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Are we in the matrix ?

Exploring how NFT could expand the definition of what we call art

Are we in the matrix ?

Created At

NFTHack

Project Description

Starting from the idea that application and networks could be the new canvas of the contemporary artist, I started by creating a simple chatroom (areweinthematrix.com) to have metaphysical. It's meant to be the first website sold as an art piece.

The website is a chatroom to have "late-night talks" about the existential question to know whether we live in a matrix (or Plato's cavern). It's a tribute to the early days of the "user-made web". From childhood souvenirs when I was surfing from hyperlink to hyperlink and hoping to stumble upon a kind of dark corner of the web where you could discover amazing things or meet unique personas. The design aesthetic of the website is inspired by the chat seen in the movie Matrix. It does not generate revenue.

The conclusion of this experiment is simple: it may not be a great art piece but in my opinion, it shows that artistic practices definition can be expanded.

The next step for me is to go the other way: can art explore the limit of NFTs? My first idea was to create a generator of blank (transparent) png sold as a NFT : a neo version of Kandinsky's White on White. But I think we can explore even further and try to do as little art as possible : art without content & without artist reduced to a simple transaction: the minimal NFT with just enough metadata for it to be accepted in the protocol. And I think this would give a great definition of what Art & NFT: a transaction, a simple exchange, and most of all a conversation

How it's Made

I think I'm completely off topic with my answer but maybe someone will be interested

For "are we in the matrix" front is HTML/CSS, javascript node & socket, and most of all copy-pasting. I "coded" when I was a kid with HTML iframes and Macromedia flash and I did some processing and Arduino to build music instruments: the interesting part of my project (if there is any) isn't in the code but in the concept hopefully

This was my first time using node git heroku and a .com name!

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