waddup,
blok has helped change my perspective on art.
who knows, reading this might do the same for you...
⊙
if you’d ask me about year ago what i thought about art, i would have told you “i have no interest in it whatsoever”.
> i never knew how to draw or paint well (still don’t)
> i always thought art wasn’t practical
> “anyone can make that”, was how i dismissed the topic
it just never clicked for me.
but that all changed when i started to realize that a lot of artists started to gravitate towards blok.
designers, writers, painters, drawers, magicians, musicians.
it’s a large customer segment we have.
so purely driven by business reasons, my curiosity peaked:
“why artists?”
after much pondering, i’ve come to the conclusion it’s mostly for 3 reasons:
1) artists create more than they consume
if you’re trying to paint and are in the zone, sending brush strokes left and right and feeling every bit of emotion running through your body as you express them purely on the canvas, but suddenly get a ping from your friend that says “yooo! dinner tn?”
that inevitably takes you out of the zone.
and getting back into it is really hard.
so i’ve learned that artists use blok to protect this zone.
it’s fundamental to their craft.
2) artists are early adopters
when magicians get together for conferences/ conventions, it’s common for there to be a “dealers room”.
that’s where new technology and props are showcased, from high-tech electronic gimmicks to traditional sleight-of-hand tools, so they can see if they can incorporate any of these new inventions into their tricks.
essentially, they’re looking for an edge over their audience, who wouldn’t even know that any of this even exists.
artists tend to be at the forefront of technology and are willing to embrace anything new if that means pushing their craft forward.
they tend to live at the edge of what’s possible.
no wonder why art was the first use-case of nft technology, even before any of the financial players (that now use it extensively) incorporated it into their domain.
an art collector friend of mine put this idea simply:
artists know the future before anyone else, and they are willing to show us the way there.
3) artists feel deeply
at it’s core, an artist is just trying to express their feelings out into the world and their creations are the best medium they can find to do so.
nowadays, “doomscrolling” is very much used to neutralize negative feelings.
the dopamine your phone provides is an incredible way to escape your emotions.
yet artists don’t want that.
they want to feel — feel deeply — so they view this escapism as counter-productive to their life and craft.
⊙
blok has given me the immense privilege to interact with artists of all types. it’s the only reason why i’ve started to understand this domain slightly better and i’m so grateful for this!
some cool artists in blok world are:
julian castro (painter), juliancastro.art
oscar toloza (painter), oscartoloza.art
sam peitz (designer), sam-peitz.com
isabel hazan (writer), her substack
chris bacchus (magician), entertainsyou.com
to these artists: i’m sorry for labelling you with just one word!
you are much more than this. i see you, and respect the courage you bring to everything you create.
if you’re an artist using blok frequently to further your craft, reach out :).
i’d love to know what you’re up to.
with much love,
dani.
p.s. my apt walls where all white not too long ago until i decided to support some blok world artists.
pictured below is “sol” by oscar toloza (left) and “sweet abyss” by julian castro (right)
