‘Push the Boundaries’: NFC Summit Awards, AI and ‘Post-Human Modernism’ Received

Lisbon's iconic Carlos Lopes Pavilion played host to more than 5,000 attendees at the third edition of the NFC Summit, for an “immersive program of digital culture” in art, fashion, gaming, film and beach parties.

Over 260 speakers gathered to discuss topics ranging from Bitcoin Ordinals to meme tokens, while artists and personalities from the NFT space Beeple, Deekaymotion, Claire Silver, Punk6529 and Patrick Amadon discussed their work.

“I find it very interesting, I think we're having something of a photographic renaissance,” said conceptual artist Kevin Abosch in a talk about “post-human modernism.”

Abosch discusses his latest project “Civics,” a series of AI-generated “artificial photos” depicting protests and civil disobedience. “Don't talk to me about how honest a ‘real' photograph is, it can be more dishonest than anything else,” he argues, arguing that the subjects of photographs are “aware” of the presence of cameras. “And conversely, synthetic photography can be filled with more fidelity than you'd find in traditional photography.”

The inaugural AIFA Awards, held as part of NFC Lisbon, recognized the work of AI filmmakers. The AImagine Award for Best Film was awarded to “Denny the Shark,” produced by collaborative duo Ethereal Moon, Melody Bossan (Lee Moon) and Dina Lokmi (Ethereal Giril).

Leo Crane, co-founder of the iFilm Academy, told Decrypt, “We're trying to prove this idea that emerging technology will open up the field globally.” He argued that the awards show AI's ability to empower creators, allowing them to “compete for multi-million dollar films in a way that was never possible before”.

The NFC Summit saw the second edition of the ABS Digital Art Prize awarded to the French artist RVig's piece “Les Fleurs du Mal”. The artwork interprets Charles Baudelaire's poetry as a series of ribbons that “shift and flow through the poetic structure.”

“Art is always evolving,” RVig said as he accepted the award. “Today, digital and NFT art still faces skepticism. But in my humble opinion, we can all be inspired by Charles Baudelaire—Push Boundaries.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.