#TrashArt Day on Tezos Builds Crypto Art Community Through #teztrash
64 GALLON TOTER by ROBNESS (Key Historical Reference)
[Originally published August 4, 2022]
This post is about one of the most important crypto art events of 2022, #TrashArt Day on Tezos aka #teztrash. Didn’t hear about it? Apparently neither did any of the media outlets covering crypto art. I’ll do what I can but there’s way too much to discuss for a Quick Take!
TLDR:
#TrashArt Day brought together a large number of cryptoartists creating Trash Art on Tezos. It was a big hit and revealed that most media outlets are ignoring actual artists.
Trash Art? WTF?!?
Trash Art is a movement within cryptoart/crypto art/NFT art. It grew from the early days of cryptoart and involved some folks that might be labeled troublemakers.
If you don’t think people getting on their high horse in NFT Land about what constitutes art isn’t kind of ridiculous, then maybe you missed a bunch of episodes. But that kind of thinking helped inspire Trash Art so there’s a silver lining.
This article by Eric P. Rhodes will give you some Trash Art history from one of the originators with links to a variety of resources.
Tezos? WTF?!?
I know! Tezos, right?
You may not hear much about it but Tezos is the chain where hic et nunc was born and began the process of creating a community of artists that, for me, has a lot of the vibe of 2020.
The Perfesser connects the dots!
In the cryptoart scene in 2020, everyone knew something much bigger was coming. Some folks already had outsized success but you could still usually contact everybody in the space, even the big names.
That’s not true in 2022. The space is stratified across class lines. Many NFT success stories rely on personal/professional networks moving capital that only partially surface on the blockchain and in media coverage.
NFT Tezos has been a place where many of us have been reclaiming that 2020 community vibe. In fact, I consider Tezos much more important for crypto artists than Solana or Polygon.
Trash Art Day! What Happened?
The inspiration, as @CollinsCustomIP reminded me, was the takedown of specific pieces of Trash Art by OpenSea with the word ‘Toter’ in their title due to claims by the company Toter.
Taking place on July 22nd with ongoing activity since, I experienced Trash Art Day on Tezos via objkt.com and Twitter. The art dropped on objkt and the discussion and promo occurred on Twitter.
It really felt like an objkt takeover and the folks there featured a number of Trash Art pieces on the homepage including ARTIFICIAL TRASHBAG SELF PORTRAIT by founding figure ROBNESS.
During the first day, the hic et nunc collection page was also dominated by Trash Art largely because many of the key participants were involved with the early days of hic et nunc.
#TrashArt Day Isn’t Stopping
The Perfesser shared notes on some of the #teztrash accomplishments a week after launch:
In fact, Zam introduced a new project for #teztrash, Toter Tots, and it seems to be a hit:
An Important Outcome for CryptoArtists x Tezos
I think it’s awesome that Trash Art has made a big splash on Tezos and caused many participants to take another look at what’s happening there. Here’s Stellabelle, an important cryptoartist and Trash Art innovator, who was on Tezos but not yet into Tezos till #TrashArt Day:
Stellabelle, like myself and many others, is discovering just how deep things are starting to get on Tezos.
Still unconvinced? Check out my 44 Dumpster Fires and you’ll be convinced Tezos is the place to be!
Questions? Comments? Cash Me On Twitter!