XLIX Merger - 49 Artist Collaboration
How far do you think modern humans are from the symbiosis of the mechanical and biological? What does your understanding of such trans-humanism mean? Questions about the unification of electronic, computational technology with the biological representation of humans have been on the minds of many science fiction writers, futurists, artists, and musicians for many years. One of the most recurring and popular themes of sci-fi films is people merging with or being replaced by machines. Entire movie franchises are built around these ideas, such as "The Terminator", "The Matrix", "Bladerunner" and "The Valley".
XLIX merger is a creative association of contemporary artists, which includes representatives of various artistic directions from different countries. All of the following thoughts are hypothetical prisms through which the artists view technology.
The choice of the theme of the collaboration is determined by the inner feelings of the creative association. We imagine cybernetics as if it would conquer the whole world, but is this the case? To begin with, before discussing the subject of the narrative, we have outlined a possible "merger" process. We came to the idea that the primary thing is a thought. There is its visualization and adaptation, elimination of mistakes, and then realizing the conceived vision. Therefore, for the success of such a grand idea as the synthesis of man and mechanism together, it is necessary to prepare the ground.
The Internet, smartphones — all these are tools that continue to increase their influence on people's lives steadily. They even manage to change the way we see the world around us. In other words, these technologies are changing our brains. For example, instead of memorizing a route, we prefer to use Google Maps. Based on the prerequisites, we can say that the vector of development has already been set and perhaps the merger has already begun. Our phones control us and tell us what to do and when to do it; social media influences our feelings, search engines control our thoughts. The algorithms that are responsible for this are no longer amenable to human understanding. They optimize what their creators tell them to optimize. But in a way that no human can understand. Today it looks like sophisticated artificial intelligence, but tomorrow it will seem like a child's prank. It would be nice if the whole world began to take it much more seriously.
Worldwide coordination is not happening as fast as we need it to. The human brain has evolved gradually and has not kept up with the capabilities of computing. And these algorithms are highly efficient. When was the last time you felt the difficulty of resisting what they tell you to do? When was the last time you resisted the temptation to watch your feed? It probably can't be stopped as science eventually advances if the laws of physics don't interfere with it. The human-machine connection can take many forms. If two different species want the same thing, the only one can get it in our case, becoming the dominant species on and off the planet-they will start to have a conflict. We must work as one team, as multiple smart contracts whose members are concerned with the well-being of all others.
People are trying to simplify their lives, using robotics to bring domestic service and work products to a new level. To date, quite a few robots have been created: dogs, people, household assistants. There is still no consensus on whether this is good or bad. Someone is amused or gets practical help from voice assistants and robots, and someone believes that fantastic plots about the rise of machines will turn into reality. However, one cannot deny the social connection between artificial and human intelligence even if these endeavors are still weak, in the form of highly specialized algorithms. But this already means that a step towards a genuinely breakthrough technology has been made.
But there remains something that robots haven't yet learned how to do: feel emotions, which is what we suggest you do while watching our artworks. In our project we played out 49 possible scenarios in different artistic techniques by each of XLIXmerger member. It is important to note that the artists attempted not only to show visionery narrative how the merger between humans and cybernetics would take place, but also to conduct a mental experiment as the underlying idea. Virtual and augmented reality, androids, smart homes, and cyber pets have all become or will become part of the world we live in.
We spoke to eight of the artist in the collaboration to give their opinions.
Dead Set
To me this very collaboration became a unique experience of integrity and cooperation. Not only there is an impressive number of participants, but also a rarely seen diversity of talents. In this case: 3D artists of many different mediums, 2D artists of various kinds (from vector illustration to pixel art), animators of different levels of experience, mixed together with fine art paintings, calligraphy, performance art and led by our head of collab, who is a photographer! As if it's not enough, consider that some of artists are also professional musicians, actors and directors.
I might of course thank our leader - Aleks Ustya and all organisation team (which I am proud to be member of) for such amount of inspiration we experienced while working together.
Last but not least! Most of our folks are coming from eastern, post-soviet countries. Thus being said, a cooperation with fantastic KnownOrigin team to us means quite a lot. Not only we can name ourselves to be the first collective from our lands, which established a long-term partnership with a well known UK-based platform. To me all this collaboration is about building bridges, constructing friendly relationships, while the rest of the world rather tends to isolate and disconnect, unfortunately. I truly believe that our attitude even beyond this collaboration will eventually change the world through connection, integrity and merging. Indeed, XLIXmerger's name lives up to expectations in that case.
Fawkes
It's an interesting story about participating in this collab - at first I didn't want to participate because of my fear of failing and letting people down. Especially since I had no such experience before. I love free flight and free creativity
Eventually I was talked into it, and it worked out for the best, and I met a lot of great people there that I still keep in touch with.
Groubtroup
I've been watching NFT to sell digital art for over two years now. As an artist myself, I hesitated about minting my artwork until I saw that collaboration was being called. Then, without thinking for a long time, I decided that this was it — the moment. And i took part in.
Like many of us, the first cool thing is that we all met and became friends, all so talented and exciting! But as I see it, the most remarkable thing about this collaboration is that all participants will truly being co-authors our digital canvas. Praise to multiple smart contracts. A digital renaissance, huh? That's what I think.
Thank you to all KnownOrigin stuff and all the collaborators. Сolleagues with whom I hope we will do more projects like this.
Glowingfrogs
As a human, I often think about how technologies are changing my life. Are they going to replace me? Or they only help me to evolve? As an artist, I always wanted to express my hopes and fears.
XLIX merger is an excellent chance for me to make something unique. I’ve been a motion designer for more than ten years, and this is the most significant collaboration I’ve ever taken part in.
Happy to be a part of this project and share my vision with other artists from different countries.
yanaufelman
For me, taking part in such a collaboration is a new friends and a great experience. When the hiring for this project was announced among the CIS NFT-community, I could not even imagine and was very happy that I would be able to work together with such talented guys.
In addition, I was interested in the topic — biomech synthesis. It's a deep subject where you can think about important things, and at the same time being involved in a project like this forces you to keep progressing even more, it's very important for me as an artist.
I am so excited and happy to be a part of this particular collaboration!
3dariar
This is my first experience with collaboration of 49 artists. I've been thinking a lot about what happened in the last 9 months. I was mostly unsure about my abilities when I first heard about NFT, but our collaboration have dispelled those doubts.
Right now it’s a fantastic time to express your vision of the humanity and the future, to spread messages worldwide and be sure that your ideas can be heard. Art is a great way to tell about the nature of our world. Through various forms, images, colors and patterns. And all my artworks are attempts to represent my worldview.
Finally, everyone can see the result of our joint work. I’m happy that XLIXmerger art collaboration is dropped on KnownOrigin. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.
Atmonez
This collaboration has met me with a lot of talented artists.The first few days we had brainstorming sessions about the idea, the color, the arrangement of the pieces, and the order of all the items.We all helped each other and exchanged experiences while doing the individual parts. For some of us it was our first collaboration, some of us had already participated in several, but in the end each of us was not only able to create an individual piece, but also to put experience into each piece. Looking back on the beginning, I can confidently say that this collaboration has brought together amazing people who have become friends and a true family.
Rafis11
My name is Raf. I'm a 3D Digital Artist.
I was very happy to take part in this ambitious and large-scale collaborative art project! "The synthesis of the mechanical and biological" is an insanely interesting theme that makes you think about many things.
In my work "Awakening" through femininity and futurism I was trying to convey the idea that there is a lot of beauty around, it's time to wake up and enjoy this beauty. I hope I succeeded. And I am proud that my work has become part of such a beautiful artwork and sits alongside the other 48 very talented artists.
Thanks to the KnownOrigin team for supporting our project along the way! Really appreciate it! And thanks to my friends at our insanely cool XLIXmerger Collaboration!
"It's time to wake up. There are so many beautiful things around..."
We want to express our special thanks to the NFT platform Known Origin for the opportunity to tell these 49 stories. We look forward to continued fruitful collaboration. Our association plans high-quality promotions on various topics, and you can follow the news on our website at xlixmerger.com.