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Louiz Banks: Art meets Jazz NFT Project

We are proud to present a groundbreaking NFT project that seamlessly merges the worlds of music and visual art.

Chatting with GPT4.0

In trying to ascertain the quality of the images produced, we decided to chat with GPT-4.0. Please note that the artworks (The First Avatars) were painstakingly created after training a StyleGan model with portraits and various augmentations.

'1948 - The First Avatars' - Discussing The Ordinals Release

This endeavor strives to be a landmark Artificial Intelligence generated Profile Picture project strongly rooted in modernism. This is not a doodle project. Each artwork is legitimate modern art. We have Deep Learned Gobardhan Ash's Avatar series. These are works created by the Artificial Intelligence engine. Each image of 48x48 pixels has been inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain. The inscribed image itself is distinct and precise. In line with the ethos of Ordinals they do not need an off-chain image for clarity. The images have also been compressed to less than 1 kb allowing for minimal transaction costs. And keeping size to a minimum we have decided not to include any metadata - that would add another 50 bytes at a minimum and in our case only add the name, an index number which is of no consequence. Note that there are no trait names, as each art work is unique. Some of the traits may look similar but are all different.

'1948 - The First Avatars' - Discussing The Ordinals Release

Using AI to Generate Profile Pictures

First and foremost, each artwork is new and unique having been generated by an AI engine. We are enthused that the engine has been able to train given the immense colour palette of the artist and the detailed texturing in his drawings. This detailed texturing is also what hugely differentiates this project from the simplistic doodle-based profile picture projects. The project is in collaboration with the Artists' Estate, which includes the due transfer of Copyright for these works to the project (this is huge!). We start from a set of around 50 'Avatars' - which are art works that the artist created in the years 1948-1951.

The Modernism Behind "1948 - The First Avatars"

Modernism is crucial and important for collectible-grade art, and this principle extends to art in the digital format. This is what shapes our approach and sets us apart. Notably, this endeavor is poised to be India's first serious modern art profile-picture project made using AI.

The Modernism Behind "1948 - The First Avatars"

The possible narrative behind the 1948 Avatars

What could possibly have been in the artist’s consciousness in 1948? Who are these characters? Read on to know more.

The possible narrative behind the 1948 Avatars

1948 - The "OG" Avatars

Here are some of the NFT-related topics we discussed at the Soho House, Mumbai on 11th June 2023. We discuss what is an NFT and the the various issues surrounding these. We also introduce Gobardhan Ash's avatars - artworks created between 1948 and 1951 which are similar to the profile picture projects created in the early 2020's. The focus of Gobardhan Ash's avatars was the personality trait, the emotional bonding, the role of the person, and not the detailed features of the person. The goal being to identify the trait by looking at the artwork. The video of the presentation is available here.

Navigating NFTs in art

This is the transcription of the talk at Soho House, Mumbai given by us in June 2022.

Artificial Intelligence: Competitor or Creative Collaborator?

In the quest of identifying the most important new technologies transforming the art world and creative processes - we focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in particular. It is essential to understand how artists are weaving in technology into their practice while various art galleries and museums rewrite the rules of an exhibit. It is further important to analyse and gauge the potential of the blockchain as a suitable ecosystem in commercial art.

Artificial Intelligence: Competitor or Creative Collaborator?

M.F. Husain and Gobardhan Ash NFT drops

Alongside hosting the first NFT auction (Gobardhan Ash Avatars) in India, we are also proud to announce the first-ever NFT of the iconic M.F. Husain artwork “Lightning”, an initiative by art collector and entrepreneur Kent Charugundla. This move is bound to transform art markets worldwide. The name of this initiative "LightningNFT" is inspired by Husain's historic 60-foot-long mural titled 'Lightning" made in 1975 as a backdrop to an important speech given by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Picture Credit: https://lightningnft.io/ The work comprises twelve grand panels that spell cubism - an art form often associated with Husain. It features wild, white horses charging across a space with visual references to India in the 1970s, whilst capturing the political milieu of the new nation. The LightningNFT drop includes NFTs with 62 unique traits where each NFT depicts 12 panels with its own traits.

Decoding Gobardhan Ash's Avatars

Ash’s experiments in art from the 1950s are characterised as avatars; primitive artworks depicting personality traits. His paintings comprise a technique composed of a scientific arrangement of colour dots, almost pointillist. His works are impeccable character studies. Listed below are Ash's avatars up for auction and an attempt to decode the same with reference to their titles.

Gobardhan Ash’s Avatars

Non Fungible Tokens are a new technology phenomenon allowing clear ownership and easy transferability of digital art which can be unique or in editions. In understanding NFT, one needs to understand digital art and perhaps the progression of the mediums on which art is painted/ executed. Since time immemorial - art has been painted on wooden panels, walls, paper, and from around the 16th century on canvas.

Gobardhan Ash’s Avatars - Physical & NFT Auction

Background Avatar, also known as a profile picture or user picture in the computing world, refers to a graphical representation of a user or the user's character or persona or possibly physical traits. It may take either a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities or a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds. (Wikipedia)

Gobardhan Ash’s Avatars - Physical & NFT Auction

An introduction to Digital Art

NFT's or Non Fungible Token's are a new technology phenomenon allowing clear ownership and easy transferability of digital art which can be unique or in editions.