Digital Art Mile ‘bridges the worlds’ between traditional and electronic art

Earlier this month, Decrypt's sister Web3 media Rush Radio headed to Basel to participate in the Digital Art Mile, a new digital art fair format that showcases contemporary and historical digital art from around the world.

“We want to bridge these two worlds — the traditional art world and the digital art world,” George Buck, artistic director of the Digital Art Mile, told Decrypt.

The inaugural Digital Art Mile succeeded in that goal, drawing “a crowd of Web3 people and curious art people from around Basel,” Buck said.

Galleries and NFT platforms including Objkt, fx(hash), Fellowship and MakersPlace are on display at the free event.

Aleksandra Artamonovskaja, Trillich Head of Art, Entrepreneurship Group These blockchain, the Tesserart interactive installation by artist HOXID was cited as one of the highlights of the event. The artwork allowed participants to live the NFT in a dynamic frame. “Each time you take out a piece, a new work changes on the screen,” says Artamonovskaja, who claims about 800 artworks from 60 artists through the installation.

Artamonovskaja, who gave a keynote address on this topic during the Generative Art Conference at LeRandom, was intrigued by the physicality of generative art on display. “For example, fx(hash) had woven tapestries by Andreas Rau – very creative – and on either side they had clear glass frames to display art by Aleksandra Jovanich.”

Buck highlights cybernetic choreography pioneer Analivia Cordero's interactive installation MUTTIO, presented by Objkt and the Tezos Foundation. The work sees the audience as participants, their movements captured and interpreted in colorful, abstract patterns. “It really looks like something like Constructivist output, something like Mondrian,” Buck said. “It's a beautiful job.”

The Digital Art Mile also included a program of discussions, with organizers citing discussions about generative art and museums as particular highlights. “We talked about the challenges that museums face in displaying digital art,” says artist Sasha Stiles, who has extensive experience working in various exhibition spaces and how she approaches production from an artistic perspective.

“We realized there wasn't a conference on Web3 and museums, so this was really something special,” said Buck, who was especially proud to feature a rare interview with Analivia Cordiero.

Alongside the installations and talks, the event featured the European premiere of the CryptoPunks documentary “What the Punk”, which explores the evolution of the NFT collection from “a certain ceremony” Artamonovskaja explained the financial impact it has had on them over the years. ” when considering.

Thanks to the “tremendous support” of the digital art community for the incredible success of the first Digital Art Mile, Buck and Artamonovskaja are turning their attention to the event's future. “I think this can grow in quality, but also in quantity,” Buck said, adding that the next event “will feature even more venues and feature more galleries.”