Things Fall Apart
With apologies to Chinua Achebe who wrote the novel of the same title, why do the most well-intentioned collectives or communities so often fragment?
The benefits of banding together are readily apparent: wider reach in finding opportunities, at least a path to address fairness within the group, and coordinated action to group members' mutual benefit. Perhaps the adage (with unclear origins but undeniable appeal) of “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” summarizes the notion best. Or, another adage, attributed to the famous philosopher prince “Ogar” of Gaul:
“[Banding together preserves your] hope of finding salvation with others that [merely] accentuates the betrayal of finding out you are on your own. [We do it out of] the fear of being alienated, or [even worse] indistinguishable.”
So why do they inevitably fall apart over time (and often with such breathtaking quickness)?
But, that’s not the question we’ll consider, we’ll assume that it’s due to individual differences in expectations and vision and the natural co-evolution of our individual mental health and preferences, or even just the inherent fickleness of human nature.
No, let us accept this as the human condition and boldly move on to the answer. Let us pursue both the power of collective behavior and our personal independence in the supreme act of hubris we’ll know as having our cake and eating it too.
We will take a close look at a few members of the crypto artist community; a group of rugged individuals who jealously guard their identities as independent-minded human beings, but who often work collectively to help the group to survive and thrive even in the most challenging of times. Indeed, we often see surprising outbreaks of community formation and action (e.g. Museum of Crypto Art, Cult of Crypto Art, charity auctions at Castle Parties, etc.) from this eclectic group of artists.
Examples …
Collective Fundraiser: Museum of Crypto Art (MoCA)
“M○C△ is a testament to those who dare to believe in a better future that prioritizes sovereignty, market access, and freedom of expression in the arts. This 700-piece, interwoven mosaic does just that. MOCA’s Fundraiser 2023 DNFT is the largest artistic collaboration in the history of crypto art, bringing together the combined creativity of 700 unique artists for an unparalleled celebration of this moment in crypto art.”
Charity Fundraiser: Castle Party Cancer Fundraiser
“For Castle Party 2023 we will be honoring the memory of the great Alotta Money by showcasing a curated selection of NFT artists and raising funds for the cancer charity Maggie’s in our charity exhibition and auction.”
Artist Collective: Cult of Crypto Art (CoCA)
“Maybe you are all custom interfaces based on your character in other realities that are just objects of mine. Or maybe I am.” – Alotta Money RIP (Patron Saint of CoCA)
“Cult Crypto Art (CoCA) is a state of mind embodied by an “eclectic” group of mad geniuses, founded and inspired by some of the craziest and most successful artists in the world; playing in the metaverse, innovating across cryptoart, music, AI creation, to invent whole new models for life in the 21st century.”
Let’s agree to call this “collective independence” and for purposes of this exhibition we will examine a few people from this special group of working crypto artists to find more clues about “collective independence” and what it means for working, creative, human beings.
The cover artwork for the exhibition is "A HISTORY OF CRYPTOART" by the legendary artist Panter Xhita.
It features ninety stellar portraits of ninety artists who helped build this space from scratch. A space of decentralized fun, love, and opportunities. You can browse the historical drop here.
Learn more:
- See the Exhibition
- About Artdrops
- About Exhibitions & Curators
- ArtDrops page
