Experiential NFT art platform Wildxyz announced its latest resident artists on March 17, promising to train the new artists in creating artwork for the platform.
As a platform dedicated to more experimental and experience-based art forms, Wildxyz has seen outstanding public support owing to its ambitious and out-of-this-world concepts.
The project raised over $7 million in its latest Matrix Partners seed round. Numerous celebrities and big names joined the investment round, including Philadelphia 76ers President Daryl Morey, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. Notable NFT figures like Emily Yang have also contributed to the funding.
The new set of artists is named Season 1, following the Season 0 residents chosen last fall. Renowned artists like Aluna, Mitchell Chan and Harm van den Dorpel are among the few from the Season 0 batch of Wildxyz’s residence program. These artists will produce artwork for the NFT platform, and the Season 1 batch will soon join them and their motley crew.
Musician Serwah Attafuah is part of the Season 1 artists. Attafuah is an artist and musician with associations in the upper echelon of the metaverse and NFT projects. She has greatly contributed to GQ and Paris Hilton’s NFTs, as well as spoken at a TEDx Talk regarding her afro-futuristic vision of the metaverse.
Artist and software engineer Sarah Friend is also a notable name from the Season 1 batch, being well-known for her various blockchain endeavors. Last year, she released an art exhibition entitled Terraforming, displaying sculptures built on waste materials and detailed videos regarding the internet and ownership.
Other artists from various backgrounds also joined Season 1’s rank, emphasizing the diversity in the current roster. These artists include Nic Hamilton, Jonas Lund, Beryl, Anna Lucia, Gabriel Massan, Lisa Odette, Matto and many others.
Immersion and training
Wildxyz’s 12-week residency program offers multiple virtual classes necessary for artists’ engagement in Web3 technology and development. Founder and CEO J. Douglass Kobs paints the process as a push to expand participants’ skillsets and knowledge of NFTs and other digital assets, ultimately helping them create and publish their first works on the Wildxyz platform.
Artists are paired together to help each other in the learning process, building a stronger community for the creators. In one of the more successful examples, prominent multi-disciplinary artist Deafbeed guided Caleb Ogg in releasing his Machines NFT creation.
“I’m always excited to connect with and learn from artists in any respect, but have always lacked some sort of structure, I guess. Wild gives me a place to riff off of a really solid community of diversely talented creatives, and I really look forward to the Wild sessions as I take away so much more to reflect on,” Attafuah said.
The residency program also helps build the platform towards its true “experiential” art goal – specifically, in virtual reality. Wildxyz’s NFTs will be simulated in a 3D environment that individuals can traverse through AR and VR, better conveying the experience of modern art in physical locations.
One of the platform’s most notable achievements is the Wild Oasis NFT, which allows viewers to wander through a virtual jungle. Similarly, Caleb Ogg’s previously mentioned NFTs also enabled users to appreciate 2D artwork in an art gallery setting.
“People want to be in spaces that they can explore, and where they can create an emotional connection to somebody that created work. That place doesn’t really exist digitally, in my experience. I haven’t found it,” Kobs said.
While most would refer to Wildxyz’s vision as similar to the metaverse, Kobs refers to the company’s vision as the “Wildverse” instead, disagreeing with the connotations of the metaverse name.
