Verse Talks

Verse
  • 3.9 (7)
  • Arts
  • Updated Weekly

Discussing the latest news in digital art with Leyla Fakhr and Jamie Gourlay.

  1. Aug 6

    Jon Washburn: AI, Consciousness & the Theory of Reality

    Jon Wubbushi is one of the most unconventional thinkers we've spoken to. After building companies, he became known for his AI-generated artworks before unexpectedly turning his attention to theoretical physics. Today he leads a research team working on what he believes is a new framework for understanding reality itself. In this conversation we discuss creativity, AI, quantum mechanics, consciousness, religion, death, morality, and why Jon believes the next decade could fundamentally change humanity. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it's a fascinating conversation about some of the biggest questions we can ask. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Why Jon keeps changing careers 03:30 Becoming addicted to flow 05:00 From entrepreneur to AI artist 06:30 The trilogy of Jon's early AI artworks 09:20 The question that led him into theoretical physics 10:50 Quantum mechanics and the double slit experiment explained 13:15 "We may have discovered how reality works" 15:00 Information, consciousness and the foundations of reality 18:10 Souls, consciousness and reincarnation 22:20 Entering the world of science after becoming an artist 26:40 Could this discovery change humanity? 29:30 Spirituality, religion and why society feels more divided 34:00 AI as a reflection of humanity 35:40 Does the universe have an objective morality? 38:15 What happens after death? 41:40 Is God real? 43:20 Are all religions describing the same thing? 45:30 Why Jon stopped calling himself a Christian 48:20 Aliens, consciousness and advanced civilizations 50:15 Is Elon Musk human? 51:15 Time travel, meditation and the Monroe Institute 54:30 Are we living in a simulation? 55:15 Jon's biggest lesson about life 58:30 Why suffering gives life meaning 1:00:30 The inspiration behind Jon's newest body of work Edit This Episode Episode is Not Live Publish: Aug. 04, 2026 @ 5PM Edit Add a Transcript Add Chapter Markers Create a Visual Soundbite Mid-Roll Placements Share Link to Episode Episode Share URLCopy View in website Direct Link to Audio Copy Download MP3 Embed Audio Player What's New Platform Stats Refer a Friend About

  2. Jul 26

    Mat Dryhurst: The Future of Digital Creativity

    In this episode, Mat Dryhurst joins us to discuss how digital art has evolved over the past decade and where it's heading next. We talk about blockchain, NFTs, AI, and the idea of protocol art - works that are defined less by a single image or object than by the rules, systems, and networks that produce them. Along the way, we discuss collecting, curation, online communities, software as an artistic medium, and why some of the most important developments in contemporary art are happening outside traditional institutions. Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction 01:35 – Growing up in Kuwait & finding his way into art 03:09 – Collaborating with Holly Herndon for two decades 05:26 – Music, software and creative beginnings 09:29 – Discovering Ethereum before it launched 11:07 – DAOs, crypto and building new institutions 14:00 – Why ambitious artworks take years to make 17:50 – Building a practice outside the traditional art world 20:06 – Making artworks that exist as real software 25:54 – Artist vs Creator 31:04 – Is autonomous art a productive lie? 35:04 – Why we value art we don't always understand 41:14 – Inside *The Call* and designing participatory artworks 44:45 – Why they never create work for the market 48:28 – AI, backlash and losing friends 53:46 – The biggest misconceptions about AI 58:18 – Oxford, AI policy and the future of regulation 01:01:44 – Matt Dryhurst on NFTs 01:07:25 – What NFTs got right 01:12:30 – Crypto art, digital ownership and why it still matters 01:18:05 – Building culture on the blockchain 01:23:10 – Final thoughts Connect with Matt Dryhurst: Twitterinstagram

  3. Jul 19

    Evil Biscuit on Drifella, Trading Cards & Digital Art

    00:00 – Introduction 00:45 – Dropping out of art school 02:20 – Family, comics & collecting 05:20 – Discovering NFTs 06:00 – The birth of Drifella 08:45 – Ethereum, Solana & finding a community 12:20 – Why the Solana art scene exploded 16:30 – Building the Drifella universe 20:20 – Why Drifella 3 became a breakout moment 24:00 – Why trading cards? 27:00 – How Card NFT is made 31:00 – Burning NFTs for physical artworks 33:00 – Curating 100,000+ images 37:30 – AI, intuition & making images 42:00 – NFTs, galleries & the future of art 45:40 – Collaborating with Parker Ito 49:00 – Building a community online 52:00 – What's next for Evil Biscuit? 55:10 – Multiple artistic identities 57:00 – Closing thoughts

  4. Jun 28

    Ed Fornieles on Identity in the Internet Age

    Artist Ed Fornieles joins Verse Talk to discuss Borrowed Lives: Anon 2026, a  body of work exploring how the internet shapes identity. The conversation ranges from Tumblr and 4chan to memes, online belonging, gamer culture, masculinity, AI, and what it means to grow up in a world where images never stop arriving. Along the way, Ed discusses his wider practice, why online communities matter, and how visual culture quietly changes the way we think about ourselves. 00:00 Introduction 03:45 Introducing Ed Fornieles & Borrowed Lives: Anon 05:45 How Tumblr inspired the project 08:35 4chan, anonymity and internet culture 12:00 Cell: recreating online communities in real life 20:25 "The memes meme you" 22:55 Why Borrowed Lives isn't a traditional narrative 25:10 Growing up through images 29:45 Building Anon: research, internet rabbit holes & image collecting 34:40 Inside the artworks: grids, chapters and visual storytelling 37:20 Why it's called Borrowed Lives 39:45 Are online communities inherently dangerous? 44:35 Masculinity, belonging and growing up online 49:45 How the artworks are actually made 53:00 Pepe, Wojak and the evolution of internet identity 56:10 Future characters, AI and where the project goes next 58:50 Raising teenagers in the internet age 1:02:15 Final thoughts

  5. Jun 15

    Trevor Paglen: curating Basel Switzerland’s first Zero 10

    00:18 - Welcome Trevor Paglen 01:17 - Co-curating Zero 10 Basel 03:34 - Beyond labels and distinctions 05:36 - Blending traditional and digital audiences 08:45 - A blockchain agnostic view 11:44 - NFTs, legitimacy and cultural perception  15:08 - How the art world has shifted  18:00 - The collapse of the mid-tier gallery  20:45 - NFTs as an alternative path for artists   22:58 - Selecting artists for Zero 10  27:00 - Why digital galleries do fairs  31:00 - Presenting digitally first work in a physical context  32:29 - Verse as a cultural archive for the internet  35:00 - Art, collecting and cultural stigma 36:55 - What success looks like at Zero 10 Basel 40:04 - Programme highlights https://x.com/trevorpaglen

    Trevor Paglen: curating Basel Switzerland’s first Zero 10

  6. Jun 14

    Jalil: Visualise Value, Checks and a new auction house for Cryptopunks

    00:24 - Welcome Jalil  03:29 - From art to coding  07:04 - Finding Web3 and NFTs  08:05 - Finding Visualize Value and community   14:01 - The Permissionless Apprentice and connecting with Jack  18:47 - Embracing Ethereum and learning Solidity  22:10 - Scapes   24:24 - Experiencing the NFT boom   29:46 - From rock bottom to Checks   35:08 - Building the Checks contracts   39:39 - How Checks works  41:53 - Rarity, MEV risk and gaming the system  43:26 - From Checks to Opepen and an ongoing collaboration   44:24 - Creative roles, collaboration and ego  45:58 - The impact of AI on Jalil's practice  50:38 - Obsession as a path to exceptionalism   53:58 - Exploring an individual art practice again      56:43 - CryptoPunks V1 and V2  01:00:50 - Fixing V1 trading on-chain and the issue with wrappers  01:04:22 - V1 drama and shifting views on IP  01:09:33 - The birth of Networked  01:14:32 - Building for wider understanding with EVM Now   01:18:40 - A new auction house for Punks  01:21:01 - New launches and ideas at Verse   Scapes: https://scapes.xyz/  https://jack.art/checks-originals  https://opepen.art/  https://x.com/jalilwahdat

  7. Jun 8

    Nuclear Samurai: BRAINROT

    00:14 - Welcome Nuclear Samurai 02:51 - Expectations going into the mint  06:13 - Why choose Verse for BRAINROT  08:59 - Early explorations in digital art   11:59 - Fine art to fashion photography   16:04 - Rediscovering NFTs in 2022 17:30 - Finding community on X 20:27 - New technologies and artistic freedom  24:21 - Cultivating a broad audience  28:03 - The Artist as a Founder    29:14 - The importance of a considered rollout   33:28 - Timing the drop, attention, and outreach  36:50 - How trends shape culture  38:28 - Scaling the work  41:06 - The power of a custom contract  42:51 - The next steps for BRAINROT  46:34 - Community and Discord plans 47:55 - Why BRAINROT resonated so widely   53:29 - Zeitgeists and references  Nuclear Samurai: https://x.com/nuclearsamurai BRAINROT: https://verse.works/series/brainrot-by-nuclear-samurai

  8. Apr 29

    sssluke and Brian Droitcour: New Bad Image

    00:18 - Welcome Brian Droitcour and sssluke 02:50 - Burnout and returning online 04:50 - Brian and the origins of Outland 07:54 - A mismatch in value systems and the importance of critique  10:03 - Outland's relaunch as a nonprofit 12:41 - How important are NFTs to digital art  15:46 - Why try to bridge different art worlds  21:11 - New Bad Image 22:27 - Evil Biscuit and the avant scene  25:51 - Trait Maxing, Mythmaking and the birth of new movements 29:10 - The meaning of New Bad Image 31:39 - Brian on schizocollage   35:37 - Rejecting the good image 39:04 - Curating a group show 42:00 - Emergent online culture 46:54 - Why subculture matters  50:27 - Where credibility comes from today 54:30 - Art as collectibles  56:29 - After the Art World and Drifella III 58:41 - The goal of New Bad Image  01:01:45 - Following a curatorial path  01:03:14 - Collaborating with Andreas Gysin  01:05:30 - The state of the space sssluke: https://x.com/sssluke1 Brian Droitcour: https://x.com/briandroitcour After the Art World: https://outlandart.substack.com/p/after-the-art-world-part-1  Brian's thread on schizocollage: https://x.com/briandroitcour/status/1932829548720369949

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3.9
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About

Discussing the latest news in digital art with Leyla Fakhr and Jamie Gourlay.

Information

  • Creator
    Verse
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    91
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Verse Talks
  • Show Website
    Verse Talks

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