Valuart x Billelis: an interview about "The Graveyard" Nifty Gateway drop and its unique sacrifice system

GM! 🌞

The weekly Valuart newsletter is back, and with a special interview…

Ready to dive in?

🖌 Web3 & NFT Highlights

✨Valuart x Billelis: “The Graveyard” interview

Billelis is a digital artist based in the city of Edinburgh, creatively addicted to dark imagery and adorned artistry that leads him to spend countless hours experimenting, learning, and expanding his artistic skill set. All activities, that brought to life his personal style can be best described as a dark, yet elegant, romantic fusion.

With a keen eye for intricate detail, and a timeless palette, his work has often been described as hyper-real: an evolving love affair between the visual balance of life and death, portraying his own fears and beliefs through the medium of decorated digital sculpture.

On the occasion of his upcoming “The Graveyard” drop on August 17th, we are excited to share this special interview held with Billelis yesterday.

✨What can Web1 teach Web3? SuperRare Managing Editor Virginia Valenzuela takes us on an insightful journey from web1 to web3

Virginia Valenzuela aka Vinny is a writer from New York City and SuperRare’s Managing Editor. Over the years, her work has been published in Wired, The Independent, High Times, and the Best American Poetry Blog.

Last week, Vinny shared her debut article with RightClickSave where she brings her readers on a nostalgic journey through the world of the early internet up until the current web3 one, with a focus on what we ourselves in web3 can learn from its predecessor accompanied by the thoughts of Jon Ippolito and Don Cull.

As mentioned in this article, the Internet of the ’90s was a true Wild West accompanied by an unprecedented revolution in the communications system, where the written word merged with a whole new aesthetic rediscovering the digital terrain first gradually, then all at once.

Then followed the advent of the personal computer, with the Internet turning progressively being adopted as a tool that reached one of the most inquisitive of communities: artists.

“Artists are good at pulling back the veneer to reveal reality, and the reality of the Internet in the ’90s was that websites often didn’t work. This was not just due to faulty code, but also because the infrastructure was still rickety. Sometimes you would just type in a [correct] URL and the browser couldn’t find it. So artists made lemonade from lemons by exploiting these glitches to create original and surprising experiences.²” cites the article

Web1 made us dream. But now we find ourselves in the current Web2, where the situation is anything but utopistic.

Web3 leaves us some hope, however, the question remains: can the lessons of Web1 generate a different future?

Read the full article here ⬇️

Virginia Valenzuela considers the legacy of Internet art for the NFT space

✨Discover 8scribo: on-chain haikus

What is a haiku? A haiku is a Japanese poetic form born in the 17th century that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.

Well, haikus are now taking over web3! If you were already a fan of typed.art, there is another Tezos-driven project you should be keeping on your radar, especially if you are passionate about poetry: 8scribo is a new on-chain haiku NFT mintery with marketplace support from the Teia Community.

Are you ready to compose your haiku?

📈 DeFi & Crypto Highlights

✨ Messari’s latest report on Tezos

Messari is composed of a team that aims at bringing transparency to the crypto economy by building data tools that will drive and support informed decision-making & investments.

Just recently, they released their latest report on Tezos: a report, that positively highlights how Tezos network usage is increasing significantly year over year.

During Q2 2022, Tezos smart contract calls in fact increased 12% compared to Q3 2021, with transactions up 94% year over year and transaction fees staying at less than $0.01. Developer activity was also up 288% accompanied by consistent staking (75–77% of total XTZ tokens staked).

Not to mention how the NFT marketplaces are one of the main cornerstones, as they continue to be the leading applications within the Tezos ecosystem.

For further details, read the full report below ⬇️

https://messari.io/report/state-of-tezos-q2-2022

🐋 FakeWhale

FakeWhale’s last exhibition from July 30th to August 2nd marked the end of Season 1.

For this special occasion, Jesse Draxler shared his powerful manifesto, in the name of the powerful movement we are building ⬇️

🍿 Upcoming Events

As mentioned last month, new experiences and features in HADEM are imminent, so make sure to download the application to continue exploring before the final reveal.

HADEM is a creativity-fueled immersive multiverse (FREE DOWNLOAD)

📚Book of the Month

The time has come: August’s book has been chosen!

This month, we’ll be reading “Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control” by Stuart Russell.

In this book, Stuart Russell explains how AI works, with huge potential to improve our lives but also dangers if we happen to lose control of its power by not reshaping the foundations now.