— from natural flora to non-fungible tokens
by Marzia Braggion
“We really like your work and next month we want to financially support your art. Would you like to create a piece and then sell the NFT in our store?”. These words came from Tabea, a member of the muti collective.
Is there a more delightful invitation you can receive as an artist? Of course, it is an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I thought I was very lucky.
I met Tabea at the Lisbon Art week this year, in the room dedicated to the exhibition of NFTs “inner work”, organized by Matéria Crua.
Along with the opportunity to exhibit my piece “EGG of CREATION”, I also saw the possibility to attend all the educational talks, with artists and partners in the area of NFTs, web3, on topics mainly focused on the usefulness and intellectual property of digital art.
It was right after one of these talks, featuring the muti collective, that I approached Tabea. I became very interested in learning more about the project and eventually collaborating with the collective. Attracted by the concept of developing cultural and creative activities in nature and in rural areas of Portugal, I talked briefly with Tabea and we exchanged contacts. I love creating art and scanographs using flowers, leaves, the geometry of plants and their natural colors. I thought my creativity and art followed the same frequency that muti also followed, we had a common principle: to generate art in and with nature. I found in them an ideal collaboration.
My work was supported by an “artist stipend” from the muti collective, through the NEAR cryptocurrency. I created a page on my website where I described step by step the “work in progress” throughout the weeks I dedicated to the project.
It was also the first time I illustrated with photographs each step of my creative process, starting from the collection of the plants, to the creation of a final piece and physical object, the “Floral Domino” and “Spiral of Flowers”.
So I thought that besides going to a beautiful place like Gerês to collect plants, I also had to transform them next into something useful that could be used as a group. And it seemed like an interesting idea to create a “Domino” as a collection piece to be printed.
Tabea immediately showed enthusiasm for the concept and muti supported the choices I shared, and even more, helped me with the technical background information regarding my NEAR portfolio, and also gave me practical advice on how to create the physical “Domino”.
In the middle of all this creative process, which took place this summer, we casually found out that we would be participating in the same festivals, like the BOOM Festival and WAKING LIFE. Probably, being part of “Transformational Festivals” is not just a way to be for a few weeks, but a lifestyle that we see as necessary to nurture the foundations of a new decentralized economic system based on abundance, creativity, nature and community.
Links
Marzia: https://www.instagram.com/marzia_and_thespaceshipproject
muti: https://www.instagram.com/muti.collective/
NEAR: https://near.org/