Miami recap to DCentral & beyond

2 years ago

To coincide with Art Basel week, several members of the KnownOrigin team recently spent time over in Miami, Florida. Although famous for its palm trees, Art Deco architecture and party lifestyle, we were in town for one main reason: to spread the good word about KnownOrigin and NFTs!

After arriving in Miami and settling into our accommodation, the first port of call was to head to DCentral, the popular Web3 convention where we had arranged to share a booth with several of our commercial partners. Located at Miami Airport Convention Centre, DCentral was a busy and vibrant event that brought together some of the most exciting projects from across the Web3 space. Having joined forces with The Graph (an industry leader in blockchain data-indexing), Upshot (a pioneer of secure NFT appraisal) and Audius (an innovative decentralized streaming platform) we were determined to create an audiovisual extravaganza for those visiting our section of the fair...And create an extravaganza we did!

Visitors were able to enjoy The Graph’s silent disco DJ set whilst soaking in the sights of the splendid work we installed on multiple 4k screens. In fact, we had work on show from not one but three fabulous KnownOrigin artists: Brendan Dawes, HeyHazmus and Josh Chaplin. Each of their work took data as its central focus, exploring the notion of data in either a literal or more abstracted sense.

In support of the work on display we hosted a live Twitter Spaces event with the exhibited artists as guest speakers, allowing them to directly explain the processes and motivations which underpin their respective works. Special credit also goes to Edua for her efforts in coordinating the installation of the screens and making sure the art was able to shine to its fullest potential!

We were also keen to ensure that anyone not able to attend DCentral physically would still be able to experience the mood and essence of the event. With this in mind we arranged for a videographer, Gio, to meet us at the venue to capture footage from which a video could be created to share online. Having worked with Edward to film an introductory segment, we set Gio loose to go and document all the cool happenings taking place that day!

After hosting Twitter Spaces and ensuring everything was in order with our booth we were able to go and explore the convention for ourselves. Our highlights included chatting to the lovely Fabricant team (a digital fashion-focused organization with whom we work closely) and getting to meet the awesome World of Women crew (including project co-founders Yem and Raphael!) as well as NFT scene veterans GT and Jane.

What really stood out about DCentral was the sheer range of projects on display – art, fashion, gaming and DeFi were just some of the many industries represented at the convention. Although the tongue-in-cheek crypto slogan ‘we are still early’ felt applicable, there was also a palpable sense that the tide is turning towards broader mainstream adoption of Web3-based services across a range of sectors. That afternoon saw a series of panel discussions, including one featuring David and Edua who discussed the intersection of data and art in front of a receptive audience (watch the talk here).

The following day we returned to DCentral, keen to make ourselves available to answer any questions those visiting our booth may have had. Convention visitors that we spoke to were engaged and intrigued to hear about the way KnownOrigin operates and the levels of support we strive to offer to both artists and platform visitors alike. Indeed, it was really enjoyable to share exactly how we’re able to empower creatives as well as collectors through our innovative tech offerings for example composables and keen focus on community engagement i.e through Discord.

Having fully satiated the curiosity of curious booth visitors, we rendezvoused with a KnownOrigin artist and dear friend of ours, Foodmasku. Along with his lovely artist friend Farah we took the opportunity to go for some food together, allowing us to speak in person for the very first time! This was a wonderful occasion: reflecting on the happenings of the last year over good food in relaxed, sun-dappled surroundings – bliss.

The rest of the trip was a whirlwind of meetings, events and networking. David was thrilled to find time to catch up with the NFT scene stalwart Jason Bailey (aka artnome) as well as other eminent Cryptoart personalities. Beyond our prearranged engagements, Edua and Edward took their chances to explore the Yves Saint Laurent installation at Miami Beach whilst David enjoyed yet more creativity via a session of live painting at his hotel courtesy of a visiting artist. We also combined business and pleasure with a visit to our friend Artz’ event – a fabulous evening at the Sagamore Hotel that featured huge screens, stylish surroundings and poolside performances by Busta Rhymes and MurdaBeatz.

The following night was dedicated to a Playboy private party, an encouragingly tasteful event that centred around the display of projected visuals paired with sounds such as a live Charli XCX DJ set. Here we caught up with our friends Kid Eight and Charli Cohen, highly-respected creators with whom we work closely. They’ve both had wonderful years in the NFT space and we’re excited to support their creative efforts moving forward.

A special shout out must also go to Rahilla Zafar, another Metaverse friend with whom we had only spoken to online prior to our visit to Miami. Her kind offer of VIP access to Gary Vee’s ‘Probably Nothing’ event led to us running into the RTFKT crew and Marshmello backstage after the latter’s highly-enjoyable set at MAD CLUB. It’s worth mentioning that Rahilla is the executive producer of eagerly-anticipated NFT documentary Minted, an exciting project that KnownOrigin looks set to make a contribution to...watch this space!

Before we knew it, however, it was time to pack our bags and hit the road – Edward and David back to England, and Edua onwards to pay a visit to family in Mexico. Although relatively brief, our time away was a life-affirming experience and it was a true pleasure to be able to showcase ourselves and our ethos to another city (and indeed another country). We feel refreshed and more ready than ever to continue our mission of empowering creatives and can’t wait to make the most of the months ahead. It’s fair to say Miami felt alive with culture and conversation during our time there; the perfect backdrop to a wonderful year of Web3 innovation and creative endeavour.

Check out the video roundup here:

The DCentral collection raised $3,856.00 (Ξ0.975) for our dedicated charitable cause GiveDirectly. This donation was made possible from the totals sales of $38,856.00 by artists Brendan Dawes, Josh Chaplin and HeyHazmus

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