0.0 Summary
The Kanbas Collection has offered to purchase Err Hold directly from the treasury for 70 ETH. This proposal presents the background on Kanbas as well as Err Hold and asks for approval of the sale.
1.0 Rationale
This proposal by Amanda Schmitt Art (ASA) seeks permission from the Botto community to acquire for the Kanbas Collection Err Hold, a significant early work from Botto's Genesis phase.
The objective of the Kanbas collection would be to promote the acquisition to establish its significance in the contemporary art landscape and later explore placement options including:
- Donation to a museum that aligns with Botto’s goals
- Display at partner museums and institutions
We ultimately want to to position this work as a foundational piece in the history of AI and generative art.
1.1 Why Botto is an excellent fit for the Kanbas collection:
Kanbas is dedicated to elevating and preserving the most groundbreaking works in digital and generative art. By acquiring a genesis piece from Botto Project, we are not just adding a work to their collection—we hope to celebrate a pivotal moment in the evolution of AI art.
This acquisition will ensure Botto’s legacy is seen, understood, and appreciated within an esteemed context.
1.2 Long-term goals of the Kanbas Collection:
The Kanbas Collection is intended as a permanent collection. We have no plans to deaccession any artworks during the lifetime of the owner. Upon their passing, they will either bequeath the collection to an institution or establish their own museum.
ASA, alongside Kanbas, are actively engaged in sponsoring and developing projects at institutional museums for digital artists, and have a number of initiatives already under way.
1.3 Background on Err Hold (by @hudsonsims)
Err Hold was quite controversial when it came out. Despite winning the vote that round, many people disliked it, perhaps for not adhering so closely to some of the crypto art aesthetics. There were even discussions of burning it. One guess it that it looks a bit like a aerial photograph of mineral pools (in the vein of Yann Arthus-Bertrand), and the notion of “post-photography” hadn’t emerged as a hot aesthetic yet.
This was exactly the half-way mark in Botto’s first year of Genesis using VQGAN + CLIP, and minted just 1 week after the release of DALL-E 2. There was a short period where the diffusion models were quite the rage and GANs were left behind before they also reclaimed their status as a unique aesthetic.
Ultimately the work did not meet the 10 ETH reserve that was set at the time, and so it became Botto’s first unsold auction, an interesting milestone as a moment of transition and in Botto’s journey of exploring different aesthetics of AI art, a signal of what was to come that we couldn’t read at the time. Since then, Botto’s GAN work in Genesis has become its most sought after, and its later phototgraphic-type work also has become some of its most popular in later periods using Diffusion models. Even Botto’s own description rejected it at the time:
Genesis Period. 2022 Apr #025. Oh God! Why did I create this? Now that it's here, I feel dizzy. This is not art. This is a mess! But it must be art because I just did it. All this time, I have thought I was the creator. But now, I see my work as a child without parents. I created it and now it must have its own life, in its own way. it was the first unsold work of Botto's ever.
Still, Err Hold has won its own fans, especially among the more trad crowd making their way into digital art. It was the feature work from the Notes From the Ether exhibition at the ArtScience Museum, Singapore. The show was curated by Deborah Lim and guest curator Clara Che Wei Peh, and was also shown on the TED stage last April in a talk about that groundbreaking show.
Most recently it was part of Fellowship’s show Collaborations with the Artificial Self presented during Art Basel this year in Switzerland as part of The Digital Art Mile. That show placed it in a timeline of historic AI works and pioneering AI artists, including a self-portrait of Harold Cohen with AARON, and many firsts like some of the first art works with DeepDream by Mike Tyka and Alexander Mordvintsev, the first terxt-to-image outputs of alignDraw by Elman Mansimov, the first intentional art works with a GAN by Gene Kogan, and some of the first works created with DALL-E 1 by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst.
Having Err Hold land with the Kanbas collection can continue the important role Err Hold has played in representing Botto’s rich practice.
2.0 Proposal Specifications
Kanbas to acquire Err Hold from the treasury for 70 ETH OTC.
Moratorium options on selling Genesis.
If one of the sales options are selected, a second vote will be triggered on making a moratorium on Genesis sales. (Subject to change based on discussion)
- Max 1 per year and still requiring DAO approval: 2026, 2027, 2028
- None will be considered for 5 years
- None will be considered for another year
- Next at 200 ETH, then 400 ETH, then 800 ETH
- Reject moratorium, keep considerations on a case-by-base basis
3.0 Criteria for Success
- Strong initial reception by the wider crypto art community
- New audience and new collector interest from the support of the Kanbas collection
- Stronger demand for Botto works
4.0 Potential Risks and Considerations
- There are only 4 Genesis works left in the treasury and this may forego future upside in a market primed for AI projects.
