When classic art meets new age technology, what is the result?
Meet “DMINTI”, the latest innovation in the Web3 world that you can download to your phone. And the idea for this was born in Israel.
According to the company’s website, “DMINTI collaborates with the world’s leading artists today in the worlds of digital and traditional art in order to curate, produce and present high-impact digital art alongside experiences from the Web3 world.”
The founders of DMINTI, high-tech entrepreneur and Israeli businessman Shalom McKenzie, Senior International Director Carola Jane and filmmaker and former Guggenheim Museum President Jennifer Stockman – along with several other experts – have created a space in Metaverse where art lovers can meet, explore powerful designs in two and three dimensions and enjoy a cultural conversation.
The site embodies the journey of the art world from the classical world to the digital world and the way in which the two today integrate with each other in unprecedented ways.
“In some ways, it’s sad that everything is slowly moving into the digital world,” Stockman told The Jerusalem Post. “But I don’t think we have a choice. The reality is that it happens and if the artists want to stay on the wave, we should really understand what is happening now in the digital world.”
Stockman says that when she thinks of art she thinks of a variety of mediums, from photography and art to sculpture. “Why not use the computer?”, she asked.
While she agrees that “anyone equipped with a computer” can create art today, she believes that digital art is becoming more distinct these days and that soon it will be easier to distinguish between casual works and first-class artists who develop works of museum quality – with the help of technology.
Stockman began her career at IBM and later moved into the art world due to her passion for creativity. But she says she’s never lost her interest in what’s going on in the computer and high-tech worlds, from robots to 3D printing and design.
“The technologies that exist today are changing the rules of the game in the field of art because artists have always used every tool at their disposal,” says Stockman. She emphasizes that art can be made from anything – trash on the street as well as flowers.
“Although for many artists entering technology is a big leap, we see a lot of interest among artists who want to get out of their comfort zone,” she told the Post.
Jane says that for the artists, who will need to make a digital shift to reach people in this changing world, it will be more practical. She points out that people can spend up to eight hours a day on their phones, so if artists want to reach them, they have to go digital.
DMINTI’s Metaverse allows artists to display their works just as if they were hanging on the walls of a museum. People can enter the Metatowers to view the exhibition, wander among the artworks in the galleries or even sit on a balcony and delve into one single work. There are also artistic groups and programs. “We meet the younger generation where they are, and we allow art to be part of the conversation,” Jane explains.
The space is open to “every person in the world”, unlike museums that are far from each other and not accessible to many. And because it’s Metaverse, visitors can log in as avatars and view the art anonymously, if they prefer. “This is a significant equalizer in the art world,” says Stockman.
At the same time, DMITRI has become a place where young artists, alongside older artists, can meet, learn from each other, and create. The company is about to launch a unique performance with the well-known artist Judy Chicago, who worked together with Nadia Tolokonnikova – the two collaborated for the first time ever in a historic collaborative art project called “What if women ruled the world”.
Selected works created as part of the collaborative digital art project will be displayed in DMINTI’s Metaverse. “We want to bring together old and new artists, to make cultural leaders who have unique ideas and want to use this platform make their voices heard,” Jane explains.
Likewise, DMINTI is also a channel for artists whose works have gone digital to sell, track and get paid for them. “If your work is traded on the market, before NFT technology, you weren’t on the blockchain and you couldn’t track your work and say you were the rightful owner of that digital work,” Jane says. “Today you can get paid.”
Stockman adds that during the corona epidemic, the art world responded to the challenge and tested digital technologies for exhibitions in museums and galleries, but in general, the industry stopped. DMINTI offers a solution for this as well. In Metaverse, people can walk around, talk to others, and see the art—no matter what’s going on in the “real world.” “We think the world will be impressed by DMINTI and come to it,” Jane concludes.