Hello Everyone! This will be the first blog post in my Introducing: AlgoNFT Collections & Artists series. The intention is to spread awareness of various projects in the space. These introductions consist of information from conversations, as well as information provided by creators Twitter accounts + Gallery pages. Make sure to check out the artists collections & reach out them!

AB2 Gallery Description: 2021 is proving explosive for the Algorand ecosystem, and I thought it would be novel to document this growth via a series of 88 lo-fi haikus (88 being a lucky number around Asia). After the first five were released, I've decided on the following:

55 exclusives (aka. rare): 4/4 - 16.00A
22 superiors (aka. ultra rare): 2/2 - 32.00A
11 laureates (aka. unique): 1/1 - 64.00A

Hoping to include a series of collaborations with the Algo NFT community.

Twitter Handle: @CryptoPav1

Twitter Description: The unofficial Haijin of Algorand, documenting the inexorable rise of the world’s finest blockchain via the medium of haiku.

Let's Get into it!

I had a pleasure getting to know Crypto Pav. I really enjoy projects that push the limits of what an "NFT" actually is. Algorand is a newer ecosystem, & as such, we're bound to see a lot of changes to the space in the coming years. Algo Haiku is a collection that stands apart from the pack. Whereas most NFT creators use NFTs to express visual content, Crypto Pav chooses to express through the Japanese Poetry form Haiku.

Crypto Pav has resided in Asia for nearly a decade, but originally hails from Britain. Crypto Pav has been in the crypto space for the last year, "just in time for the for it to crash earlier this year." Nonetheless, they've remained diamond handed & very involved in Algorand + the evolving ecosystem. Crypto Pav discovered the Opulus Project early on and quickly integrated themselves into the community. While Crypto Pav can't say what made them start throwing haikus into the mix, it has turned out well, and helped build great relationships in Opulus & around the various Algorand Bazaars (Love that word).

Speaking on Opulus, Crypto Pav love's what Opul Chief Lee parsons is developing in the music NFT space, & is particularly attracted to the international community that is emerging around Opulus, with admins spanning countries such as Brazil, Algeria, Hungary, & Sri Lanka.

"Life is always more interesting when diverse cultures blend, particularly where the unique conversational style of Aussies and Kiwis enter the mix…;)" ~ Crypto Pav

Diving into Algo Haiku:

The Haikus in the collection serve as a permanent record celebrating various aspects of development in NFT's and the Algorand Ecosystem as a whole.

In Crypto Pav's Own Words: "My plan is to release 88 haikus (that being a lucky number in Asia) over the coming weeks and months; four so far have focused on the OPUL launch, YBG cult, El Salvador and BTC, and ALGO’s successful Sept."

The project is constantly evolving, with Crypto Pav utilizing different approaches to releasing, minting, quantities, & prices for NFTs in the Algo Haiku collection, but will eventually settle on a more permanent schema for the series.

Crypto Pav is also interested in Collaborating with other Artists in the space, & has already released a collab with @AlgoTheOwl related to 100m dollar deal between Algorand & the Drone Race League.

In Crypto Pav's own words, The Algo Haiku Collection is "an experimental and hopefully engaging way to capture the evolution of Algorand at this pivotal time in its lifecycle. "

Awesome project! I encourage everyone to check them out!

JINGLE

I recently began working on an NFT project that I decided to call “Jingle.” There’s really no reason behind the name, aside from the fact that it’s short, & it has nothing to do with the sensory experience associated with viewing a picture based NFT. (Unless… sound was incorporated for certain NFTs in the collection?) I originally began working on the project as a way to explore different art styles & to freely express myself in a given moment without attempting to maintain a consistent theme. I decided that every piece I produced would be a Jingle; the collection would continue indefinitely, every image would be minted as a single NFT, & the price would remain consistent at 5 Algo. I wasn’t so much focused on selling the NFTs; if they sold, great, & if they didn’t, no problem that’s not really the point. The point is: To engage in the act of creative expression, in a given moment, without any concern for style, or any reference to anything beyond/ outside that given moment. 

A few days ago I had another idea: what if, in addition to the collection not having any consistency in terms of art style, the collection consisted of NFTs that weren’t even consistent in terms of the artist that produced them? I thought this idea could turn out pretty cool, and it could end up producing a collection that consisted of a remarkably diverse range of Art. So, I decided to reach out to some friends about potentially contributing... 

Fast forward to Today: another idea struck me… what if contributing art to this inconsistent collection was open to anyone? What if anyone could create a piece of original art, & then that piece could be minted as a “jingle” in the collection? 

To Clarify: the only real requirement would be that that individual has an Algorand wallet address ( so they can be transferred the 5 Algo, if their jingle sells) and that the art is their own creation. I think that if the project was successful, and enough people contributed, the collection could end up being a really interesting & fascinating thing that highlights the diverse range of art styles, experiences, and views of the community. 

 Potential Problems that Need to be Addressed: 

- Being that the NFTs would be minted from my wallet address associated with the jingle project, there's the potential I could profit from other peoples art without actually giving them the Algo earned from the sale. So, I think that to some degree trust would be needed in this scenario, but also… transactions on the blockchain are traceable; so in the event that I didn’t actually pay the artist, the artist could easily look up the jingle wallet addresses transaction history and draw attention to my deceitful behavior. This would burdensome; so I think the easiest way to ensure that trust is established is to just be fully transparent about every transaction from the start by keeping a publicly available thread of all mints, sales, & transfer of payments to the artist associated with all jingles. This could become a part of the project itself which highlights the collective contributions to the project. 

- Another potential problem is the fact that I have no way to definitively determine whether what someone gives me to mint is truly their own original work. I believe to ensure this, there would need to be some kind of minimally burdensome proof of creation. Maybe a photo of the screen while the artist created the piece? This could then also be uploaded to the thread with the transactions or maybe I’ll just create a Twitter handle solely for the project? I’m still working out the details, but I think it’s a cool idea. 

- Lastly: there wouldn’t be much of a financial incentive (unless of course the price of Algo happened to sky rocket suddenly), but financial gain isn’t the purpose; raw expression in a given moment is. So, there's a chance that no one is interested in contributing & the project doesn't go anywhere. 

 Recap: 

Jingle is an Experimental NFT Project on the Algorand Blockchain. Every NFT in the collection will be unique: Every Jingle will be 1/1 & every NFT will be priced at 5 Algo with no royalties. The project will continue indefinitely, & anyone can contribute by providing three things: a wallet address, an original piece of digital art to be minted as a jingle in the collection, & some kind of proof of creation. All transactions associated with the project will be publicly displayed in addition to the submitted proof of creation.

Let me know what you think & if you have any interest in participating reach out! 

If the Idea happens to gain some traction, & people are interested in contributing, I'll go ahead and create a Twitter Account for the project.

If done right, & if enough people decide to contribute, this could turn out really cool.

Additional Points:

- Descriptions of the pieces would include a name provided by the artist: if the artist wishes to use a pseudonym or just simply say anonymous that’s fine too.

- Any Algorand Wallet Address will work, even if you only have an address on an exchange.

- AB2 gallery has a limit on the amount of NFTs that an address can have listed for sale at a given time, so NFTs that do not sell will have to unlisted after a decided upon period of time.

The Cryptocurrency space is absolutely blowing up. Every single blockchain seems to be doing the next big thing, and technically, they are. The amount of enthusiasm that is just seeping from every ecosystem is awe-inpsiring. Across the world, many brilliant programmers & artists are grinding away, trying to pave the way for a fundamentally new economic system. You'll find these committed & passionate individuals within every crypto community & within every crypto community you'll find die hard believers in the future of their favorite blockchain. So what gives? Why doesn't it seem like there's really a clear winner in the pack? Well there's a number of factors we need to consider:

1. There's money involved. This is an obvious one, but it's nonetheless an important factor to consider. Many of these people that are borderline preaching their faith in a specific blockchain are heavily invested in said blockchain. This means they have the most to gain when adoption is concentrated in the ecosystem they bought into. You can't fault them, this is basic human behavior & most people will do the same.

2. Different Values & Features. Different chains function differently. There's nuances in the technical details that the average person would never think about, but people close to the technology feel a deep sense of commitment to a particular implementation. They have a distinct vision for what this implementation will lead to in the future. The only way to really understand this is to read up on the block size debate from early on in Bitcoin's history. 

3. This is revolutionary technology. It doesn't matter what blockchain you choose, if it's a semi-legitimate project, then the team behind it is working on cutting edge technology & problems at the forefront of innovation. Great minds want a chance to leave their mark, & a lot of people are trying to get into newer ecosystems as a way to establish themselves early on. This trend will continue for some time until the underlying infrastructure is really optimized for its purpose. Until then, you can expect more and more projects to pop up, on a range of different chains; each gaining the spotlight for a given period of time. 

4. The hype creates uncertainty & FOMO from the people who didn't buy in early. You see this constantly across the ecosystem, enough so that I'd argue it's reflected in the change in the market cap of crypto at large. You'll see huge amounts of money flow into an ecosystem suddenly and then move on to the next one. This kind of behavior creates a sense of uneasiness in a lot of people that have money in the space, & can lead them to doubt their commitment to one particular project vs the new hyped up one. The reality? Hype goes back and forth.

The complete list of factors influencing behaviors in the crypto ecosystem is obviously much longer than these four points, but I believe these to be very important factors to consider. The situation is something like this: we are living through a time of unprecedented levels of innovation, and we are following projects that are deeply entrenched in one of the most revolutionary economic events in recent history. We can't even begin to understand what the future holds because so much is happening so quickly & no one can definitively tell you what's going on or what's going to happen. We really are in uncharted territory, and because of this, the only logical way forward is diversification & attentive research in the space. It just doesn't make sense to keep your eggs all in one basket in this scenario; the future is just too uncertain. When it comes to calling one winner over another it's a blind endeavor, but what is certain is that crypto is here to stay & the technology will radically transform the economy of tomorrow. So rather than choosing one blockchain & one community in the space, choose them all. Embrace the totality of the crypto space, and go explore the platforms of tomorrow with an open mind. See the ideas spanning the entire space; buy into good ideas not ideas that conform with your beliefs, & set yourself up to harness the power of the technology of tomorrow by maintaining a Blockchain Agnostic stance. One blockchain won't come to dominate all the others, a variety of high quality projects will coexist ~ each with their own communities, unique features, & niche use cases. Explore the whole space & commit to the whole space; tribalistic identification with specific blockchains will only lead the ecosystem to destroy itself from the inside. It's about the underlying technology.

~ Liam (xlpqii), "Blockchain Agnosticism: What & Why?" IofMind, 2021.