without having knowledge.
And so I can only say what little bit I have learned.
So I'm always open to learning.
So that's why I'm extremely excited when I heard about this workshop thing.
So I will follow Varun now and hopefully I will keep notifications on.
So when he has them again, uh, hope to know more about it.
That's all I wanted to say.
And hi, Simran, are you back from getting your doggie back?
Nope, she's not.
Yes, she is.
I am.
Yeah.
My dog is just, I don't know.
He gets very uneasy if I switch off the AC.
I don't know.
It's just like, yeah, this is what I do for a day job.
Like I just work for my dog.
Um, but yes, uh, of course, I would love to hear from Varun and, uh, Varun, maybe I think
there are a lot of people in the space now who probably do not know about, uh, TIAC.
So yes, over to you, Varun and hi, Fahmy.
Fahmy, wonderful to meet you and hello from a fellow educator.
Um, the stuff I do here in Calcutta and India is something I think I, I fantasized about when
I first discovered Hikitnank, which was in summer of 2021, because I, I am from early
computing.
And, um, when I saw that website, it just reminded me of getting onto the internet for the first
time.
And it was quite exciting.
It was very different from the NFT world that I'd already been exposed to on other blockchains.
Um, so a year later to be developing educational programs for the blockchain themselves has proven
to be somewhat of a fantasy come true.
Uh, of course, one year in, it has been a lot of work, uh, and I have a lot of stories to
tell, but it's always, uh, amazing to talk about Tezos because you, you can be disconnected
from everything, be working on the dev side, trying to raise funding, you know, doing the,
uh, the things that are, are rough.
But the moment you get online and people start, you meet the artists, you just realize, okay,
this is what I'm doing this for.
So it's amazing to meet you from across the globe.
Uh, most of this is happening in India for me because, uh, Tezos India Arts and Culture
has developed, uh, out of the prospect of artists coming out of India.
We're now the most populated country in the world, uh, very, very young, average population,
a lot of people involved in the arts.
So if you just look at the demographic and the possibilities, um, a lot of artists can
come here.
So a lot of the work that's done here is on that basis.
It's not as large scale as this population that we're talking about.
Um, not at this point of time because of many, many reasons, but once in a while we get to
do a workshop and it's usually around 20 people that we're working with, which is not a small
number, but not a really uncontrollable number.
By the end of it, everyone has kind of minted something.
So over time, we've tried to, uh, compact them into a shorter period.
And I noticed in the beginning, I used to talk to each artist that had come and ask them what
they had brought and kind of curate that one piece or a collection into one digital thing
and then get them to mint that.
And then I realized that this is going to take six hours and that's how much it usually took.
And then six hours over two days.
So over a year, we've realized you can slowly compact that down to about, um, two and a
half to three hours, uh, which is still a long time.
But by the end of it, they have learned everything from knowing what a blockchain is.
So the first hour is basically introduction to everything.
What is a blockchain?
Um, how it works, what are marketplaces, what artists are doing in the first place.
Showing them a lot of art that can inspire them.
So that's something that's always fun to do.
I end up showing my favorite work, which is always a computer art centric.
So some people get into it, but not all.
But I, I need to work on a more, uh, wider, uh, range of examples.
Like Simran, Simran knows what I'm talking about.
All my examples are, end up being like these geometric things and generative art, not really.
And maybe some pixel video game type stuff.
So, um, anyway, in that light, one of the marketplaces and systems within Tezos that I found really fascinating was, um, a website called 8bidu.
Where it's an on-chain website where all the work is actually encoded in a color, like the RGB value of one pixel.
And then a grid is created from 8x8, so 64 pixels.
And that information as text is put onto the Tezos blockchain.
So hence, on-chain.
So there's no IPFS.
There's no interconnectedness between the contract and the art and all of that stuff.
It's all injected onto a contract on the blockchain.
So it's there permanently.
And then to read it, you go to the website and it kind of decodes it, uh, as a 8x8 pixel.
So it's really fun.
And what I realized is that during these workshops, it's easy to do.
Uh, just get everyone to open it up.
And with their finger, they create an 8x8 pixel piece of art.
And they mint it right then.
So it's a fun little exercise that everyone can do.
So I encourage everyone to try it.
If you haven't tried 8bidu, it's just, it's so much fun.
It's like the ultimate first step into the blockchain.
But coming from the perspective of things, I also personally love, which is like old video games and pixel art.
So, yeah, I get, I get to do what I love, which is great.
Wow, that was a, that was a lot of, uh, very interesting information.
Uh, it's absolutely fascinating.
And, uh, when you said you're an educator yourself also, I would love to hear more in future how this is also, is it adult education or public school education?
Because of the new generations that are coming up behind us, how are we integrating that, uh, whole concept of blockchain and everything?
And how much are we being able to, because I work in the public school system and the public school system is not very open yet, uh, towards accepting all these different, from the AIs to the, anything, these kind of digital things, uh, to do with blockchains and cryptos and whatnot.
And so I want to merge it, I want to merge it, I want to merge it, I want to merge it, I want to be involved in that kind of stuff.
And that's where my, uh, focus, uh, goes to a lot of times, is how can I do that, uh, for the young people and get them involved in this?
And, uh, because it is affordable, Tezos is, uh, it's a great place to, uh, as a stepping stone for them also.
Yes, it will be, you know, a lot of us are in, you know, cross chain variant, if that's the perfect right word.
I don't even know the right jargon, but, you know, if they're doing it in different platforms, that's great.
But to have an entry point at a friendly spot, that's what Tezos to me is, it's a friendly spot where there's, with open arms to let you come in.
And there's lots of people who try to help you out.
So I know, Varun, that you've done this, but I don't know if you did it online or not, but I, would you be offering these kind of workshops online?
This is, I mean, I would love to attend such a workshop.
This would be great for my own education to learn better.
Uh, it sounds fascinating, but because I do physical art and I, I digitalize my physical piece and, uh, put it in there.
So I don't do much digital artwork per se, as what you were talking about.
So I was just curious, uh, have you come across artists who, who, who are, you know, merging their regular physical artwork into this and how are they accepting it?
How are they, you know, working with it?
I, I, I, I strongly encourage the connection between the physical and the digital.
I, in fact, we're not, not really encouraging through the practice what we're doing to only go digital or only go blockchain.
Um, I think more, it's more about just being familiar with the technology as artists, because a lot of people that do come and do this strange pixel exercise I give them are fine artists.
They're painters, um, but they're just really skeptical about everything and they heard all the wrong things about NFTs.
So they already feel alienated when they come in.
So it's, it's also kind of like a technological icebreaker with them to do this fun kind of stuff.
And then if they want to take it seriously, um, we have an online community.
Um, there's also this thing that was established a year ago called the Tezos fountain.
It's for first time artists.
So this is something that can be implemented, uh, through the web, um, people can visit the Teac discord.
The invite is in the, um, the bio of the host and, um, it, it has to be a first time wallet.
Uh, so if an artist has just come onto the blockchain, so it could be doing a workshop as well.
And, uh, you just put your wallet address and you send 0.5 Tez just enough to mint something on 8bidu or on Teya.
So you can mint either this pixel, piece of pixel art, or you can go onto Teya and mint a 2 gig file because that's the limit of Teya.art.
And you don't have to create, uh, your own collection because if you mint on object, um, not as like an object.
Like an aggregator for other marketplaces, but object allows you to also mint into your own collection and create your own contract.
You, you have to spend one Tez.
So that's too high for the amount you get from the fountain.
So you're, you're limited to, to Teya and 8bidu, but that in itself covers the gamut of what you can mint.
So you can mint pixel art, you can mint a JPEG, you can mint an object, like a, uh, 3D object, OBJ file.
Um, you can mint up to a 2 gig video file.
So literally like a full length film, uh, make sure it's your film.
Um, and, uh, yeah, I think you can, uh, me personally, I'm a coder.
So I, I got into this much later.
I had a real life practice, but as someone who did installation art, I had to wait months and months before I got the opportunity to, to set up an installation.
But here I could create, I could take some pieces of my code and just create an NFT.
And then, um, generative art allowed me to use one algorithm as a central idea, like a river, for example, but every person that mints the river gets a different rendition of that.
So like variations through randomness and things like that, it was not really available to digital artists prior to the blockchain.
So it's been very critical to understand the blockchain and utilize it as another, um, powerful technological tool.
Uh, but it's still just one thing amongst the many, many things you can do as an artist on planet Earth.
May I ask you one more question?
Yes, sure.
You know, with, with, with the possibility that I might get kicked off by Simran, but, uh, what makes you feel that this, uh, what is the one thing you feel about your project, this whole concept that you're doing, you're practicing, what makes it successful?
That's a great question, and it's, it's, it's, it's, it's something that's very difficult because I have a lot of, um, ways to have to define the success.
One of these successes is what I have to define to ensure that this work continues, and those are called KPIs.
And this means how many people we reach, and how many people that see a news article, and that's the painful stuff that I have to bear, literally, to, to be able to do the other stuff.
Um, and for me, success comes from the other stuff, like to be able to take an artist that's only been on Web3 into a really big art, real IRL art curated festival.
Um, you know, the other direction to take them, to show the art world that, hey, there's a new genre that is this generative art coming from the blockchain, that is part of, uh, the bigger narrative of art and technology, uh, things like that.
And that was, again, one of my dreams to do that, and got to do that because of this organization, uh, we got to do that at India Art Fair that was attended by 25,000 people, maybe more, actually.
Um, and there was this public installation with television screens with Indian generative artists, and we created a timeline of generative art going back from the 1950s,
to when it started emerging from America and the UK, and all the way to present day with block, with the blockchain, and then these four Indian artists creating amazing stuff.
Uh, and this was given away to all the, the collectors, artists, uh, museum curators, uh, basically the big, the most important group of, uh, people in the art world in India come together.
And it was presented to them and given to them, so trying to make that, uh, kind of impact, it, it does cover a lot of ground because it had a lot of visibility, so the KPIs are good.
But even smaller things, like, sometimes I would like to do a workshop with three or four people because it's important to give them that attention.
So, uh, that sometimes becomes a little bit more difficult for me to execute, but that is also, uh, a means to success.
Um, but, yeah, it's, it's a difficult thing to really say because, uh, I'm constantly being told the, the, the goal post is moving always.
And a lot of times it's not in a direction that I would consider myself, uh, but I have to try and, and do that.
But along the way you have these, these moments.
So, um, yeah, uh, thing, good things are happening.
Like I can actually talk about something that's coming up.
This is only for Indian artists at the moment.
Uh, but through this work, there's been, um, um, uh, cooperation with the Goethe Institute, which is the German cultural, um, and language division in India.
And they are doing a bunch of workshops on NFTs now on the blockchain.
So they're kind of the first, I would say the first, maybe along with a few of the French, uh, cultural agencies to, to even delve into the blockchain at this point of time.
But here we have this workshop and that's what was conducted.
And next month there is a grant and they're encouraging people to form teams of three to five artists.
You can writers, you can come together.
And then there'll be four weeks of mentorship along with a grant amount.
So you get paid and this is happening and it's there to encourage people to use the blockchain.
Uh, the mentorship is from the web three side, the, the blockchain side, but also from cultural heritage preservation.
So the whole theme of this, um, it's called a mint-a-thon.
That's, that's what they've named it.
Uh, the whole theme of this mint-a-thon is how to preserve India's cultural heritage through the blockchain.
So this is starting soon.
Um, applications are open now and, um, you can apply till the 31st of August.
I will share, uh, a link on the top for anyone who's interested.
I want to thank you for letting, for indulging in me and my constant questioning.
I'm sorry.
I'm a very curious person and I will be quiet now, but Varun, I am absolutely fascinated by all that you've shared.
And I'm so glad I came to this space because, um, it's, it's, it's, you know, bravo, applauses, bravo, bravo to you.
And the way you are, not only just telling you, you have a very, you know, a wonderful way of explaining.
A very patient, you're very patient.
Thank you so much.
And, uh, it's just fascinating to hear all this wonderful thing that's happening.
And the last bit that you shared was mind-blowing.
Absolutely, absolutely wonderful.
So, bravo and congratulations for all that you're doing.
Yeah, I just want to chime in and just say, um, so, Varun, um, it was very nice to get the history and the background because I think, um, all the questions I was asking initially just sort of this whole chain reaction.
But you mentioned something while you were talking and that was about, you know, some sort of support that you might need.
So, since we have quite a few folks in the room, I was just wondering if you can just dive deeper into that.
So, what kind of support do you need?
What kind of help do you need?
Perhaps there are folks in the room who might be able to provide that sort of support, you know?
You never know.
Wow, thank you.
Oh, that's, that's amazing.
I never thought about looking at spaces as a way of reaching out for assistance.
Uh, but, it's possible.
Um, the kind of assistance that's needed at this point is to amplify, uh, the work that's being done.
And I think to amplify the narrative that, um, the blockchain is not just, it's not just about the work that happens online and selling things and how the marketplaces are used.
But, uh, the blockchains can also, uh, play a big role in real life.
And those stories, if those stories are amplified more than the stories about selling your work for a lot of tests also, you know, selling your work for a lot of money.
Uh, I think that narrative needs to be put aside now because it didn't really work.
We tried it for a very long time and it didn't work.
Uh, but talk a little more about the effect that a blockchain can have on the real world so that blockchains wake up a little bit more and put more of the resources into educational programs.
Because it's not enough.
If we look at the potential of artists and, you know, I'm constantly talking about the population of India, there have to be programs and hundreds of people doing the kind of work that I'm doing right now to be able to really reach critical mass.
And that's only going to happen until people realize that the effect of things off, off the, the blockchain is more important to people and it's more relevant because that's where people are.
We are kind of in this cyclic environment where we're circling amongst web three people.
And I find that one year in now to be very unhealthy, uh, thing.
We need to bring more people in and we need to show them, I mean, to make all of this very viable for them off Twitter.
They shouldn't have to spend their entire lives on Twitter to participate in this or have be impacted by this.
So, um, I think I just went on a complete tangent, but, uh, let's, let's have other people speak.
Thank you everyone for the kind feedback.
Um, I have an old friend of mine, uh, here, uh, GX from, uh, the States.
He's an Indian living abroad, doing amazing stuff with music and technology.
So, um, just want to say hi to GX.
What's going on?
Hey, what's up, Rundo?
Thank you so much for saying hi to me.
We got some dope people in the space right now, uh, from FAMI to, uh, to Kion Lee down there.
Shout out to all the other homies that are in the space.
Also, the space has been absolutely great, man.
Very informative.
Everything you do, Rundo, is very inspiring, bro.
When I see you host a space, I have to try my best to join in.
So, yeah, here I am today, man.
I'm, uh, for anybody that doesn't know me, my name is GX.
I'm a musician.
I'm an artist.
I'm an animator.
So, not only do I make music, but I also make my own music videos, animate all the
music videos to it, and, uh, create virtual reality and augmented reality content.
So, experiences, I should say.
So, I've just been sitting back, taking everything in, you know, um, as an Indian artist that
lives in, in America, right?
Sometimes it can be very hard for us to connect to our roots and connect to other artists in
the home state, in the home country, right?
In the motherland, so, that's what brings me to this space, and I hope to connect with
everybody here.
I'm going to be following everybody that speaks and shares art through the space, and, yeah,
looking forward to connecting with everybody.
Thank you so much, Rune.
How have you been, though, man?
I haven't talked to you in so long.
It's been well.
I have stories to tell, but good to hear your voice, and, uh, you know, hearing your voice
feels like nothing's changed, so that's a nice feeling.
Thank you so much, man.
Dude, I can't wait to hear these stories.
I know you've been on some adventures, so, um, yeah.
I can't wait to hear.
I don't know if we could get a little story in the space.
Maybe some story time in the space would be fun if everybody else is down for it.
Every time I'm around Varun, and I have to say Pixelkar also, I'm like, oh, my God, this is what my mother wished I was.
Like, you know, this good, ideal child who would just sit in a place and do work and, you know, work hard.
And, and, but then here I am.
So I'm actually, and I, and I say this very shamelessly, that I'm very well behaved around Varun and Pixelkar because I'm like, oh, my God, they just remind me of my maths teacher.
And I have to behave myself.
But, uh, yeah, that's, that's, yes.
So Varun, do you really have any stories?
I wish you do.
Please don't say sitting in your, in, in, like, and making some generator-watt stories.
I'll cry.
Tell me stories like what I, like, the stories, that kind of stories that I have, you know.
Yeah, getting caught by cops, running, running away, breaking things, breaking people.
Let's hear some stories like that from you, Varun.
No, I think my life's extremely boring and pale in comparison.
Yeah, my stories are like, hey, did you know that algorithm could be solved by not using that?
I don't know.
Hey, man, you know I'm a nerd.
Okay, maybe not that, maybe not that ridiculous.
You know I'm a nerd, bro.
Those are my kind of stories.
Yeah.
You know, Simran, you seem like a rock star.
I definitely got to get to know you.
I'm shooting you a follow now.
No, no, no, don't follow me.
I'll, I'll take you to the cops.
Like, that's where I usually am, but yes.
But thank you.
It was lovely hearing you.
It's always nice to meet new people.
But I do want to say, before we move on to the next person, who is Mahnoor.
She's a good friend of mine.
So it's very difficult for me when I have to say nice things about my friends, but I will try.
Mahnoor is someone I really, really appreciate for the kind of work that she's been doing
in the last many months that I know her because she is someone who, apart from everything else
that she does, she's very proud that she says that, yes, I am from Pakistan and this is what
I do and this is the kind of work that I do.
And, you know, please, you know, this is my country and this is who I am.
And this is the kind of art and creative people that are in my country.
And we need to go out there.
Like how I am so proud when I go out there and to, you know, I say that in spaces that,
yes, I am from India and we create extremely talented people.
Like there are talented people in my country and I hear that from Mahnoor and it makes
me so happy and so proud because she takes that extra effort to, you know, actually get
people to sign up into the blockchain, get to know more about NFTs and do all of that.
So, yes, that was a little.
And of course, apart from other things, this is, these are things that I can say in a recorded
space.
If you want to know more about her, you can back channel me and I'll tell you actually
the other side of Mahnoor.
But yes, this is, I want, I wanted everyone to know that this is how creative and how talented
this woman is.
So, Mahnoor, welcome.
I am laughing so much.
Hey, I am nice.
Come on.
I say nice things about people.
What do you mean?
No, no.
It means gratitude actually.
Um, because I think this is, this is the most beautiful thing about the blockchain, like,
you know, global collaborations and global conversations and context.
And I think this sharing of culture and conversations is everything that we need to promote to.
And, you know, I feel like this is, this is, this space is something that the whole universe
was manifesting for me for, because I, I had a recent workshop, uh, now that we're talking
about those, you know, I had a recent workshop on Saturday, actually, it was kind of a masterclass.
Um, I do this with new artists and, uh, you know, young professionals to get them on board, uh, on NFTs and
Web3 and all of that.
And, you know, there is a certain module that I have developed, you know, I've, I've kind of, uh, prepared it and,
you know, kind of, kind of, you know, divided it into sub modules to make them understand what, uh, NFTs are.
And the sad part is that the, the, the, the way they're getting to know about NFTs is that they're
getting this Instagram message that I'll, uh, I'll, I'll buy your art for like 80th or 70th.
And all of these are scams and they're falling for it.
And I get so many calls and so many messages these days.
And it is like, that is my main cause too, for getting into NFTs in the first place.
But now I think it has, it is just, you know, like so, so intensified, I would say, or I think
people are, this number, number of scammers are increasing as the number of artists or the
people who are adopting blockchain, the blockchain is.
So, um, that is one thing because I think there is one part of everything that the artists know.
Um, you know, you go to a platform and there are certain options that are given to you and
you make the best use out of those.
But what I really loved about this conversation or, or everything that Varun was saying was
that there are other ways of exploring how you can make your own smart contract or, you know,
how you can make art in so many different ways.
And I do get people on board who are doing traditional art and, you know, the whole process
of them, uh, they don't even know, okay, you know, how, how you can photograph it and then
go to the, these different definite steps to get on to NFV.
So I think that is very important.
And the other thing is my, like my immense passion is arts, culture, and heritage.
I've been working in, uh, arts and culture for seven years here in Pakistan.
So that is something, you know, from documentaries to, uh, to, to different, uh, you know, small
village coverages and, uh, old like landmark coverages and all of these things.
So this is, this is a beautiful conversation and I'm learning a lot.
And this is something that I really feel, uh, when you spoke about grants and that is
like the dream, you know, something like that being developed in Pakistan and in, in addition
to some kind of residencies, if we can pull this off here, I think it's going to be amazing.
So I hope, uh, initiatives like these become global and, you know, different people from
different countries can also adopt and learn from these different models that you're implementing
or so many other people are in, you know, it, it can just, it can just grow and it can
just, you know, literally like spread, like spread like confetti or something.
So yeah, thank you so much for letting me speak and I'm learning a lot.
So that's really cool.
Hi Manur, great to hear you speak too.
And, um, I, I, I do hope it happens and it picks up out there.
Um, I wanted to actually share your, your first thought about this and the kids and how
they introduced via these spam messages.
So when I do a workshop, what happens is I start talking about the blockchain, everyone
comes in, they say it and they're like, okay, they're listening to me.
Then they realize that I'm the kind of person who stopped talking a little bit and then ask
them if they have any questions.
So as I go through this introduction, slowly reaches a point where they start asking these
questions.
And it's about like usually half an hour in and the next one hour is just me dodging these
bullets, uh, constantly.
Like it's every single question that they have related to being scammed.
I have to respond to because they want answers to why this is happening and there are logical
answers to it, but a lot of the times it's the same question asked in 10 different ways.
So I have to put one hour aside literally just to answer this.
And this last workshop, things got pretty intense.
Like this one guy said, what if I pull out a gun and shoot you?
Then, you know, using this as a, as a, you know, in, in, kind of in jest, but everybody
was pretty shocked.
Like, what, what are you talking about?
I was like, okay, this is the most extreme it's gotten in terms of like, uh, skepticism
and anger.
Um, it is a very sketchy place when it comes to, to all of these things.
And I really have to ease people's minds, which is why again, doing these IRL workshops,
kind of getting grants, doing tie-ups with institutes.
All of this is really important in, uh, legitimizing the fact that it's, we are using technology.
Okay.
The scam and all happen.
So one explanation I always use is you've grown to understand what email spam is, you
know, goes into your spam box now, but you know, the difference between one or the other.
So you have to turn that part of your brain on and be a little bit more vigilant amongst
other things.
It's just going to take an hour if I, if I start talking about that now, but it is a
big, uh, waste of time, I would say.
And what you, we, you have to go through it if you, you need the trust of people.
And then I go from there to showing people work and then doing a hands-on exercise, which
makes it fun for them.
Um, in, you know, I know it's very difficult and we always say, we hope it'll happen, but
here's something you can do if you just want to get things started really quickly.
Um, in the Tezos ecosystem, there's this thing called Tezos commons, uh, which is a global
grant system.
And, um, anyone who does anything within the Tezos ecosystem, anyone, you don't have to be
affiliated or anything, it could be an artist or an educator, um, create a post or create
some kind of engagement, or even if you're doing a workshop, make sure you document it
like two or three photographs and put a post out, um, on Twitter, because it's all done
through Twitter.
And at the end of the month or before the end of the month, so if you've done this in
the month of July, before July ends, there's a nomination form on the Tezos commons website,
fill in the details.
And if you get the grant for that month, they send you a certain amount of tests.
I believe it's 125 tests right now.
It's not much, but it's a start to help you do something bigger.
And this has existed for a long time.
People don't know about it, uh, but it's easily accessible and anyone can not.
You can nominate your friend or someone can nominate, you can nominate yourself, but it
is a system within, uh, the Tezos grant ecosystem that is open to all people.
And, uh, there are these fountains.
So if you're a first time artist, uh, you can get 0.5 tests.
So if you're a workshop, uh, conductor, you can get them all to join the discord and then
get their mint amount.
So there are these systems, if you have, um, the knowledge of them and the patience to do
this and the passion to do this, because it's not much in return, um, there is a little bit
of support.
And I think Tezos is amazing that way because the blockchain itself has these, uh, decentralized
systems of support, you could say, uh, for people who want to do this stuff.
Hey, GX, you had a question?
Hey, what's up, man?
Not a question.
I just wanted to say that this is why I respect you so much, man.
Thank you for giving us the tools and just educating us on some of these opportunities
that, you know, other artists like me didn't even know existed.
Like I had no idea.
Yeah, you're right.
You know, 125 Tez, maybe, maybe not that much right now, but it's definitely something that
can help you get a photo shoot, right?
125 Tez is almost $70, I think maybe, maybe more like $80, something like that.
So it can help you get a photo shoot.
It can help you pay somebody to make a couple Instagram reels for you or some TikTok content
for you.
So that can go a long way if you really think on how to use it.
Shit, you can go on a website like Fiverr and now that, that 125 Tez has a lot more use
to it on a website like that, you know?
So just wanted to piggyback off of what you said and thank you for sharing that, bro.
I also feel this kind of thing can also help a lot of community, uh, activities or digital
activities.
Like, um, I have this magazine, uh, it's for creatives, like local creatives of Pakistan.
And I feel like I'm thinking of making, like, because I, I take inspiration from so many,
um, of these web three galleries that people are building to feature artists from their,
uh, hometowns and countries.
And I think that's an amazing initiative.
And for the people who don't want to go through the whole trouble to actually go and mint their
work and all of that, I think we can, as community, uh, like, you know, uh, stakeholders, we can
do that for them.
And this kind of grant can actually support that a lot.
Um, you know, that minting of the whole thing or, uh, promoting these things on, on, on other
digital platforms like Instagram and stuff.
And I also feel like there is another, there's another really, uh, huge thing that I at least
keep like two, uh, slides in one worksheet for, uh, in, in, uh, in a masterclass or workshop
is, you know, what are the other potential opportunities in web three other than making
sales or, or only thinking of that as a validation, as you go into the market or, or, you know, as
you were planning to stay there.
And something that you really want to put down into your strategy is, you know, look
into other things that the blockchain allows you to do, like, you know, global collaborations
and these exhibitions that are happening in, you know, NFT, NYC, NFT Bali, all of these
things that are happening or, or, you know, like global exposure, finding community.
And I think on objects, especially specifically, there are such amazing global collaborations happening
with art, uh, you know, there are so many different art styles that are happening.
I keep looking at this amazing artist.
Her name is Peeta, uh, and she's from Iran.
She keeps collaborating with so many different artists, uh, from the object community.
And all of those pieces are like amazing, like outstanding pieces.
And I think this is the kind of opportunity that Tez is like Tez, the Tez community creates
and it's, it's amazing.
But thank you so much, Varun, for letting me know about that.
I think this is going to be a huge help.
I'm happy to help.
And if it amplifies the voice in the region, I think that's going to be amazing because,
yeah, collaborations between our countries would be awesome.
Set a great example for how the web ecosystem can be a different context to things.
I don't know how much time do we have, Varun, but I would definitely want, uh, to hear from
Swati, but, uh, uh, before that, also, if you could, uh, send invites to, uh, Humble,
there's Rachel, John Lee, Rohan, um, Abro, they've, they've been active on Tez.
Humble is also generous enough to collect from a lot of people, even before we started collecting.
So I'd love to hear his, his perspective.
I'm sorry.
I thought, uh, I didn't realize I was still only the co-host.
I would like to step down then maybe, because I don't know everyone.
Oh my God.
You can, you can come up as co-host and then I'll join a speaker.
Is that cool with you?
It'll take a second.
Yeah.
Okay.
So while we do that, I do want to, I do want to tell everybody, um, this year, um, February,
we had the India Art Fair and, uh, February or January.
Oh, okay.
One of those, one of those days, one of those months.
And, uh, thanks to Varun and Varundo, as we all know him.
Uh, I think they were the first time, first time there was, of course, and NFTs, it was
about NFTs, but it was also about generative art was, they had like a huge, huge stall for
Indian artists, uh, talking about generative art at the India Art Fair.
And it was, it was amazing.
I will want to share, uh, that post if I find it, I will do that.
But, um, it was, it was, I think for me, uh, coming from this part of the world, of course,
traditional artists, yes, uh, traditional art, but also from the NFT space and getting
to know what generative art is.
I know there are, if you're not a part of the NFT space, yes, uh, four out of five people
don't know what generative art is.
I didn't know until I came into the NFT space and made friends.
And, uh, now I have friends who create generative art and I was like, what is this?
What is this generative art?
What are these lines and dots and you people call this art?
Yes.
I was very ignorant, but then yes, now I'm smarter.
So yes, I, Varun, I, I hope, I don't know where to go, but yeah.
But yes, so, um, Swati, hello, how are you?
Hello, hello, I'm fine.
How are you?
I hope everybody's good.
I don't know if Varun is listening.
There's Vanu, Shondi, oh my God, there are so many people.
I can't take everybody's name.
Your voice is a little muffled.
Is it?
Is it?
Am I fine now?
Much better.
You, did you come out of the well?
Yes, much better.
Oh, okay.
Maybe some internet issues.
What did you say?
Maybe, maybe I what?
Never mind.
Came out of the well.
Oh, I came out of the well.
Yeah, okay.
I don't know.
I'm speaking in a space after a very long time, like in a recorded space.
So, excuse me.
But yeah, I want to say that I'm pretty much new in this test community.
I just minted my Genesis a couple of months before.
That's pretty new, right?
Because I've been in this space for a very, very long time.
Not very long time.
Not as long as you.
But it's still been a year.
And then I've been always, I've been always contemplating on whether to go on test or whether to not go on test.
I was discouraged by many to not go on test because, you know, because of the pricing issue.
Like they were not very comfortable selling their art for much lesser price.
And I was heavily influenced by people's opinion around me.
And that took me very long to come on test.
But I took this leap on faith.
Especially when the bear market started upon us, like very heavily.
It's not like there was no bear market.
When I came, it was, I entered in bear market in last year when it just started.
But then the things went drastically down south.
When even the ETH gas went up to so high that, you know, people were very reluctant to mint on ETH.
People were reluctant to buy, people are still reluctant to buy art on ETH.
And that is, that is a time when I thought, okay, let me, let me just give it a try.
And it was only a boon to me to have my work displayed on test.
Because just, just as you, like you do so many things and you have so many different forms of arts.
I do different things.
And even in photography.
And even in my personal work life, I am a food stylist.
And I always wanted to get my collection into the blockchain.
But I don't want, I don't want to confuse my profile.
I mean, in my head that, I mean, in my opinion, in my head.
It's Tara, she founded the movie who was here.
Oh, that's cool.
So, yeah.
Yeah, Fahmy is just making her presence felt.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't realize I had pressed the mute.
I was showing off.
No, that's all right.
Fahmy, I'm still here.
Just, just address it.
Yes.
Swati, go ahead.
That's okay.
Hi, Fahmy.
So, yeah.
And it was, and it was a great opportunity for, to showcase my work.
Because then in my head, I'd be confusing, I'd be confusing the community or the people
here that, you know, I do all the things and I do wildlife.
Because there are especially photographers who do only wildlife.
There are especially photographers who just do long exposure.
There are, there are, there are photographers who just do one thing and one thing only.
But it was not so.
In my case, I do everything.
Even in photography genre, I like to, I like to do my drone photography now.
I like to take portraits.
I like to do wildlife, you name it.
And I like to do it.
And because I'm a food stylist, I like to take photos.
I take my food photos as well.
So, I wanted, I wanted to keep everything separately, you know, where it's not confusing for me.
And it is not confusing for others.
So, this was a really great opportunity that I could display my food photography.
And in future, yes, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm planning to expand my portfolio in TESS.
Right now, I'm a little busy, but yeah, I'm looking forward to have more and more mints on TESS.
Yeah, that's about me.
I'm so sorry.
I've taken a very long time to, you know, tell my life story.
But yeah, that is how it is.
Thanks a lot.
Awesome.
Do you have any questions for Varun?
Because especially since you are into photography, I don't know if Varun has had any experiences of photographers putting up their work, especially the transition from, you know, from ETH to TESS.
And how Swati said she, and I know because I know Swati, she's a friend.
And there are a lot of photographers who are very, very skeptical about, okay, I'm undervaluing my work.
I was told this, oh, you're undervaluing your work.
Do not put it on TESS.
I was like, no, I do, I do 20 things.
And I want my work all over the place.
The moment you open your Twitter, my work needs to just bother you.
Like, it's going to be there everywhere.
So that's how I am.
Varun, do you have anything, any suggestions?
Hey, Swati.
Yeah, suggestions in terms of photography.
Photography, I think the photographic community on Tezos is so self-supporting that way that I don't know what much else to say because most of them come on very, very prepared and ready with things.
The community also.
So the first time I saw the disclaimer about use of your NFT were from photographers.
They put a little copyright disclaimer in their work.
And I think that's one of the first questions a lot of IRL photographers ask me is, why should we put a high res work on the blockchain?
And I think this is the most common question that's been asked to me.
So rather than answer questions, I'd probably ask this one.
What do you think, Swati?
What is the argument or the reason I could give photographers to explain to them that it's okay to put your high res work on the blockchain?
Hi, Varun.
First of all, it's been a very long time.
That's because you're anti-social, okay?
Not because I'm not in the space.
Yeah.
So the answer is, see, first of all, I don't understand this argument.
I mean, you take like rightfully so much pride in your work.
And why do you want to not put the best work and the best quality on the blockchain?
Like, why do you want to do that?
I don't understand.
Yeah, I do understand that people, you know, just downloading your things off the internet and using it for their personal use.
But that is going to happen anyways.
It's, I mean, I don't understand this argument at all.
If you ask me, I have put all my works in high resolution everywhere.
I mean, whatever mints I have done, whether it is on ETH or TES, I don't understand.
Like, why, why?
You have, you know, to create a one photograph, to edit a one photograph.
And say, suppose in my case, if you are a conceptual photographer, you, you, there is a long process.
Okay, you write down what do you want, what are the props are required, what is the idea, the execution of the idea and the editing.
You take so much, there is so much work goes behind it.
And why do you want to, after putting in so much of work, why do you want to put in a low resolution work on blockchain?
I don't understand this.
So, it's, it's, it's beyond my, it's beyond my understanding.
Swati, may I record this and just play it back at my workshops when they ask me this, because I think they need to hear your voice.
Please do, please do, gladly, please do.
Or I'll call you and put you on speakerphone.
Yeah, sure.
I need, I need help, you know, it's like dodging bullets most of the time.
You're most welcome.
Awesome.
And like I say, very, very, very often in the NFT space, when I grow up, I want to be Chun-Li.
Hello Chun-Li, how are you?
When you grow up, you want to be me.
Why, why, why don't you grow up?
It's more fun to be me before you grow up.
Because that's, that's, when we don't know the rules and all that, it's how we can fuck things around.
Because then, you know, kids don't get blamed for a lot of things.
I mean, they can blame you, but they can't really put you in jail, you know.
So, yeah.
Don't wait till you grow up.
Fuck things around now.
But anyway, thanks for having me here.
I will be glad to be an ordinary Indian right now.
Yes, it's always a pleasure to hear from you because you are, and why I say when I, when I grow up, I want to be you is because you are somebody who the community, the NFT space cannot miss.
Yes, you have to have, you have to see Chun-Li, you have to see her work.
Her work is there everywhere.
She is, even if she's not there, her work is there everywhere.
You name the blockchain and her work is there.
And I think that is somebody who is working, I think, 10 times more than what any of us is, or rather all of us put together.
Because I see, I see, that's where I see you.
And, and for an artist like you, who's got her work across chains and across IRL exhibitions and everywhere, you are still very proud of your work on TES.
And I think that is what some artists who still are contemplating the whole process of, oh, should I put my work on TES?
Why should I put my work on TES?
Because I think you are someone they need to look at because you have your work.
And I hear you so many times in the spaces, you, you're like, my work is here, my work is here, and this is, this is there.
And, and then you also have a lot of work on TES.
So we'd love to hear from you.
Um, yeah, okay, I can, okay, I think there's been a lot of myths and misconception going on.
But I don't actually have a lot of work across a lot of blockchains.
Um, because what I want to figure out is, um, if I have, um, too many different wallets to take care of, too many different storefronts, I can't concentrate.
So actually, all I am concentrating on these days is TES and ETH.
And in fact, I don't really put up a lot of stuff compared to a lot of people because I draw my stuff very, very slowly.
And so I can't, I don't have that many products.
And so if you don't know me, and you go through my wallet, uh, you probably get an impression that I am more of an art collector than an artist, even though I am an artist, mostly an artist.
I mean, I'm really an artist, not really a collector, though, though I do have more stuff than some people call themselves a collector, which is quite strange.
Um, yeah, so, so that's that.
And on TESOS especially, um, you know, uh, some, who was it to say that, um, artworks on TESOS can be undervalued?
And you know what?
I think it is.
A lot of artworks are undervalued.
Don't do that to yourselves, especially now with TESOS being so low-priced.
Um, you know, especially if you've, you've been doing art for a while, you have sold your art in real life, whether it's a commission, uh, in commercial setting, or, uh, whether it's even as a hobby, you've been doing a hobby, you've been so fine-tuning for so many years.
All those years mean something.
It's your blood, your sweat, your electricity bills, you know, your food that you've eaten, the numbers of flushes you have to make to get rid of the shit that came out from the food.
It's, it's all that, it's all practice, so please value yourselves properly.
And that's what I've been doing as well.
I've been, uh, pushing my prices up, uh, recently, and not just on ETH, but on TESOS as well.
Oh, because, yeah, at first it was fun.
It's like, wow, I'm getting a dollar sale here, a dollar sale there.
But after a while, I figured out that none of that could actually cover bills, you know, especially that I'm doing this full-time.
I have to actually sell for, for higher prices.
And guess what?
The, the last one-to-one artwork that I sold was on TESOS.
And it's, uh, 2,000 TESOS.
I mean, okay, TESOS now is not as expensive as when I listed it, but at the time when I listed it, it was a lot more money.
So, you know, you guys can do that as well.
You just have to back it up with, uh, of course, a track record with, um, I don't know, promoting it in a lot of different places.
Just do that.
Just concentrate on, on, on that, on the aspect of yourself.
Don't, don't undersell yourself.
Don't do that.
I see a lot of you are underselling yourself because I know it's desperate times, but, you know, um, art has always been like this.
It's always been very slow moving.
So, yeah, um, that's all I want to say.
And, oh, Varun Do, thank you for the, um, that little tip about the, uh, um, what do you call them again?
TES Foundation?
Not foundation.
Sorry.
The other guys.
No, the TESOS Comments.
Comments, yeah.
I didn't know that they were giving out grants.
That's, that's very useful for a lot of people here.
Every month.
Every month.
Yeah, thanks for that.
Thanks for that.
So, uh, yeah, but I think I've nagged on too much.
Um, I'm becoming an auntie and I, yeah.
Okay.
Back to you guys.
Varun?
Sorry.
Did I miss a question?
I looked away.
There was no question.
Okay.
I'm just checking on you.
I'm here.
Turn around.
I think Luna wants to say hi.
Yes.
Luna, please go ahead.
No, I just wanted to say that this is my first time in this space and I'm very, I'm
very glad I decided to stop by because it's so nice to make all of your acquaintance and
I'm really enjoying the conversation.
I know I had questions initially about, um, you know, TES and multi-blockchains and all
that.
So thank you so much for indulging my questions and I forgot to introduce myself earlier.
So I decided to just come back to intro myself.
So very nice to meet everyone.
Um, the name is Iluna.
Uh, you pronounced it correctly.
Iluna Freak or Iluna or Luna.
Any of them, um, is perfectly okay.
And yes, very nice to make everyone's acquaintance again.
And I think I'm going to be joining in the future.
So I wanted to ask, when do you come on?
So what time and what days?
Uh, really glad we could meet you, Iluna.
Um, this has not been a regular space for a few months now.
So I can't tell you which day of the week it'll happen, but usually it's at 9.30 PM India
time, um, which UTC, we're five and a half hours ahead of, um, standard time.
Um, so 9.30 PM.
Um, if you look at the, uh, TEAC host account, um, and you follow that, you would get notified.
Uh, but there's also a poster which has all the times on it.
I don't, I didn't memorize it, but it's got, uh, India standard time, it's got UTC as well
as Eastern standard time for people in, uh, in America.
So all three are listed.
I just don't remember it off the top of my head.
So it's 9.30 PM Indian standard time, 4 PM UTC and 12 PM EST.
Yes.
Thank you, Sanu.
Great.
Yeah.
Um, yes, I think we have our last speaker for the evening.
Hello, humble.
Uh, good afternoon from my side of the world.
Um, so Minji, uh, so, and Manuji and everyone else, uh, in the room.
Um, I was in and out of the room.
Um, so, um, didn't get the most of the conversation, but, uh, one thing I did pick up and I just
want to make a comment about that first.
Uh, you know, um, one of the things that I realized in NFT space, um, is the lack of
information sharing.
Um, I think I've spoken about that plenty of times, uh, we gatekeep the information that we have or the resources and we, we, we, we want to give it to the select few, uh, of our chosen ones in our group, in our cliques, in our whatever gang you want to call it.
Um, you know, um, and I often say this, that, you know, please, um, if you, you know, one of the best things or the service you can do, uh, to enhance yourself or others in, in, in the NFT space is to share the information that you have.
Um, and, you know, what I picked up so far from Warren, um, you know, um, I really, really appreciate you sharing all the information that you have so far.
Um, and, you know, uh, definitely looking forward to, uh, you know, at the same note, if, if Simran calls you, uh, an OG, then you are in fact an OG, uh, you know, so mad respect for that.
Um, uh, and, you know, um, thank you for doing what you're doing.
Um, you know, uh, it's about creating that the best user experience for each other.
And, you know, it's not only for the ones that are, that are interested in wanting to join the blockchain, but, uh, you know, sometimes it's for the ones that been here for a long time.
Like, you know, something about the test comments that you shared, most of the people in this space didn't even know about it.
So stuff like that, or, or, or any tiny little tricks and, you know, um, tips that you can share.
Um, and that goes for anyone, you know, like Chilney said that, you know, she, she, she, she was able to sell her artwork for 2000 tests, you know, would love to know how she approached or, you know, she can do a space about that where she shares her experience as to selling that on test.
Because for, you know, on eat, it may not have been a, uh, you know, a big, big number, but on test, that's a big number.
So I think I'm pretty sure everyone who's on test would love to hear your, uh, you know, experience of selling it.
Um, you know, you're, you're, you're reaching out, you know, a lot of times, and I'll tell you another thing that, uh, something I've experienced myself.
A lot of times we, we tend to gatekeep our, uh, our collectors, our investors, the ones we make close connections with.
We just want them for ourselves.
I think we, in, in, in order for us to strengthen the, the, the NFT space and the blockchain itself, you know, we need more people together who are keeping the, the, uh, how should I say it?
The, the, the money or, or, or, or the liquidation, you know, they're not, uh, leaking it.
They are keeping it within the blockchain or within the ecosystem.
So I think, you know, if, if there is a, if we are able to create a group like that, I think that will be another, uh, great, uh, amazing thing that we can achieve in the space.
Um, so now I just wanted to say that, and, you know, thank you.
Thank you so much for having such a great space, uh, filled with, uh, information and everything.
Tell me to please go ahead.
Oh, yeah.
Thanks.
I was trying to press the button and this couldn't come on.
Uh, okay.
I'll answer that.
Uh, thanks for the question.
Um, okay.
Basically what I've done is I, okay.
That, that artwork was created actually, uh, for a show in New York city back in April.
Uh, they, they, they were running a theme that's very anime, a manga, and it was really down my, my alley.
And so I did that, you know, and, uh, as a little homage to, to New York as well for the billboards.
And also that artwork itself has a lot of stories to tell within it.
It's about media controls, it's about brainwashing, it's about, uh, basic messages like buy, obey, consume, and, yeah.
So that's the base of it.
And, and how I promoted it was, um, I just kept putting it up on shows.
I kept, uh, answering open calls, putting it everywhere.
And, uh, and, okay.
At the same time, uh, my, my portfolio on, on foundation was submitted into, um, no, I think it was before that I submitted the thing to, uh, to an open call of the Florence Biennale.
And so in, in May, uh, a month after the, that, the artwork was put up, uh, the, the result of that, uh, open call came and, and I was announced as one of the top 10, uh, in, in that contest.
So that gave it a boost, gave my portfolio a boost as well.
And, but the thing is, I never, ever stopped promoting the artwork.
And I've just pinned up there on a jumbotron, um, something that just happened yesterday or last weekend, Saturday or Sunday.
You see, uh, even after the artwork was sold, it's still being promoted out there because that's how I've been pushing it, um, to open calls.
In fact, right now I am still planning to go ahead to have it up somewhere else too.
You know, so whoever bought it, I hope he's chuffed about this.
Um, and I didn't approach, um, collectors.
I, I've, I don't do that.
I'd never, ever do that.
So this guy came out of the blue and they said that, you know, he's always liked my work and he's always been saving up to buy my one-to-ones because I've always priced them quite high.
In fact, uh, before it came to me, I, I, uh, because I knew that it was going to go on another tour, I raised up the price further.
It, I was actually raising it up to beyond 2000.
And it was, uh, if they noted in object, you, I don't know if they do, but it was raised up much higher, but this guy only, uh, was ready to pay for 2000.
So he made that offer and I accepted it after we have a lot of conversation about other works and this and that, um, it was either the, the, it's Tesla's piece or, or other artworks on, on ETH, but he opted for this.
In fact, I think he wanted it so much.
He, he, uh, he, he started a test wallet.
He started a test wallet and now he, I think he's becoming, it's going to quickly become a whale here because he buys a lot of work on Tesla's.
So, so, um, I think I managed to kill two birds with one stone.
I managed to sell an artwork and also managed to convert a collector from previously used to some, an ETH maxi, you know, into, into Tezos.
So, hey, let's wrap our hands, but okay.
Anyway, this guy's a nice guy.
Please don't, um, don't treat him as like an ATM.
Um, yeah, seriously.
Okay.
Back to you guys.
Awesome.
Um, I, I love it when I'm, I'm absolutely okay with submitting my sold artwork, uh, for, you know, for exhibitions or for like the work, my work last year, the work that was there at Times Square.
I've still not minted it.
I don't know.
It's just too special.
I just, it's just there.
It's one of my first pieces from my Sindhu series.
And it's just there.
I, I haven't minted it yet.
Uh, but this year, the piece that was, it was already sold in November in, on Maker's Place.
And I still submitted it in, you know, for NFT and YC in June and it was there.
So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's like I say, these are pieces of me, so it really doesn't matter.
It's always me, whether it's sold or unsold.
But, um, yes, uh, I, I did, Aatsi, I'm so happy.
I'm so sorry.
One, that I forgot to send you the invite, but two, I'm glad you came here.
Uh, would love to hear from you.
Varun is here.
Everybody who, um, doesn't know Varun, Varun Doh.
Uh, he is, uh, the person in charge or rather the person who's accelerating the whole Tezos
India movement, object for India, Tez, Indian art and culture, everything that is Varun Doh.
And, um, I would love to hear, Aatsi, I'd love to hear from you because I really want you
to share about the project.
And, yes, you've been in, on Tez, you are, uh, someone I look up to, you know, in, uh,
as an artist on Tez.
So we would love to hear from you.
Please go ahead.
Oh, you're so sweet.
Thank you for having me.
And I'm sorry, I heard you say you were about to, um, close up, but I'm glad I popped in just
in time.
Um, my name is Marianne.
I'm a nature and wildlife photographer, yeah, photographer, sorry, and, um, trying to learn
about AI mostly this year.
Um, but what I wanted to speak about, I hope it's okay if I pin this up, this, um, is the
Tez Maui aid event.
Uh, I don't know if probably many of you are aware of the devastating wildfires, um, in Maui,
Hawaii, about two and a half weeks ago now.
Um, there was a loss of life is currently, I think at 115 and several hundred people are
still unaccounted for.
And there's an estimated $6 billion of property damage there.
Um, so I just wanted to, I mean, I just know how much the Tezos community comes together
in times of need and remembering, uh, Tez quake aid with the earthquakes, um, in Turkey and
Syria, excuse me, I'm eating lunch.
I wanted to just do my little part to see if we could send some aid to Maui.
Uh, so I was just able to connect with a organization called Crypto for Charity that already had
a Maui wildfire relief fund that accepts crypto donations and was able to speak with one of
the representatives there who gave me a dedicated Tez wallet address to use for donations.
So that's kind of the gist of it.
I've got the details of this event, um, posted up here.
There's a little poster and some, some more details.
Uh, there's a NFT biker.
I don't know if you know him.
He set up an event page for us where you can see the current stats, what's been collected,
how many people are participating.
And it also shows all of the artworks that are associated with the, with the event.
And you can shop directly from that page.
Uh, let's see what else.
One thing that I don't have, I think in this post is that if you don't have time or don't
want to mint a new piece, you can also take an existing piece that's on, uh, Tezos and
delist it and relist it using the donation address.
And, um, if you do that, if you could just drop me a DM or comment because it won't show
up on the NFT biker event page automatically because it's that event page is looking for
the Tez Mawiyade, uh, tag.
Sorry, I'm getting way down in the weeds.
I feel like, but anyway, just, um, just DM me or, or comment if you have questions and
I hope that kind of summarizes the event.
Thanks.
Sure.
Thank you so much.
Uh, yes.
And, and since we were talking so much about Tez and community and minting and all of that,
I was very excited when, uh, Marianne recently, it was her birthday and she did like an open
edition and I was like, wow, this is interesting.
So yes, I'm also going to do that very shortly because I'm, I, I'm going to use this idea
for my birthday and I'm going to put up one of my works as an open edition, which is very
exciting.
I love it.
And, uh, yes, if whoever wants to donate, um, your artwork, please do it.
It's going to be fun.
And I, I'm going to do, uh, I'm going to be putting up one of my artworks, uh, sometime
today.
So yes, let's, uh, let's go.
Thank you so much, uh, Marianne.
Uh, it's always lovely to hear from you.
And, um, yes, uh, Varun Doe, you have any questions?
Sorry.
Go ahead.
Uh, Marianne.
Oh, just going to say thank you.
Thanks again.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you, Marianne, for what you're doing.
Um, I had, I just had a, uh, a thought.
Have you thought of connecting with, uh, the test vending machine and doing the, um, the
fundraising through that?
If artists want to donate their artwork, that could be a good way of raising funds as well.
Um, just a thought, maybe we can take it offline and I can help connect you to, uh, the test
vending machine, um, admin.
Okay.
Yeah, that sounds great.
I'm not really familiar with that.
So definitely would love to speak with you offline.
Okay.
Good night.
Thanks.
So we're done.
We have our last speaker for the day.
And, uh, this speaker is the reason I went and spent a lot of tests this morning.
I went to Sia's, uh, Twitter account and then I don't know what happened.
And then I went into her object because she was collecting two, three days ago she was
collecting.
And I was like, wait, let me go stock the work because Sia has, has a knack.
She collects, she has, she has a very nice, you know, she, she collects really pretty stuff.
And I was like, let me go stock her profile and let me see if I can collect.
And I ended up buying like from five artists, like eight pieces, of course, including Sia.
So blame it on Sia.
Hi, Sia.
Hey, Simran.
How are you?
Hi, Marianne.
Hi, Chun-Li.
Oh my gosh.
Amazing speakers.
And, um, I'm kind of an addict.
I don't think I, somebody should have introduced me to Tessos because this is bad.
I can't seem to stop, but, um, yeah, I mean, I, I love art.
And, uh, one of the ways that I appreciate art is by, you know, getting the ones that
I, that I'm interested in, at least the mediums, um, you know, that I can't master, but I'd
like to look at, right?
Like, you know, if I try, put my mind to it and years of practice, maybe I'll be able
to master, but, but I think that I love, um, the fact that we have a platform that we're
able to collect, um, art pieces that inspire us, right?
Like all art inspires everyone I feel in my mind.
So I absolutely love collecting, uh, Tessos art and creating art on Tessos just because
I feel, um, it gives people the freedom and flexibility to buy, right?
You don't have to be a huge collector to invest like one or two ETH or drop, you know, uh, ETH
like that to be able to collect something good.
But I think we were seeing more and more, uh, I want to say commercial, I want to say,
I want to use the word commercial, like ETH artists jumping onto Tessos and trying it
out and they're, they're doing pretty good.
But I also feel like from the small guy to the one who's been selling out galleries are
doing equally well, um, even in a bear market.
So I feel it's more of a validation thing.
And I feel like having Tessos just helped that because, you know, ETH can get sometimes
dreary because there's peak moments and then there's a dip.
But in Tessos, you know, even if you get like a $5, $10, $20 sale, you're like, yes, I
finally made a sale.
It's like, um, it's that satisfaction that somebody appreciated your art.
And I'd like to do that for other people because people did it for me.
Wow.
Yes.
Uh, in the beginning of this space, um, Iluna asked me, why am I on Tess?
Yes, yes, I've been on Ethereum since 2021.
We're almost the end of 2023.
I am on Tess because of two things.
One, the community.
I've got to meet such amazing human beings across the globe.
And two, being a little more important for me personally is that it keeps me going for
some reason, you know, somewhere it's that validation I get as an artist that, okay, you
know, I made this sale, which means somewhere, somebody across, you know, uh, across the
oceans who likes my work.
And as an artist, it is so important that little push that you get that, oh, my work
got collected, even if it is for a dollar, even if it is for that $2, $5.
Um, and then somebody flips it and I'm like, oh, wow, this is exciting.
I think it keeps the child in me going every day that, oh, this is interesting.
This is nice.
And, um, I enjoy it.
So, yeah, I mean, uh, that's, that's what Tess has done to me over a period of time.
So, I, I love it.
Um, Varun, do you have anything?
Varun is being very quiet.
Varun's like, I'm just going to, like, let Simran do her talking because we will talk
nonstop.
Yes, I'm just sitting back and listening for a change.
It's nice.
But yes, for everyone, uh, I will repeat, if you do not know Varun Do, uh, he is an OG.
For me, he's one of the first people I met in the space two years ago, two and a half
years ago.
And, uh, he is, uh, I had no clue what generative art is.
And then he and another very close friend of mine, Pixelkar, they introduced me to generative
art.
I was like, what is this lines and dots?
And they were like, no, this is our life.
This is what we do for a living.
And this is very trippy.
And I was like, oh my God.
And now I'm a very proud collector of both their artworks.
So now I kind of understand what generative art is like over the, over a period of time.
But yes, also.
Those in their art and culture.
And I love it because, uh, I am super proud that I can represent my country and, uh, especially
the artists that come from my country.
I'm super excited.
So, yes.
Um, this was fun.
This is very interesting.
Thank you everybody, uh, for, uh, coming here and, you know, spending time with us.
Oh, um, do you have anything else to say, Varun?
Yes.
Uh, since a lot of new people have joined, um, another reminder about the Mintathon.
So the Mintathon is, uh, it's an application that's open right now for a four week mentorship
and grant program, uh, to explore Indian cultural heritage through the blockchain.
So that's something that's being conducted by the Goethe Institute, um, but we've shared
it on the, the channel right above.
So it's open till the 31st.
So it's open to everyone to partake in.
You have to form a team of three.
So please do register.
All the information is in the pin tweet above.
Yes.
And you could also join the discord.
The TIAC, the host, uh, Ted's India Art and Culture, um, does have the discord, uh, channel.
So you can always join it.
Yes.
Yeah.
If you, if this is all Greek to you, or well, some other language, um, and you don't know
what Tezos is and you don't know where you've stumbled and you want to get started, uh, the
discord channel is a good place to start.
So the, the invite is in the host bio, the TIAC, Ted's India Art and Culture bio.
And out there, there is a ticket system where you can open a ticket and then someone will
help you and answer questions.
Or there's a whole bunch of checklists that you can go through as an artist to mint your
first NFT.
And there's also a fountain.
So if you don't have any Tez and you've just opened your wallet, if you don't have a wallet,
and then there's a section on how to open your wallet, and then you can claim 0.5 Tez and
learn how to mint your first NFT.
And, you know, if you spend a bit of time, you can do all of this yourself pretty much
and, uh, kind of discover this amazing world that a lot of us discovered in 2021.
Um, I keep saying there's nothing like this falling into this, uh, kaleidoscope for the
first time.
I still remember my first time on HEN.
It was absolutely mind-blowing.
This was during the object-for-object event and, yeah, it was a life-changing experience
for me.
Uh, things are obviously very different now.
Back then there was the pandemic and, you know, that amplified stuff, but I still think
it's pretty cool.
Try to share my enthusiasm and love for that, uh, that kind of discovery.
with other people.
So, uh, the TEAC Discord is a great place to just get started and get your first feet
on the ground.
Yeah, that's all I have to say about that.
Um, really thank you everyone for coming.
Uh, Simran, thank you for inviting this amazing community and that you've created around,
um, just your, your sense of friendliness with, with everyone.
It's awesome.
I'm learning as much from you as you claim to be learning from me, but I learned a lot
from you too.
So, thank you.
I'm learning to be a good girl from you.
Like, my mother will be proud someday.
Like, she's like, oh my God, what just happened to this woman?
But, uh, yes, I will, I will, um, wrap up the space on a fact which is, I, you, I don't
know if, you know, across the world you have these, we used to have this fear of facts.
So, this is literally a fear of facts that I am somebody who in 2021, June, uh, paid
close to $200 and went for a class for two days to learn about what is NFT and what is
blockchain.
And do not laugh, but yes, I paid close to, I was just calculating like in comparing, you
know, converting Indian rupees to USD.
Yes, I am the one who knows, see, I don't laugh, but yes, I paid, I paid $200 to get
to know what is, uh, uh, what is blockchain.
And, and I, for the longest time, I know my early friends, I used to say, what is edition
and what is collection?
What's the difference?
And they're like, uh, it's the same piece.
And I said, what is collection?
Why don't you just call it a folder?
Why are you complicating things?
But yes, I did, I did pay that money, but I am so glad that once I got to know everything,
uh, early, most part of 2022, I was educating, uh, I was working with ColorMint because ColorMint
and I met at, uh, at, uh, one of the NFT events and I was working with them.
And I was teaching, uh, about the blockchain and about, uh, object, not objects, sorry,
Tezos, uh, across colleges and workplaces.
And I am so happy that I got to do that because it was all for free.
Like I know last I counted, we, we had covered at least about 900 students and which was a
lot for it, for me, at least doing it on zoom calls and trying to educate students, uh,
in my city and, you know, in and around, which was a lot of, it was very interesting.
We used to give, uh, ColorMint was, was generous.
We used to give them tears, like two tears and one tears and, you know, have them mint.
And they used to be excited.
The kids were super excited.
Yeah.
So it was fun, but yes, I'm also one of those few people who paid a lot of money to get
to know what is a blockchain.
So yes.
On that note, thank you everybody.
Uh, thank you for being here and, um, it's always a pleasure to, uh, chill with the community.
So yes.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Varun.
Thank you everyone.
Have a great night.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
