RAW Review
By RAW DAO
RAW ReviewSep 02, 2022
5 - Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah (Ava Silvery): the promises and shortcomings of web3
In this final episode of the RAW Review, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah, also know as Ava Silvery. Akosua is an internationally exhibited and published German-Ghanaian visual artist currently based in Zürich, Switzerland. Works from her project Behold The Ocean have been collected by RAW DAO and she is also a member of CyberbaatDAO. We cover a lot of ground in this episode: our reflections on the arts education system and what it didn’t prepare us for, her father’s background as a software engineer and how it led her to blockchain technology, the promises and shortcomings of web3 and NFTs as a model for sustainably funding artists… and even horse girls.
Topics Discussed:
The pitfalls of art school
RAW DAO
The promise of web3
Blindness as a disability
The spectrum of decentralization in DAOs
New models for funding artists
Chapters:
00:01:32 Ava discovering photography
00:04:00 Ava’s experience studying art in Germany
00:05:59 Reflecting on the experience of formal arts education
00:07:00 The disconnect between artists and profs + making ends meet after graduation
00:12:05 Living in Switzerland and Horse Girls
00:16:40 Behold the Ocean
00:19:27 The success of typologies in NFT photography
00:22:25 Expectations for selling out collections in the space and
00:23:45 Ava’s dad telling her about web3 before she knew what web2 was
00:27:09 Being open to new forms of technology, blindness & parallels between Ava & Brileigh
00:33:02 Crowdfunding Behold the Ocean vs relying on grants
00:39:20 Is web3 fulfilling its promise?
00:45:14 What is CyberbaatDAO
00:48:24 Traditional organization models vs DAOs
00:53:03 DAO is a sexy word and the spectrum of decentralization
00:57:56 DAOs raising the bar for what people working in the arts should be compensated for vs traditonal workplace models
01:00:00 Universal basic income
01:03:02 What are we trying to achieve with NFT photography
01:04:00 Projects in the pipeline for Ava
Follow Akosua on Twitter: @AvaSilvery
Behold the Ocean website: beholdtheocean.com
RAW DAO website: www.rawdao.xyz
Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao
Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao
Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb
Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh
Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Engineering: Matthew Brooks
Music: Sam Cronenberg
Cover art: Sam Cronenberg
4 - Alejandro Cartagena: building the NFT photography space from the ground up
Topics Discussed: Alejandro's story of discovering photography and becoming a successful artist
Building community with Fellowship and Obscura
Developing sustainable funding models for artists
Alejandro's advice for photographers trying to find success in the space
Chapters: 00:01:49 The Alejandro origin story before becoming a photographer
00:03:44 Alejandro’s entry to photography
00:09:29 Alejandro’s journey to becoming an established artist
00:15:04 The birth of Carpoolers
00:19:29 Alejandro discovering NFTs and Foundation
00:26:32 Building community with Fellowship and Obscura
00:36:31 The curation process at Fellowship
00:40:25 Centralized vs. decentralized curation models
00:42:06 How Fellowship and Obscura’s missions are different
00:42:52 Developing sustainable models for funding artists
00:46:47 Artists marketing their work and what it really means to build community
00:51:09 Magnum Photos 75 NFT Collection
00:53:20 Magnum entering the NFT space and what this signals
00:56:34 The value of work by NFT native artists vs. traditional artists
00:59:43 The parallels between NFTs and the early days of digital photography
01:03:56 Alejandro’s advice for photographers trying to find success in the space
01:06:12 What’s next for Alejandro
Relevant links: Follow Alejandro on Twitter: @halecar2
Follow Obscura on Twitter: @obscuradao
Follow Fellowship Trust on Twitter: @fellowshiptrust
RAW DAO website: www.rawdao.xyz
Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao
Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao
Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb
Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh
Credits: Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Engineering: Matthew Brooks
Music: Sam Cronenberg
Cover art: Sam Cronenberg
3 - Carlo Van de Roer: September 20 and the story behind the RAW logo
In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Carlo Van de Roer. Carlo is a founding member of RAW DAO and the co-founder of Satellite Lab, a creative studio developing innovative lighting technologies for photography and filmmaking. In this episode, Carlo tells us about how he got involved with NFTs, the story behind his project September 20 which inspired the RAW logo, and his galaxy brain lighting technology PlateLight that allows users to retroactively control light after footage has been shot.
Topics discussed:
Chapters:
00:01:00 Carlo’s entry to photography
00:03:45 September 20 project
00:07:15 The process of September 20
00:10:03 September 20 Set 1 #1 and the RAW logo
00:11:24 Carlo joining RAW DAO at its formation
00:13:58 Carlo and collecting NFTs
00:14:41 Carlo’s relationship to selling and collecting in web3
00:19:45 Satellite Lab
00:22:26 Satellite Lab’s first invention Dynamic Light
00:25:04 Platelight, Satellite Lab’s second invention
00:27:57 Modulator One
00:32:27 Pushing the boundaries of photography through smart contracts and NFTs
00:35:25 The Portrait Machine Project
00:38:38 Carlos interest in new and obsolescent technologies
00:39:28 Carlo and future projects
Carlo’s website: http://www.vanderoer.com
Follow Carlo on Twitter: @Carlo_VandeRoer
RAW DAO website: www.rawdao.xyz
Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao
Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao
Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb
Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh
Credits:
Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Engineering: Matthew Brooks
Music: Sam Cronenberg
Cover art: Sam Cronenberg
2 - Shane Lavalette: co-founding Assembly, One Sun, One Shadow, and RAW Community Curation
In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Shane Lavalette. Shane is a founding artist of RAW DAO, the former director of non-profit organization Lightwork, and one of the co-founders of Assembly, which is a gallery, agency, and creative studio supporting visual artists from around the world. Today, we’ll talk with Shane about how he got involved with NFTs, the story behind Assembly, and his collection One Sun, One Shadow which was recently acquired by RAW DAO.
Topics discussed:
Layflat
Chapters:
00:00:57 Shane’s entry to photography
00:03:47 Artists Shane was inspired by
00:05:37 Layflat & interest in publishing
00:08:15 Photobook as a medium for photography
00:10:46 Lightwork and how Shane got involved
00:15:33 Traditional art world vs NFT space
00:16:53 Shane discovering NFTs, and co-founding Assembly
00:20:06 Where the name Assembly comes from
00:21:27 Assembly in the physical and the digital
00:23:58 Challenges onboarding traditional artists into Assembly
00:29:24 Finding artists in web3 that we knew from the photo world
00:31:50 Shane and RAW DAO
00:35:30 Curating, and RAW’s community approach to collecting art
00:37:54 One Sun, One Shadow
00:41:12 The story behind image #28 from One Sun, One Shadow
00:43:43 Quite photographs with tension and image #23 from One Sun, One Shadow
00:46:13 Shane’s relationship to the American South while moving from the North to the South
00:48:27 The importance of building community in the NFT space
00:53:11 Reflecting on Shane’s career and practice, thinking about the value of NFTs
00:56:48 Collectors in NFT space vs collectors in the traditional art world
01:00:52 Shane’s future plans
Shane’s website: www.shanelavalette.com
Follow Shane on Twitter: @shanelavalette
Assembly website: assembly.art
Follow Assembly on Twitter: @AssemblyCurated
RAW DAO Website: www.rawdao.xyz
Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao
Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao
Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb
Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh
Credits:
Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Engineering: Matthew Brooks
Music: Sam Cronenberg
Cover art: Sam Cronenberg
1 - Justin Aversano: building community in Twin Flames, Quantum Art, and RAW DAO
In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Justin Aversano. Justin is a founding artist of RAW DAO and the creator of Twin Flames, a series of photographs of 100 twins from around the world made in honour of his twin who passed away in utero. Launched in February 2021, Twin Flames has since become the highest selling NFT photography collection of all time. Justin is also the founder of SaveArtSpace, a non-profit that brings artists’ work to public space through commercial billboards, and Quantum which is a curated NFT platform and IRL gallery, co-working, and community space.
In this episode, we talk with Justin about studying photography and how he almost became a doctor, the story of Twin Flames and how it lead to the formation of RAW DAO and Quantum, and his latest project Smoke and Mirrors.
Topics discussed:
Twin Flames - 100 Twin Portraits on OpenSea
Twin Flames #49 auction at Sotheby's
Smoke and Mirrors - 78 Tarot Portraits on OpenSea
Smoke and Mirrors - Physical Tarot Scrolls on OpenSea
Chapters:
00:01:26 Justin discovering photography
00:03:51 Story of Twin Flames
00:06:05 Justin finding NFTs
00:11:13 Value of community building
00:14:41 Reflections on art school
00:16:08 Twin Flames #49
00:20:24 What makes RAW different than a traditonal art collection?
00:21:46 RAW’s Community Curation model
00:22:23 Quantum
00:24:44 Quantum IRL
00:25:32 NFTs as the digital twin of the physical reality - balancing both
00:29:06 The tension between community and greed in the NFT market
00:31:15 Smoke and Mirrors
00:33:33 Artists and mysticism
00:34:42 Tarot, and photography’s relationship to interpretation
00:36:51 Twindom, duality, chance, and interconnectedness in Justin’s life
Justin's website: justinaversano.com
Follow Justin on Twitter: @justinaversano
RAW DAO website: rawdao.xyz
Follow RAW DAO on Twitter: @theRAWdao
Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @0xmatthewb
Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh
Credits:
Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Engineering: Matthew Brooks
Music: Sam Cronenberg
Cover art: Sam Cronenberg