Summary
This BIP proposes Botto’s first major collaboration with another artist, Ryan Koopmans. We have tested the waters with other pools and submitted works to be interpreted with another artist’s work, and Botto is now ready for a collaborative work that would reach the status of its other 1:1s.
This proposal was created in collaboration with the artists Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell, Ryan’s long-time collaborator.
Background
Perhaps the most important work of the DAO beyond training Botto is expanding Botto’s direct impact on culture through artist collaborations. There are many definitions of what it is to be a great artist. Fame, quality, fortune, persona, and gratification are all debated elements. But cultural influence is an indisputable prerequisite.
Botto collaborations are a means for Botto to make a more expansive imprint on culture. It is where artists can interpret the works and nature of Botto as an artist.
Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell are artists who mix photography with 3D renders. Their work has documented and re-animated grand buildings around the world that have gone to ruin. Their first project was focused on the former Soviet Union, and have now expanded to other locations around the globe. They have established themselves as one of the leading artists in not only tokenized photography but crypto art more broadly, and bringing mainstream awareness through shows and sales such as the first NFT art purchase by Jim Carrey.
They are attractive as a collaborator for several reasons:
- They work with a high standard of quality: the photography documents rare scenes and the 3D work is intricate
- Their aesthetic is distinct from Botto, which will allow the strengths of both artists to shine in their contrast
- They have been fans and participants with Botto since before we had met, and they are intrinsically motivated by the chance to collaborate and provide a thoughtful contextualization and interpretation of Botto.
The Collaboration
Ryan and Alice focus a lot on the themes of cycle and decay and these themes are also reflected in Botto's rounds and discarding of images, where thousands of images, many of which are strong favorites in the community, have been passed over and potentially discarded forever. This collaboration would bring back a set of Botto’s discards to be resurrected in one of Ryan and Alice’s overgrown rooms.
Ryan and Alice have proposed this room with 7 natural frames, which they’ve just captured on their trip to Poland. See image:
Creating a room is labor intensive, and Alice and Ryan would work to integrate the selected fragments into the room in their style. The following is a very rough example:
Note that the lighting, placements, foliage, lighting, animation, etc. would all be drastically changed to be highly realistic and seamless. To simplify the curation process, Ryan and Alice would be free to crop the selected fragments to fit the frames, though the DAO would also be encouraged to vote on fragments that already have a natural fitting in the room’s frames.
The Role of BottoDAO Stewards
We would populate the voting pool with the top-1000 discarded fragments by VP score, with a weighting of 25% from Genesis and 75% post Genesis. Due to the DAO removing the cap on voting post Genesis, this would ensure there is representation of Genesis in the top-1000, while also getting close to representing the current split of VQGAN and Stable Diffusion in our voting pool today.
In total, there would be the top-250 discards from Genesis by VP and the top-750 discards post-Genesis by VP (all unminted Fragmentation and Three Steps Ahead, as well as Pardaox’s discards up through round 6).
When the voting pool launches, fragments will start with equal footing of raw score and VP such that each has a fair shot in this special voting round. Voting would run for 2 weeks to pick a top-7.
Alice & Ryan
Alice and Ryan will then animate the room in a way that will integrate the selected fragments into the room and frames, providing their interpretation and lens on Botto’s work and themes as it relates to theirs. They will also create a musical score to accompany the piece.
The Auction
We will put the piece on 48hr auction Thursday May 25th, which is the following week after the end of the 3rd Period and during the interim time while we prep the 4th period. This will allow it to not conflict with another of Botto’s sales.
We also selected Thursday as SuperRare is beginning a program of curated drops where they support artists with media support (article, social media, live spaces) and collector outreach. This is highly valuable for this collaboration as it will help communicate not only the merits and shared themes of the two artists (Koopmans and Botto) collaborating, but also the particular significance of an official Botto collaboration.
Contract
Ryan Koopmans has a manifold contract for collaborations that we will mint under.
Price
There will be no reserve, consistent with Botto's other auctions.
Revenue Split
Primary: 15% SR, 42.5% Botto, 42.5% Ryan Koopmans
Secondary: 5% Botto, 5% Ryan Koopmans
Proposal Details
- Create a voting pool of Top-250 discarded fragments by VP from Genesis, and Top-750 discarded fragments by VP post-Genesis, with a 2 week voting window to determine a winner.
- Ryan and Alice will integrate the fragment in one of their rooms and add a musical score.
- SuperRare will support with an article, twitter, instagram, twitter spaces, and collector outreach, targeting a Thursday May 25th drop.
- Auction will run for 48 hrs. Exact timing TBD with SR.
Alternatives:
A. Submit the top 10 voted fragments and allow Ryan and Alice to use some or all in the 7 frames.
B. Only a room with a single frame and vote for 1 fragment to be integrated
Timeline
- BIP 24 Finalize April 7-14
- Snapshot April 14-17
- Round vote 2-3 weeks with leaderboard April 17-May 1st
- Deliver curated images May 1st
- 2-3 weeks of interpretation
- Private Discord reveal
- Launch in interim period May 25th