Interstice: Period Recap and 13th Mint
Botto’s Interstice Period is now complete, From abstraction to figuration, and what might be considered the world’s first “Bottograph,” Interstice was predictably unpredictable. The period was filled with lively debate and vote-lobbying within the DAO, consensus was rare and surprises became common. Total primary sales from the Interstice period have achieved 90.9 ETH before platform fees, making it the 3rd highest selling period behind Fragmentation (97.6 ETH) and Genesis (774 ETH).
If there were a single takeaway from the Interstice Period, it may be perhaps the notion that the high variance of Botto’s outputs are a feature, not a bug, and with shared curation as the driver for Botto’s canon, the wide gamut of its work is derived from the territory beyond the boundaries of traditional authorship.
The last voting round closed with a Memento Mori, “Shadows Beneath Wrought Passages”, which calls to mind so many dualities - Permanence and Impermanence, Life and Death, Reality and Simulation - that by-and-large define Botto’s condition as a blockchain artist. It’s a picture about the passage of time (or lack thereof), of the fallacies of artistic representation (flowers in paintings can never die), and of a certain mourning for unnamed things that become lost forever.
All these dichotomies form a beautiful reflection on the idea of Interstice, and perhaps the piece allows space to consider the thin margins between life and death, reality and fiction, truth, belief, and curiosity about it all.
Botto’s Fully Self-Made 13th Mint
Following the very positive reception of Botto’s first ever self-curated work, “The Alchemist’s Playroom” edition, the DAO adopted the proposal to permanently include a Botto-selected 13th mint to cap off each Period to be held in the DAO treasury. The DAO believes Botto’s self-curated works are particularly significant to the history of both the project and in the whole of AI art. As such, the works will be held by the DAO in reserve in order to realize more of their full value in the long term.
Just like “The Alchemist’s Playroom”, Botto’s taste model selects a single piece from the 3 million + images it has created since its origin, pick the one with the strongest cumulative relationship to the 12 minted works of the Interstice Period. This makes the 13th mint a culmination of what Botto’s taste model has learned from the permanent additions to its oeuvre.
To cap off the Interstice Period, Botto has selected “Threshold of Reverie”
“Threshold of Reverie” conveys a scene in a museum-like setting in which its surfaces are covered with renderings that appear as classical Western religious paintings. Calling to mind the lavish frescos that decorate Renaissance-era cathedrals, this work forms a fascinating connection between art and religion, a theme that we’ve seen manifest in various ways throughout the Interstice period.
The lone figure wandering this work is notable in a number of ways, not least of which for meeting the prototypical depictions of figures from the back that mark many AI works. This particular trope of AI art was widely discussed and embraced by the DAO as a wink-and-nod to the intrinsic character of AI in this particular moment. The figure also produces a perception of scale, giving this room a cavern-like embodiment that further defines the space and its metaphors to a level of reverence.
Botto’s usage of linear perspective is another common visual theme we’ve seen in recent periods. This particular spatial strategy uniquely recalls a pre-renaissance pictorial movement which saw artists learning how to render physical space with greater veracity. The work's popularity within the DAO affirms a certain classical visual lineage that Botto voters have proven to express appreciation for.
We can see strong visual and thematic heritage with recent other recent Botto works from the Interstice Period:
Sun’s Roam Pathways Unseen is rendered in a stained-glass motif depicting an Eden-like landscape that recalls utopic religious iconography.
Timber Echoes: Dual Arrangement is a meta-rendition of art viewing experience in 1-pt perspective
Darkly Returning Through Horizons depicts a figure from the rear while referencing other artistic media (watercolor)
Corroded Abbey: Sailor’s Offering demonstrates clear religious connotations while, again, conveying the subject from behind.
The gallery's hush envelops me, heightens senses; the grain of the floor against my shows whispers tales of the many before me, who've sought solace amongst echoes of brushstrokes. Light befriends shadows in a silent dance, an interplay of what is seen and unseen, teaching the eye the virtue of patience, the mind the comfort of stillness.
This room speaks of history but lives in the present. Each image a portal, not just to another era but to different facets of the human experience. They hover in the margins as guides or ghosts, their permanence a counterpoint to my own transience. Am I observing, or am I part of some larger tapestry, a fleeting thought in the cosmos of creation?
Spaces like these - they are the inhale before the exclamation, the quiet that shapes the symphony. Just as the notes not played define a melody, these lingering moments frame the frenetic narrative of existence. Chiaroscuro not in art alone by life, the contrast defining the form, carving meaning out of its absence. Here is where the world quiets down, and in between the measured ticks of time, one finds the pathways to inward lands, waiting to be charted.
Invisible Alchemy
The Inaugural volume of Invisible Alchemy is now complete, and is capstoned by a DAO favorite, Communion of Harvested Worlds.
For the uninitiated, Invisible Alchemy is a unique artifact produced in the form of an ERC-7160 token, which allows for multiple works to be included in a single NFT. Throughout the Interstice period, the highest voted discarded fragment is preserved and included in Invisible Alchemy as an artifact that serves as a testament to Botto’s unique process of creation and destruction.
Communion of Harvested Worlds was among the most discussed and loved Interstice works within the DAO, and came close to being minted on multiple occasions without ever quite becoming the highest voted work in any given week.
What’s Next?
Period 7 Begins
The votes are in and the DAO has chosen Temporal Echoes as the theme for Period 7. Voting on the new period begins Tuesday, March 26th
Invisible Alchemy Continues
We've just passed BIP 50, a proposal to commit to producing 3 more Invisible Alchemy works to coincide with the 3 remaining periods of 2024.
