HYPETALKS returned with another session last Monday evening, centered on the evolving role of art in web3. Hosted on Twitter Spaces, HYPEBEAST Senior News Editor Rosie Perper facilitated a conversation between the founders of the community-driven NFT project Doodles, Evan Keast, Jordan Castro and artist Burnt Toast (Scott Martin), as well as the Doodles’ “web3 philosopher” GERONIMO (Jihan Zencirli) and gallery owner and NFT collector Todd Kramer.
Citing Doodles’ success in the NFT space since its launch only a few months ago, Perper kicked off the discussion with the question of how the project accrued its following and what attracts people to the colorful Doodles NFTs.
For many of those in the Doodles circle, the brand’s draw lies in its “community-first” approach, in which decisions for the project are determined by community votes. “A large part of our success is being able to have a community access a treasury of funds and create things,” Keast said. The founders envision the future of the project as bridging web3 and the real world, connecting NFT enthusiasts through community initiatives such as installations, concert merchandise and more.
“The art to me is like the hook,” Castro agreed. “The anchor is the community.”
Burnt Toast, the artist behind Doodles’ animated pastel graphics, added that he has a background in iconography and worked on defining and redefining for a decade. When building out Doodles, he explained, the founders “focused on appealing to a universal audience.”
The message of Doodles, as well as its eye-catching aesthetic, resonated with Kramer, an NFT collector himself. The gallerist described the exclusionary nature of the art world and the standard gallery format, as well as how NFT art ventures like Doodles can empower and provide a platform for digital artists.
“In the traditional art world there are a lot of barriers to entry, where they don’t necessarily look at digital artists as real artists or they don’t look at street artists in the same vein,” Kramer said. “And when I look at [Doodles] it really spoke to me and created some sort of joy inside of me.”
Doodles later gave listeners exclusive insight on forthcoming brand projects and partnerships. The team is currently working on creating a line of vinyl collectibles in addition to a full merchandise collection, which GERONIMO said will be designed by veterans in the streetwear space. Easy Otabor of the brand Infinite Archives will helm a full fashion line, while SK Lam, creative director and curator of AllRightsReserved, is also on board to design a piece. The collection will have a pre-order in February, followed by a full reveal in March.
Listen to the full HYPETALKS: In Web3 and Beyond above.
In other tech news, UFC tapped Dapper Labs for its first foray into the metaverse.
