This is Whistle’s 15th article, discussing the innovative practices and future prospects of crypto art with the Black Void team.
Interview | Beichen
Guest | Cai Yixuan
Last year, "Whistle" wrote an article titled "Money Games, Social Currency, and Cultural Industry - Sorting out the NFT Collectibles Market Misled by Local Dogs", arguing that most people (from VCs to project owners to consumers) only understand the NFT collectibles market in terms of money games and social currency, and this misunderstanding makes them use entertainment consumer goods to touch art. Therefore, in the NFT collectibles market guided by superficial cognition, most of them are destined to be temporary illegal buildings. Now is the time to discuss post-disaster reconstruction!
We invited Cai Yixuan, the leader of the technology art team Black Void, to discuss topics such as the possibilities that blockchain technology brings to art (it is definitely more than just asset issuance) and how the art market should operate (it is definitely not as simple as pumping up the market) from the perspective of contemporary art. This has corrected many popular views in the past, which will help us to correctly judge the future direction of the crypto art market.
1. Beichen: It seems difficult to define Black Void. As a technology and art team composed of creators from multiple fields, what was the opportunity for the establishment of Black Void?
Cai Yixuan: I think there are two opportunities, one is technology and the other is the topic.
Black Void is an art and science creative team. The technologies we use include blockchain and AI, which triggered the explosion of digital art two or three years ago. NFT provides a model for confirming the ownership of digital media, and has also allowed many people to see high economic returns. AI, as a productivity tool, has brought efficiency improvements and created new image/video generation models.
At the same time, as an architect and curator, I have always been concerned about ecological issues. I taught the course "Post-Carbon Future" in the Crisis and Ecological Design major at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and also curated the exhibition "Vibrating Clouds" at Design Society in Shenzhen, discussing the atmospheric architecture interwoven with nature and infrastructure.
At that time, the development of digital technologies such as NFT and AI allowed us to intervene in ecological issues in a digital way and express them in an artistic way. So I asked friends such as algorithm engineers and data scientists to participate, and soon the Twin Cloud project was launched (currently, the core members of our team include Xiao Yuhan, Miao Xinrong, Hong Yun, etc.).
So whether it is the topic or the medium, the opportunity for the birth of Black Void happened to occur two years ago.
2. Beichen: Let’s talk specifically about the two works currently launched by Black Void. They may be difficult to understand for the audience in the Web3 industry. For example, Twin Cloud involves climate issues, generative art, Bitcoin greening and DePIN. How do they constitute the complete expression of the work?
Cai Yixuan: Twin Cloud is a generative art driven by meteorological data. Clouds are a reflection of ground activities. Chemical particles and aerosols produced by events on the ground will remain in the clouds even after the events are over. So we decided to use atmospheric chemistry to depict the clouds in each city, which is equivalent to generating a climate identity for the city.
So we used the Copernicus Ecological Satellite System to extract meteorological data from more than 300 cities around the world (such as information on 16 dimensions such as greenhouse gases, particulate pollutants, temperature, humidity, and geographic location), and finally presented this data in a visual way, making it more visually artistic, which is what we see as the digital cloud.
Each cloud has different colors, saturation, and movement patterns, expressing the weather of the city on a particular day.
Digital clouds and cities have a mapping relationship, which makes them very suitable for making NFT series. We have launched a generative art series consisting of 999 NFTs. Later, we also did some immersive exhibitions, cross-border collaborations with sustainable brands, and public art projects.
3. Beichen: So, Twin Cloud is not a finished work, but an independent project that is still running, and more resources will be connected in the future?
Cai Yixuan: Yes, Black Void has always been an artist team. We use art to connect projects/enterprises in different fields and use the emotional appeal of art to get more people to join the action.
During the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival in April this year, we held an exhibition called "Byte, Block, Black Void", which exhibited two special works: Twin Cloud Hong Kong presents Hong Kong's changing climate over the past seven years, and Twin Cloud Bitcoin is a "cloud" that reflects the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin network.
The size of the Bitcoin network is equivalent to a decentralized country or city. Based on the carbon emission data in the Cambridge Blockchain Network Sustainability Index (CBNSI) of the University of Cambridge, we depicted the increase and decrease of Bitcoin's carbon footprint, power generation source (thermal or clean energy), power generation intensity, etc. from 2009 to the present.
We also tried to link Twin Cloud's cloud with carbon credits, and recorded the clean energy contribution of GreenBTC.Club, the ecological project of DePIN project party Arkreen, to offset Bitcoin's carbon emissions. This is an action to green Bitcoin. We hope that Twin Cloud Bitcoin will be a model first, so that art assets can be linked with alternative assets, and public art installations will be made in the future.
4. Beichen: Biosphere 3, which simulates fungal immigration to Mars, also involves many fields, including interstellar species, digital life generation systems, 3D printing, etc. I am very curious about what role RWA plays in it?
Cai Yixuan: RWA is just a way to link the artwork Biosphere 3 with alternative assets, allowing collectors to collect 3D printed sculptures while obtaining NFT works.
Biosphere 3 is a scientific hypothesis that simulates a series of different forms of fungi that would emerge after entering Mars. Environmental information in different regions of Mars (such as temperature, air pressure, radiation, gravity, etc.) triggers changes in mushroom morphology and light patterns. Mushrooms can also communicate through different modes such as light signals, bioelectric signals, and magnetic induction, ultimately forming different forms of Martian fungi.
Biosphere 3 is a biological simulation system in the digital world. It has scientific basis and some scientific hypothetical elements. This hypothesis itself deconstructs the colonial mentality of human beings to conquer outer space. Moreover, the infinite small lives derived from this worldview also expand our understanding of non-human-centered species.
It is also an independent project that can run indefinitely and can be continuously reproduced, but from the perspective of an artistic work it will definitely be released in limited quantities.
5. Beichen: Does Black Void’s audience come more from the traditional art circle or more from Web3?
Cai Yixuan: The audience of NFT is definitely more from Web3, especially overseas markets. The audience of brand cooperation and public projects is more popular.
6. Beichen: In the past two years, crypto art has been more about issuing digital works using NFTs, but Black Void’s works are more deeply involved in crypto. Can you talk about the role of crypto in Black Void’s works? Or what difference can it bring to art?
Cai Yixuan: Rather than calling it crypto, it might be more accurate to define it using blockchain technology.
First, at the asset level, artworks, as assets, can interact or bind with other assets through blockchain technology.
The second is the role of creation. Blockchain technology itself has the characteristic of tamper-proof evidence, but humans are good at forgetting. For example, climate change is easy to deny. Even extreme weather events or air pollution caused by wars are replaced by clear skies after the events. Twin Cloud's NFT is an on-chain evidence of climate events in the past few years.
At the same time, collectors can participate in the generation of the form of digital works when casting them, and the subsequent form of the work will also change according to the participation of collectors, thus closely linking art with collectors and the community. A typical example is the dynamic NFT on the OG.Art platform, where each transaction changes the form of the crystal, which actually incorporates user data into generative art.
7. Beichen: Indeed, crypto art has brought new ways of artistic creation, not just using NFT as a way to issue assets. So, besides recording, what else has blockchain technology brought to art at the creative level?
Cai Yixuan: When artists create through blockchain technology, they actually generate new narrative models. I prefer to call these crypto art because the use of blockchain technology is not as simple as NFT.
One of my favorite works is Kevin Abosch's "I am a coin" (2018). The work challenges the definition of people and value by putting his blood on the chain and embedding blockchain contract addresses and cryptocurrencies in the blood. Here, we can see that the artist explores essential issues such as currency, value, and human nature through blockchain technology.
The hybrid ecology that Black Void focuses on is a new world interwoven with nature and technology. The form of life is also changing. Artificial intelligence, Bitcoin, and any life form combined with automated programs are all nodes in this decentralized digital network.
The founder of the Merkle Tree once likened Bitcoin to a new form of life, because it breathes, draws energy, and replicates in the Internet, and the way it operates is very similar to the way cells obtain energy and DNA replicates. The value, credit, and meaning of life behind blockchain technology are all topics that crypto art can focus on.
8. Beichen: Does this give rise to a new art field called crypto art? Although it seems that there is no style that can be called an art type at present.
Cai Yixuan: There is no clear definition of the concept of crypto art. In a broad sense, all works on the chain are crypto art, but I personally prefer to use blockchain technology critically (such as using smart contracts) to make it an important medium for the work, which is considered crypto art.
These works also face the dilemma of difficult value assessment. The contemporary art market has clear methods for valuing, increasing value, and preserving value of artworks, but in the crypto field, the value anchoring of works, the stability of the collector group, and the stability of crypto art platforms are all problems. As the crypto market rises and falls, the value of NFTs has shrunk dramatically, and many crypto art platforms have actually disappeared.
But in fact, the artists who began to create crypto art in the past three years were digital artists or new media artists before that. Such works have existed as collections or public installations for two or three decades. For these arts driven by new technologies, we can actually follow the context of digital art itself to see the development trajectory and value system of such artworks. Crypto art is a part of it, but because of its close connection with the Web3 trading market, it has its own unique operating method.
9. Beichen: So specifically, what is the unique operating method of crypto art collections?
Cai Yixuan: It can be viewed in two situations.
If it is a large-scale series of works, it is more necessary to refer to the asset management methods and community management methods of Web3. The core is to maintain community consensus, and it is also necessary to innovate within a certain period of time. Of course, it will inevitably be affected by the market.
If the work is circulated in small editions (for example, only 20 pieces), the circulation of the artwork is more inclined to the idea of where the work is exhibited, what recognition it has received (awards/reviews etc.), and which collectors are collecting it, all of which will affect the value of the work.
10. Beichen: Here we can talk in detail about what the value system of artworks should be composed of. Today’s NFT collectibles market generally lacks this part.
Cai Yixuan: This involves who determines the value of artworks. At least in the art world, there is a clear academic evaluation system and transaction system for us to judge the value of artworks.
First of all, we must look at the depth of the artwork from an academic perspective, and whether it has authoritative endorsements from within the academic evaluation system, such as participation in international exhibitions, collections by large art museums, and research by theorists, which all determine the academic value of the work. For example, Black Void's works have won international awards and have been exhibited in internationally renowned art museums such as the Venice Arsenale, the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Guardian Art Center. Recently, Twine Cloud was shortlisted for the 14th National Art Exhibition, which is held every five years.
Only when art works are supported by academic value can they be circulated in the trading market and gain cross-border cooperation with international brands.
We also hope to propose a value assessment system for crypto art in the Web3 market. Currently, there is no systematic assessment method for works in the crypto market, and some artists or project parties do not have long-term development plans, which makes its value very unstable.
We believe that the value of a work first comes from its artistry, that is, the understanding of aesthetics and cultural depth. The second is the application of blockchain technology and its integration with the Web3 ecosystem. The degree of innovation shown here is very important. The third is its public nature. From another perspective, the Web3 community consensus is actually a manifestation of public nature. The fourth is its transaction value, which is actually a different operating area between the crypto market and the contemporary art market, but it cannot exist without the value support of the first three.
11. Beichen: That’s a very good answer. It answered a question in the Web3 market two years ago. At that time, many NFT trading platforms thought they could kill galleries directly, but in fact, they are basically dead today. Your answer just now can well refute a point of view at that time, that is, their works rarely have authoritative endorsements from the academic evaluation system, and there is no subsequent growth plan based on artists. I would like to know more about how to balance commercial value and artistic creation? For example, what considerations does Black Void have when cross-border cooperation with brands.
Cai Yixuan: We don’t create service works specifically for brands, but maintain the style of the works themselves to link with the brands. In fact, brands also hope that artists can maintain their own stable style, so that they can give cultural attributes to the brand, and the brand will in turn bring recognition of the commercial value of the artist.
12. Beichen: The themes of Black Void’s two works are both highly realistic, but I am curious about how art ultimately intervenes in the technological and lifestyle changes in these cutting-edge fields?
Cai Yixuan: Artwork itself is not a functional product. The way art participates in world change is more on the ideological and spiritual level.
There are two ways for art to intervene in cutting-edge issues. The first is that art can reach the public in a perceptual way, thereby amplifying the work being done by scientists and companies. Of course, these cutting-edge issues will also enhance the realistic depth of the works. The second is that the works raise speculative questions, triggering public thinking and discussion.
For example, the work Biosphere 3 imagines the operating mechanism of alien life. It may be a new life form composed of material information and energy, completely different from the life on Earth. In short, it provides a scientific and artistic perspective to peek into the Martian species.
13.Beichen: How do the creators of Black Void achieve cross-border collaboration when completing a work? I think it can bring inspiration to friends in the Web3 industry who also have a lot of cross-border collaboration, especially online collaboration.
Cai Yixuan: Our team works together in the studio, but most of the time we are online. I think the most important thing is to work with the right people. We will naturally work together to form a set of methods and mechanisms. This process is actually quite organic.
However, the prerequisite is to have a clear creative idea, the core concept that drives the work, and then coordinate other technologies to integrate. For example, Twin Cloud is a generative art driven by climate data, and Biosphere 3 is a digital life generated by a parametric system. On the basis of the basic form of the work, we integrated carbon credits, 3D printing, etc. This is a gradual expansion process.
14. Beichen: I see. There still needs to be a key coordinator to coordinate, and he must have a clear idea. Finally, please talk about the future creative direction of Black Void and the possible challenges in the integration of art and technology.
Cai Yixuan: Black Void is a creative team that crosses the boundaries of art and science. Our creative direction will continue to follow the topic of hybrid ecology, and we will also cooperate with more companies in technology.
The intelligent life that is formed by the combination of natural life and information technology (such as smart contracts and AI) has a completely different operating mechanism compared to carbon-based life like humans. The meaning of ecology, energy and even life are changing. For example, the meaning of ecology has been expanded from natural elements such as light, water and soil to technological infrastructure, and energy has also changed from fossil energy to computing power and data. What we do is to reinterpret the hybrid ecology through artistic methods.
As for challenges, there are both technical and commercial sustainability aspects. After all, Black Void is doing artistic innovation that no one has done yet, and we need to explore many things on our own. We have been exploring cooperation models with different institutions, and will expand our partners to more companies, non-profit organizations and scientific institutions.
We also hope to contribute a value assessment system to the digital art in the Web3 market. Currently, crypto art does not have a systematic value assessment system and lacks follow-up operations, which makes its value very unstable. We believe that the value of crypto art is composed of several dimensions: artistry (academic), technological innovation, publicity, and transaction value, so our activities also span different fields of art, science, and Web3.
