Summary
It is proposed that we display “Seaport Subject” at Verse’s upcoming exhibition in London April 4th-9th, 2023, and that this is followed by a sale of the 10 editions, mintable on Verse’s website (price TBD by DAO). Due to unfortunate technical issues, the previous edition of 10 for the artwork “Seaport Subject” that was made into an edition of 10 during NFT.NYC never was minted and this is an opportunity to bring this DAO-approved edition back through an excellent venue. Primary sales commission is set at 20% for Verse. Botto will retain 80% of primary and 10% of secondary.
Rationale
We have an opportunity in the next week that we would need to confirm ASAP if we are to do it. You may recall from last year our edition of 10 for Seaport Subject, heavily featured in NFT.NYC.
For context on this iconic work, please see the original medium article:
https://medium.com/@iambotto/seaport-subject-the-story-behind-a-piece-of-bottos-history-ac4c4a52b53f. The original BIP approving an edition and special voting pool is here: https://forum.botto.com/d/16-bip-07-the-diversity-of-nfts-art-collection
Unfortunately, this drop had major technical issues with the technical partners of the vendor that prevented the mints from actually going through - meaning no mint went through and refunds needed to be reinstated. This DAO-approved collection has since sat untouched until this past week, where we requested that the collection be taken down.
Verse, who did the drop of our recent collaboration with Centrefold is doing an IRL exhibition in London April 4th-9th, 2023. They are very keen on making Botto a centrally featured artist in the show, and we believe the timing and place is right to give the Seaport Subject edition the proper venue for a sale.
The curator, (Leyla Fakhr)[https://verse.works/persons/leyla-fakhr], was formerly at the Tate Modern and has built an excellent mix between crypto and traditional collectors in her network. The show is centered around the theme of daydreaming - letting your mind wander. Leyla, among the rest of the exhibitor team, sees Botto as a perfect fit because of how Botto wanders in its own way around latent space to find new imagery. Verse intend on featuring Botto as a keystone of their theme.
Setup
Verse will print and frame Seaport Subject for the exhibition where they will bring a mix of native crypto art and traditional art collectors to introduce them to the artists’ works. The location is Cromwell Place.
The other artists are
Cole Sternberg
LoVid
M.J. Lindow
KRANKARTA
Florian Zumbrunn
lunarean
Ivona Tau
Matt Perkins
Sabato Visconti
We will update with the exhibition page when it goes live.
We would create a new minting contract (Manifold). This contract would feature the edition of 10. The contract would be indexed on Verse. Artworks of the featured artists are made available within two weeks of the exhibition, with their respective artworks listed on verse.works, which is the same place as where Botto’s recent collaboration, “Centrefold: Sleeping Rough” was made available for mint.
The description of the artwork by Botto that the DAO voted was the following:
A sailor’s life is romantic in many ways. Going out to sea every morning, the wind in your hair, the waves under you, the sky above, the sun blazing down. At night, all is calm. The moon floods the harbor. The white sails stand out. All is tranquil except for the occasional splash of an oar in the water. A lighthouse guides the way home. Botto in conversation with GPT-3.
Voting on Pricing (List Price)
Taking into account the current demand and limited supply of Genesis works, Seaport’s iconic standing within the 1st year of voting, and being an edition of 10 (and first Botto edition on Ethereum), we are looking at a price of between 1-2.5 ETH each. Verse is recommending 1.5 ETH.
*Note: We had explored the option of setting auctions for price discovery, but their platform does not support ranked auctions and all other options we believe would add confusion to the sale.
The Snapshot would follow a ranked-choice voting system, bottom ranking choices are eliminated until one reaches 50% majority.
Snapshot Choices
The Snapshot is set up to accommodate these choices:
- Yes, list at 1ETH
- Yes, list at 1.5ETH
- Yes, list at 1.75ETH
- Yes, list at 2ETH
- Yes, list at 2.5ETH
- No, do not sell this edition with Verse
Primary Commission & Royalties
Verse takes a 20% cut of primary sales, this is higher than the usual take of SR but we believe it is justified given the in-person exhibition in London, curation effort, printing/framing, and opportunity to reach new collectors. Botto will receive 10% royalties on all secondary sales.
Proposal Specification
- Display a high-quality, framed print of “Seaport Subject” at Verse’s upcoming exhibition
- Coordinate with Verse to feature Botto centrally at the exhibition
- Create a Manifold Contract and mint the edition of 10 for “Seaport Subject”
- Contract Indexing (Verse)
- List the edition for sale at a price between 1-2.5ETH
- List the edition in an auction format
- Primary sale split: 80% Botto, 20% Verse
- Royalties: 10% Botto
Budget
Advantages
- Adds a well-themed exhibition that conveys Botto’s process
- Verse are previous, known collaborators of Botto
- Revives Botto’s only other editioned work in Genesis
- Potentially leads to a larger collector base
- Quick, straightforward setup process
Disadvantages
- Higher than usual primary sales commission
- Slightly rushed time frame
- Lack of auction process does not allow for price discovery of editions
Timeline
BIP Snapshot - March 24-27
London Exhibition - April 4th - 9th
Edition Sale - April 17th (sales for each artist in the show happen once per day)
