Highlights and utopias of the Meme Maxis, weeks of May 1st and 8th, 2023 — cover image “Lunch Atop The Metaverse” by irvinkwok (announcement and behind-the-scenes), inspired by “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” (artist unattributed), h/t imagine_sme (tribute thread).

Towering above our landscapes are the physical reminders of work accumulated over time — as is the case with mountains, sometimes for eons — and, indeed, it’s never the wrong moment for building edifices, grand or small, whether you’re a renegade stunt daredevil or more of a hikikomori.

Wouldn’t you know it, we’re in the middle of the most ursine of markets, with demand for illiquid carbonite-encased jpegs descending freely towards free, and yet the Memes continue at full throttle. This week waves in mbsjq (a.k.a. madebystudiojq) from pole position through the WAGMI victory banner (announcement) —

What a supple shine on that sprightly number! “Seized by Seduction” has mbsjq’s signature complexities all over it, though not, of course, any actual fingerprints. Pit your next lap at his SuperRare and Nifty collections, as well as farther atrack.

WintermuteGAN and brookr hype us up for the reveal the day before startling line (announcement) —

DolcePaganne, kartjust, and cyber_humanoid raise funds to help disaster recovery efforts in Turkey and Syria, with this triptastic trio of an NFT with burn mechanics to unlock further intriguing artwork (Meme Lab announcement, cyber_humanoid announcement) —

The Metaverse Starter Pack by leaf_swan gets a supplementary multi-tool in the form of this oracular sounding guide (announcement) —

“Minerite” is redeemable for owners of “Rekthanol”: the latest chapter in spydenator’s twisting-and-turning laboratory experiment (announcement) —

FidelEverywhere dives with 6529Gradientz for an Artist Interview’s look into his origin story and onboarding other artists. Here’s an early piece:

And a Memes Artist interview with a creator so recently inducted to the Memes that he’s featured on the very next page! A cozy chat with andreaspreis:

Muralist, hoarder of succulents, and grand architect of Sotofish are among this next artist’s honorifics, but we can allow the meme art its moment to shine for a moment (card announcement) —

Introducing jeffsotoart !… whose making-of storytelling behind this artwork is not to be missed, revealing references to krybharat, batsoupyum, Paddy_Stash, punk6529, and others. Also check out his merch, as well as collections at SuperRare and elsewhere.

“Speediest Gonzales” g9ralt is cookin’ with smoke on the barrel in this ReMeme (announcement) —

JPGs must be ceased, or else, cautions 9256memes:

The 6529complaints department has grown into an entire complex during whine-tasting season, and “NO to you” by Xose_Casal is a particularly evergreen vintage (announcement) —

The narrow sliver of intersecting venn-diagram circles between Those Who Have Been Living Under A Rock and Keen Readers of This Issue will have noticed a trend in meme art offerings this week. As if the whole decentralized web community seems to be a bit more interested in “not perishing” than usual. Oh no actually, that’s probably nothing, just the tumbleweeds stumbling around the porch drunk again. Anyhoo!

Upon the doorstep of an imminent presentation of Andreas Preis, your resident hikikomori urges you to first read his 6529Gradientz interview above, then return to behold this beauty (artist announcement) —

“Survival Mode“ instantly joins the ranks of memorable, meme-able cards in The Collection by its uncanny authenticity to andreaspreis’s own style: at one glance recognizable yet distinct. Visit his online shop and browse his collections at Foundation and elsewhere.

Bookending Andreas’s dazzling, double-sided doozy is this prescient piece by “prince of prememes” WintermuteGAN (om.pub card profile) —

…with g9ralt’s breezy ReMeme card flip (annnouncement; see disclaimer in caption) —

The Memes Community abhors a vacuum between gallows humor <-> genuine optimism — at every opportunity, we can count on our own to surprise and delight us (sometimes to tears, since the arrow points both ways). lawtoshi’s new Summerfy tool delivers the best of all worlds, especially for stay-at-home memers, and is a joy to explore (announcement) —

Rose-colored glasses are literally on the eyes of the beholder; personally I find “Clod 318 - UncleSeize Rememed” by fabianospeziari (original “Uncle Seize” by 6529er) to be a blend of bright and intricate futures (announcement) —

Finally we’ve got a glimpse into the sausage-making, courtesy x3n1n (announcement) —

Two drops from TheMeansCreator this issue: “Artist Survival Tactics”, inspired by DirtyRobotWorks’s card 58 and featuring punk6529’s signature empathy-for-all:

…and “Wine & Wagmi“, a whimsical or perhaps ironic mention of “fun and good times” amid the current climate, based on GuidoDisalle’s “Red Pilled”:

Memes Outside #32 by art_icu_late, entitled “Halo Envy”, recontextualizes apocalypticform’s “Awakening OM” for the physical world, in a truly peas-in-a-pod pairing:

…and, speaking of getting comfy: fancy a cuddle or a quick hibernation, just until The Memes are blissfully resting on a cushy ethereum L3 chain? neevaneth’s got you…covered… (announcement) —

Billy Dinh (a.k.a. billydeee_) s a frequent traveler between real and imagined worlds, ferrying stories to us from both realms (and sometimes from in-between…). Since one of the wild features of living through the current era — and there are many — is that even our wildest dreams are unable to reveal what all happens next year, next month, or even next week, the role for master storytellers such as Billy becomes ever more prominent.

“While You Sleep” (announcement) stars so many of our favorite protagonists, plus one villain. (The editors welcome discussion as to who qualifies under which category, but the quantities are, alas, fixed.) Peruse Billy’s extensive oeuvre at SuperRare, Foundation, and elsewhere.

Decidedly cheerier is the indefatigable WintermuteGAN’s take, in a radiant prememe teaser for billydeee_’s card, although we can only guess what scene happens imminently after… (om.pub card profile) —

Monte Fitz Roy at its most serene, from tylekki’s intrepid travelogue (post) —

Speaking of anthropomorphized appellations, intrepid_p recaps the experience of creating “The Clouds Have Rocks in Them” in the Nepalese Himalayans, a throwback to technologies from an already-ancient era alongside well-earned realizations from his artistic journey:

A commanding concentration of wetpotatobrain’s Elements collection, assembled by lecrabebleu (h/t pravijn) —

“Castle Grayscale” from imagine_sme gives us a glimpse into their generative art process (announcement) —

MeltedMindz signing off from the outer worlds:

The revolutionary superilles of Barcelona, captured in elegance by Burnasso (announcement, open-edition available) —

⛲️

Our art jaunt heads off for the road, roving celestially, pepefully, with Ars0nic helming the launch pad (announcement) —

As above, so below, with the second screening in our Meme Maxis theater double-feature, submitted by Ars0nic for PepenardoStudio’s movie poster contest (announcement) —

ReadyPereOne summerfies our iconic, idyllic nature scene fvckrender’ed lovingly from SZN2 (innocent query) —

How iconic? Quite possibly Windows XP-level…but here, take this instant quiz by WhaleChart to find out where you rank on the Rorschach chain (tweet) —

…and Fidenza goes Pepe, from the one-and-only mind of wetpotatobrain (announcement) —

Who are the ultimate exemplars of the “buidl” ethos, our ideal mascots of hunkering down, planning for the future, not to mention working in concert? MattDoogue has crafted a potent answer (6529Collections announcement) —

Matt becomes one with the critters in this alternately riveting and harrowing behind-the-scenes look into making “Meme Colony”, comprising macro shots and video well-worth your sojourn.

Visit a wealth of creations and perspectives on his website, where you can also follow his ever-expanding work through socials.

An interesting natural separation occurs during market doldrums, where the frothy layer of those interested primarily in making fast money begins to evaporate. For those who care about the principles of decentralization, the technology to enable them, or even the (proliferation of) art itself (case in point: JakNFT), we live in rich times indeed.

Here’s a tour of the neighborhood block party this week!

• TheMeansCreator hosts an eclectic expansion of the ReMemes world in a stroll they’re calling “ReSeen”, a chockablock of artworks inspiring connections to meme cards. Pictured below is “Bears” by Gotcha_ART:

• Breaking, from BoredElonMusk: The streaming economy sure is wild, and is apparently spreading too.

• neevaneth’s Memeside game is now live on Steam, available to download and play for free (announcement) —

• ChrizRoc will be speaking at nfcsummit in Lisbon over June 7-9, coinciding with the first-year anniversary of The Memes by 6529.

• Back to Barcelona: refikanadol presents his latest masterpiece, in collaboration with CasaBatlloGaudi

• The last time we saw this B movie was too-soon ago. BitcoinScoresby brings you the horror flick of mid-2023:

• A romp through the history of the punks, by yb_effect

• nft_bucharest hosts NFTCluj this week as a run-up to their main October event

• $hitcoin scammer, an ode by HugoFaz (announcement)

• Free Tezos for you if you’ve whiled away too much ETH in gas fees, h/t moontanteth

• The entire month of May sees a daily entry to “glitch GALLERY”, by glitchmarfa, with XCOPYART in the hot seat (announcement thread) —

• lphaCentauriKid’s string of unmatched art offerings (h/t Hildabroom7) culminates again with the pianos collection; here’s punk6529 with a retrospective, and the Brobdingnagian Compendium of Pianos itself, for instance this bewitching piece entitled “The Blue Forest”:

• Now, visit the pianos collection a second time, equipped with this cheat code, cheekily courtesy richerd. Last, lifeofc reminds us to take a stroll through ACK’s dark gardens:

• Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (a.k.a. Snoop Dogg) sums A.I. just about up (video from NickADobos)

• The venerable joelmeyerowitz debuts a single image every day for a decade through fellowshiptrust in a sequence entitled “Sequels”, beginning on May 18

• What’s the perfect NFT project? davincithreads has some ideas (h/t Alex8rite)

• Currently on view is “guy_bourdin storyteller” (also represented by fellowshiptrust) — here’s one of my favorites, courtesy setantabooks —

• BitGrateful just about sums up what bitcoin and ether are all about

• Minotaur_Man gets retrospective’d by exlawyernft, in an illuminating and eloquent thread full of astonishing pieces. Here’s one that hits close to your humble stenographer’s ancestry, entitled “Pan Mortuus Est, Vivat Pan” —

• punk6529 lays blueprints out for the “ideal home data center”

• “Awakening” by Sen3Paul is a mind-bending piece of philosophy rolled into art

• baiweiart reminds us of the provenance of provenance, its ancient roots stretching back at least to Chinese antiquity:

• How appropriate that memecoin season culminates with the dribble of our cryptodickbutt community’s offering? If you’re looking for a way to exchange goods on the last refuge of non-CDBC coins — gooch island — have I got a currency for you

• In other “it was all pre-ordained” news, the first bitcoin transaction was not for 🍕 but rather an equally-delicious jpeg (udiWertheimer has receipts)

• …and for dessert, tunguz delivers a decadent Gustav Klimt / Ridley Scott collab

Happy meme-seizing and life-seizing to all !!

🌈

Highlights and utopias of the Meme Maxis, weeks of May 1st and 8th, 2023 — cover image “Lunch Atop The Metaverse” by irvinkwok (announcement and behind-the-scenes), inspired by “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” (artist unattributed), h/t imagine_sme (tribute thread).

Towering above our landscapes are the physical reminders of work accumulated over time — as is the case with mountains, sometimes for eons — and, indeed, it’s never the wrong moment for building edifices, grand or small, whether you’re a renegade stunt daredevil or more of a hikikomori.

Wouldn’t you know it, we’re in the middle of the most ursine of markets, with demand for illiquid carbonite-encased jpegs descending freely towards free, and yet the Memes continue at full throttle. This week waves in mbsjq (a.k.a. madebystudiojq) from pole position through the WAGMI victory banner (announcement) —

What a supple shine on that sprightly number! “Seized by Seduction” has mbsjq’s signature complexities all over it, though not, of course, any actual fingerprints. Pit your next lap at his SuperRare and Nifty collections, as well as farther atrack.

WintermuteGAN and brookr hype us up for the reveal the day before startling line (announcement) —

DolcePaganne, kartjust, and cyber_humanoid raise funds to help disaster recovery efforts in Turkey and Syria, with this triptastic trio of an NFT with burn mechanics to unlock further intriguing artwork (Meme Lab announcement, cyber_humanoid announcement) —

The Metaverse Starter Pack by leaf_swan gets a supplementary multi-tool in the form of this oracular sounding guide (announcement) —

“Minerite” is redeemable for owners of “Rekthanol”: the latest chapter in spydenator’s twisting-and-turning laboratory experiment (announcement) —

FidelEverywhere dives with 6529Gradientz for an Artist Interview’s look into his origin story and onboarding other artists. Here’s an early piece:

And a Memes Artist interview with a creator so recently inducted to the Memes that he’s featured on the very next page! A cozy chat with andreaspreis:

Muralist, hoarder of succulents, and grand architect of Sotofish are among this next artist’s honorifics, but we can allow the meme art its moment to shine for a moment (card announcement) —

Introducing jeffsotoart !… whose making-of storytelling behind this artwork is not to be missed, revealing references to krybharat, batsoupyum, Paddy_Stash, punk6529, and others. Also check out his merch, as well as collections at SuperRare and elsewhere.

“Speediest Gonzales” g9ralt is cookin’ with smoke on the barrel in this ReMeme (announcement) —

JPGs must be ceased, or else, cautions 9256memes:

The 6529complaints department has grown into an entire complex during whine-tasting season, and “NO to you” by Xose_Casal is a particularly evergreen vintage (announcement) —

The narrow sliver of intersecting venn-diagram circles between Those Who Have Been Living Under A Rock and Keen Readers of This Issue will have noticed a trend in meme art offerings this week. As if the whole decentralized web community seems to be a bit more interested in “not perishing” than usual. Oh no actually, that’s probably nothing, just the tumbleweeds stumbling around the porch drunk again. Anyhoo!

Upon the doorstep of an imminent presentation of Andreas Preis, your resident hikikomori urges you to first read his 6529Gradientz interview above, then return to behold this beauty (artist announcement) —

“Survival Mode“ instantly joins the ranks of memorable, meme-able cards in The Collection by its uncanny authenticity to andreaspreis’s own style: at one glance recognizable yet distinct. Visit his online shop and browse his collections at Foundation and elsewhere.

Bookending Andreas’s dazzling, double-sided doozy is this prescient piece by “prince of prememes” WintermuteGAN (om.pub card profile) —

…with g9ralt’s breezy ReMeme card flip (annnouncement; see disclaimer in caption) —

The Memes Community abhors a vacuum between gallows humor <-> genuine optimism — at every opportunity, we can count on our own to surprise and delight us (sometimes to tears, since the arrow points both ways). lawtoshi’s new Summerfy tool delivers the best of all worlds, especially for stay-at-home memers, and is a joy to explore (announcement) —

Rose-colored glasses are literally on the eyes of the beholder; personally I find “Clod 318 - UncleSeize Rememed” by fabianospeziari (original “Uncle Seize” by 6529er) to be a blend of bright and intricate futures (announcement) —

Finally we’ve got a glimpse into the sausage-making, courtesy x3n1n (announcement) —

Two drops from TheMeansCreator this issue: “Artist Survival Tactics”, inspired by DirtyRobotWorks’s card 58 and featuring punk6529’s signature empathy-for-all:

…and “Wine & Wagmi“, a whimsical or perhaps ironic mention of “fun and good times” amid the current climate, based on GuidoDisalle’s “Red Pilled”:

Memes Outside #32 by art_icu_late, entitled “Halo Envy”, recontextualizes apocalypticform’s “Awakening OM” for the physical world, in a truly peas-in-a-pod pairing:

…and, speaking of getting comfy: fancy a cuddle or a quick hibernation, just until The Memes are blissfully resting on a cushy ethereum L3 chain? neevaneth’s got you…covered… (announcement) —

Billy Dinh (a.k.a. billydeee_) s a frequent traveler between real and imagined worlds, ferrying stories to us from both realms (and sometimes from in-between…). Since one of the wild features of living through the current era — and there are many — is that even our wildest dreams are unable to reveal what all happens next year, next month, or even next week, the role for master storytellers such as Billy becomes ever more prominent.

“While You Sleep” (announcement) stars so many of our favorite protagonists, plus one villain. (The editors welcome discussion as to who qualifies under which category, but the quantities are, alas, fixed.) Peruse Billy’s extensive oeuvre at SuperRare, Foundation, and elsewhere.

Decidedly cheerier is the indefatigable WintermuteGAN’s take, in a radiant prememe teaser for billydeee_’s card, although we can only guess what scene happens imminently after… (om.pub card profile) —

Monte Fitz Roy at its most serene, from tylekki’s intrepid travelogue (post) —

Speaking of anthropomorphized appellations, intrepid_p recaps the experience of creating “The Clouds Have Rocks in Them” in the Nepalese Himalayans, a throwback to technologies from an already-ancient era alongside well-earned realizations from his artistic journey:

A commanding concentration of wetpotatobrain’s Elements collection, assembled by lecrabebleu (h/t pravijn) —

“Castle Grayscale” from imagine_sme gives us a glimpse into their generative art process (announcement) —

MeltedMindz signing off from the outer worlds:

The revolutionary superilles of Barcelona, captured in elegance by Burnasso (announcement, open-edition available) —

⛲️

Our art jaunt heads off for the road, roving celestially, pepefully, with Ars0nic helming the launch pad (announcement) —

As above, so below, with the second screening in our Meme Maxis theater double-feature, submitted by Ars0nic for PepenardoStudio’s movie poster contest (announcement) —

ReadyPereOne summerfies our iconic, idyllic nature scene fvckrender’ed lovingly from SZN2 (innocent query) —

How iconic? Quite possibly Windows XP-level…but here, take this instant quiz by WhaleChart to find out where you rank on the Rorschach chain (tweet) —

…and Fidenza goes Pepe, from the one-and-only mind of wetpotatobrain (announcement) —

Who are the ultimate exemplars of the “buidl” ethos, our ideal mascots of hunkering down, planning for the future, not to mention working in concert? MattDoogue has crafted a potent answer (6529Collections announcement) —

Matt becomes one with the critters in this alternately riveting and harrowing behind-the-scenes look into making “Meme Colony”, comprising macro shots and video well-worth your sojourn.

Visit a wealth of creations and perspectives on his website, where you can also follow his ever-expanding work through socials.

An interesting natural separation occurs during market doldrums, where the frothy layer of those interested primarily in making fast money begins to evaporate. For those who care about the principles of decentralization, the technology to enable them, or even the (proliferation of) art itself (case in point: JakNFT), we live in rich times indeed.

Here’s a tour of the neighborhood block party this week!

• TheMeansCreator hosts an eclectic expansion of the ReMemes world in a stroll they’re calling “ReSeen”, a chockablock of artworks inspiring connections to meme cards. Pictured below is “Bears” by Gotcha_ART:

• Breaking, from BoredElonMusk: The streaming economy sure is wild, and is apparently spreading too.

• neevaneth’s Memeside game is now live on Steam, available to download and play for free (announcement) —

• ChrizRoc will be speaking at nfcsummit in Lisbon over June 7-9, coinciding with the first-year anniversary of The Memes by 6529.

• Back to Barcelona: refikanadol presents his latest masterpiece, in collaboration with CasaBatlloGaudi

• The last time we saw this B movie was too-soon ago. BitcoinScoresby brings you the horror flick of mid-2023:

• A romp through the history of the punks, by yb_effect

• nft_bucharest hosts NFTCluj this week as a run-up to their main October event

• $hitcoin scammer, an ode by HugoFaz (announcement)

• Free Tezos for you if you’ve whiled away too much ETH in gas fees, h/t moontanteth

• The entire month of May sees a daily entry to “glitch GALLERY”, by glitchmarfa, with XCOPYART in the hot seat (announcement thread) —

• lphaCentauriKid’s string of unmatched art offerings (h/t Hildabroom7) culminates again with the pianos collection; here’s punk6529 with a retrospective, and the Brobdingnagian Compendium of Pianos itself, for instance this bewitching piece entitled “The Blue Forest”:

• Now, visit the pianos collection a second time, equipped with this cheat code, cheekily courtesy richerd. Last, lifeofc reminds us to take a stroll through ACK’s dark gardens:

• Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (a.k.a. Snoop Dogg) sums A.I. just about up (video from NickADobos)

• The venerable joelmeyerowitz debuts a single image every day for a decade through fellowshiptrust in a sequence entitled “Sequels”, beginning on May 18

• What’s the perfect NFT project? davincithreads has some ideas (h/t Alex8rite)

• Currently on view is “guy_bourdin storyteller” (also represented by fellowshiptrust) — here’s one of my favorites, courtesy setantabooks —

• BitGrateful just about sums up what bitcoin and ether are all about

• Minotaur_Man gets retrospective’d by exlawyernft, in an illuminating and eloquent thread full of astonishing pieces. Here’s one that hits close to your humble stenographer’s ancestry, entitled “Pan Mortuus Est, Vivat Pan” —

• punk6529 lays blueprints out for the “ideal home data center”

• “Awakening” by Sen3Paul is a mind-bending piece of philosophy rolled into art

• baiweiart reminds us of the provenance of provenance, its ancient roots stretching back at least to Chinese antiquity:

• How appropriate that memecoin season culminates with the dribble of our cryptodickbutt community’s offering? If you’re looking for a way to exchange goods on the last refuge of non-CDBC coins — gooch island — have I got a currency for you

• In other “it was all pre-ordained” news, the first bitcoin transaction was not for 🍕 but rather an equally-delicious jpeg (udiWertheimer has receipts)

• …and for dessert, tunguz delivers a decadent Gustav Klimt / Ridley Scott collab

Happy meme-seizing and life-seizing to all !!

🌈