RAW Review RAW DAO

In this final episode of the RAW Review, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah, also know as Ava Silvery. Akosua is an internationally exhibited and published German-Ghanaian visual artist currently based in Zürich, Switzerland. Works from her project Behold The Ocean have been collected by RAW DAO and she is also a member of CyberbaatDAO. We cover a lot of ground in this episode: our reflections on the arts education system and what it didn’t prepare us for, her father’s background as a software engineer and how it led her to blockchain technology, the promises and shortcomings of web3 and NFTs as a model for sustainably funding artists… and even horse girls.



Topics Discussed:

Düsseldorf Academy

The pitfalls of art school

Horse Girls and Heartland

Behold the Ocean

RAW DAO

The promise of web3

Blindness as a disability

The spectrum of decentralization in DAOs

New models for funding artists

CyberbaatDAO

MirrorDAO



Chapters:

00:01:32 Ava discovering photography

00:04:00 Ava’s experience studying art in Germany

00:05:59 Reflecting on the experience of formal arts education

00:07:00 The disconnect between artists and profs + making ends meet after graduation

00:12:05 Living in Switzerland and Horse Girls

00:16:40 Behold the Ocean

00:19:27 The success of typologies in NFT photography

00:22:25 Expectations for selling out collections in the space and

00:23:45 Ava’s dad telling her about web3 before she knew what web2 was

00:27:09 Being open to new forms of technology, blindness & parallels between Ava & Brileigh

00:33:02 Crowdfunding Behold the Ocean vs relying on grants

00:39:20 Is web3 fulfilling its promise?

00:45:14 What is CyberbaatDAO

00:48:24 Traditional organization models vs DAOs

00:53:03 DAO is a sexy word and the spectrum of decentralization

00:57:56 DAOs raising the bar for what people working in the arts should be compensated for vs traditonal workplace models

01:00:00 Universal basic income

01:03:02 What are we trying to achieve with NFT photography

01:04:00 Projects in the pipeline for Ava



Follow Akosua on Twitter: @AvaSilvery

Behold the Ocean website: beholdtheocean.com



RAW DAO website: www.rawdao.xyz

Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao

Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao

Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb

Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh



Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Engineering: Matthew Brooks

Music: Sam Cronenberg

Cover art: Sam Cronenberg

In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Alejandro Cartagena, founding member of RAW DAO as well as the co-founder of Obscura and Fellowship Trust. Alejandro shares his story of becoming a photographer and paving the way for other artists through Fellowship and Obscura. We also discuss the Magnum Photos 75th anniversary NFT collection which he curated and five pieces of which were recently acquired by RAW DAO. As one of the most active members of the NFT photography community, Alejandro has lots to share about onboarding traditional artists to the NFT space, developing new models to sustainably fund artists, and his advice for new photographers trying to find success in the space.
Topics Discussed:
Alejandro's story of discovering photography and becoming a successful artist
Building community with Fellowship and Obscura
Developing sustainable funding models for artists
Alejandro's advice for photographers trying to find success in the space
Chapters:
00:01:49 The Alejandro origin story before becoming a photographer
00:03:44 Alejandro’s entry to photography
00:09:29 Alejandro’s journey to becoming an established artist
00:15:04 The birth of Carpoolers
00:19:29 Alejandro discovering NFTs and Foundation
00:26:32 Building community with Fellowship and Obscura
00:36:31 The curation process at Fellowship
00:40:25 Centralized vs. decentralized curation models
00:42:06 How Fellowship and Obscura’s missions are different
00:42:52 Developing sustainable models for funding artists
00:46:47 Artists marketing their work and what it really means to build community
00:51:09 Magnum Photos 75 NFT Collection
00:53:20 Magnum entering the NFT space and what this signals
00:56:34 The value of work by NFT native artists vs. traditional artists
00:59:43 The parallels between NFTs and the early days of digital photography
01:03:56 Alejandro’s advice for photographers trying to find success in the space
01:06:12 What’s next for Alejandro
Relevant links:
Follow Alejandro on Twitter: @halecar2
Follow Obscura on Twitter: @obscuradao
Follow Fellowship Trust on Twitter: @fellowshiptrust
RAW DAO website: www.rawdao.xyz
Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao
Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao
Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb
Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh
Credits:
Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle
Engineering: Matthew Brooks
Music: Sam Cronenberg
Cover art: Sam Cronenberg

In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Carlo Van de Roer. Carlo is a founding member of RAW DAO and the co-founder of Satellite Lab, a creative studio developing innovative lighting technologies for photography and filmmaking. In this episode, Carlo tells us about how he got involved with NFTs, the story behind his project September 20 which inspired the RAW logo, and his galaxy brain lighting technology PlateLight that allows users to retroactively control light after footage has been shot.



Topics discussed:

September 20

Satellite Lab

Modulator One Collection

Modulator One Video

RAW DAO

The Portrait Machine Project



Chapters:

00:01:00 Carlo’s entry to photography

00:03:45 September 20 project

00:07:15 The process of September 20

00:10:03 September 20 Set 1 #1 and the RAW logo

00:11:24 Carlo joining RAW DAO at its formation

00:13:58 Carlo and collecting NFTs

00:14:41 Carlo’s relationship to selling and collecting in web3

00:19:45 Satellite Lab

00:22:26 Satellite Lab’s first invention Dynamic Light

00:25:04 Platelight, Satellite Lab’s second invention

00:27:57 Modulator One

00:32:27 Pushing the boundaries of photography through smart contracts and NFTs

00:35:25 The Portrait Machine Project

00:38:38 Carlos interest in new and obsolescent technologies

00:39:28 Carlo and future projects



Carlo’s website: http://www.vanderoer.com

Follow Carlo on Twitter: @Carlo_VandeRoer

RAW DAO website: www.rawdao.xyz

Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao

Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao

Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb

Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh



Credits:

Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Engineering: Matthew Brooks

Music: Sam Cronenberg

Cover art: Sam Cronenberg

In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Shane Lavalette. Shane is a founding artist of RAW DAO, the former director of non-profit organization Lightwork, and one of the co-founders of Assembly, which is a gallery, agency, and creative studio supporting visual artists from around the world. Today, we’ll talk with Shane about how he got involved with NFTs, the story behind Assembly, and his collection One Sun, One Shadow which was recently acquired by RAW DAO.



Topics discussed:

Layflat

Lightwork

Assembly

RAW DAO

One Sun, One Shadow

#28 One Sun, One Shadow

#23 One Sun, One Shadow



Chapters:

00:00:57 Shane’s entry to photography

00:03:47 Artists Shane was inspired by

00:05:37 Layflat & interest in publishing

00:08:15 Photobook as a medium for photography

00:10:46 Lightwork and how Shane got involved

00:15:33 Traditional art world vs NFT space

00:16:53 Shane discovering NFTs, and co-founding Assembly

00:20:06 Where the name Assembly comes from

00:21:27 Assembly in the physical and the digital

00:23:58 Challenges onboarding traditional artists into Assembly

00:29:24 Finding artists in web3 that we knew from the photo world

00:31:50 Shane and RAW DAO

00:35:30 Curating, and RAW’s community approach to collecting art

00:37:54 One Sun, One Shadow

00:41:12 The story behind image #28 from One Sun, One Shadow

00:43:43 Quite photographs with tension and image #23 from One Sun, One Shadow

00:46:13 Shane’s relationship to the American South while moving from the North to the South

00:48:27 The importance of building community in the NFT space

00:53:11 Reflecting on Shane’s career and practice, thinking about the value of NFTs

00:56:48 Collectors in NFT space vs collectors in the traditional art world

01:00:52 Shane’s future plans



Shane’s website: www.shanelavalette.com

Follow Shane on Twitter: @shanelavalette

Assembly website: assembly.art

Follow Assembly on Twitter: @AssemblyCurated

RAW DAO Website: www.rawdao.xyz

Follow RAW on Twitter: @therawdao

Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao

Follow Matthew on Twitter @0xmatthewb

Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh



Credits:

Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Engineering: Matthew Brooks

Music: Sam Cronenberg

Cover art: Sam Cronenberg

In this episode, Matthew and Brileigh are joined by Justin Aversano. Justin is a founding artist of RAW DAO and the creator of Twin Flames, a series of photographs of 100 twins from around the world made in honour of his twin who passed away in utero. Launched in February 2021, Twin Flames has since become the highest selling NFT photography collection of all time. Justin is also the founder of SaveArtSpace, a non-profit that brings artists’ work to public space through commercial billboards, and Quantum which is a curated NFT platform and IRL gallery, co-working, and community space.

In this episode, we talk with Justin about studying photography and how he almost became a doctor, the story of Twin Flames and how it lead to the formation of RAW DAO and Quantum, and his latest project Smoke and Mirrors.



Topics discussed:

Twin Flames - 100 Twin Portraits on OpenSea

Twin Flames #49 auction at Sotheby's

Twin Flames #49 on PartyBid

SaveArtSpace

Quantum Art

Quantum Space LA

Smoke and Mirrors - 78 Tarot Portraits on OpenSea

Smoke and Mirrors - Physical Tarot Scrolls on OpenSea



Chapters:

00:01:26 Justin discovering photography

00:03:51 Story of Twin Flames

00:06:05 Justin finding NFTs

00:11:13 Value of community building

00:14:41 Reflections on art school

00:16:08 Twin Flames #49

00:20:24 What makes RAW different than a traditonal art collection?

00:21:46 RAW’s Community Curation model

00:22:23 Quantum

00:24:44 Quantum IRL

00:25:32 NFTs as the digital twin of the physical reality - balancing both

00:29:06 The tension between community and greed in the NFT market

00:31:15 Smoke and Mirrors

00:33:33 Artists and mysticism

00:34:42 Tarot, and photography’s relationship to interpretation

00:36:51 Twindom, duality, chance, and interconnectedness in Justin’s life



Justin's website: justinaversano.com

Follow Justin on Twitter: @justinaversano

RAW DAO website: rawdao.xyz

Follow RAW DAO on Twitter: @theRAWdao

Join RAW DAO Discord: discord.gg/rawdao

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @0xmatthewb

Follow Brileigh on Twitter: @0xbrileigh



Credits:

Hosts: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Production: Matthew Brooks and Brileigh Hardcastle

Engineering: Matthew Brooks

Music: Sam Cronenberg

Cover art: Sam Cronenberg