Volume: VI | Featuring Hacker & Crypto Artist Interview with Nahiko
6 June 2022 - Community is the Utility
Reading Key:
Intro from iseult
Welcome to IMPAKT featuring an exclusive interview with Hacker & Crypto Artist, Nahiko.
Nahiko simultaneously shows off the complexity of NFTs whilst inviting the audience to contemplate art in an entirely new perspective.
Released on March 24th 2021, Yp11.31 is a collaboration piece with crypto writer Kalen Iwamoto and sound engineer @mikestjean. The piece is multilayered and described as an IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) hack. Nahiko instructs the audience to download a file titled Yp11.31.mp4. On first-sight, they are presented with a minute long video of bodies laying atop of each other underwater.
Now the audience is directed to change the ending of the downloaded file to ‘.pdf’. Suddenly, the file morphs into something different: Kalen Iwamoto’s writing, A body of a woman.
Nahiko’s work is complex, interactive, and full of mystery. This is but a brief glimpse into the magician’s cap. Please, enjoy the show!
iseult
Hacker & Crypto Artist Interview with Nahiko
What is the significance of the title Yp11.31?
Yp11.31 is the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome. Basically this tiny, infinitesimal part of us is what decides if you’re a male or female at birth. It’s so small, and yet it has such a huge impact on people’s lives, I think this is sadly obvious in femicide cases.
What connections do you draw with Kalen’s writing and blockchain technology?
Kalen’s contribution in Yp11.31 is central. Kalen’s writing (the truth) is hidden inside the video (the perception of the truth).
A perfect parallel between meaning and form, is to me, what makes art beautiful. Which is enabled here by the blockchain.
XOR is an on-chain Programmable Neural Network NFT. One which shows off many facets of what is possible within the medium. What role does AI have in evolution and how does XOR represent this ideology?
I’ll leave the role of AI to Isaac Asimov (please read ALL his books), he does a much better job at imagining the future.
Related to NFTs though, I can say that I envision AI to be fully embedded in blockchains in the future. Decentralized AIs make a lot of sense, imagine the DAI Stablecoin algorithm governed by a neural network.
XOR is my attempt at kickstarting it, the first ever on-chain AI.
Chronologically, Nahiko shows a clear application of growth in concept and execution. The Anatomy of Love NFT is a perfect rendition of this behaviour.
Nahiko breaks down the four elements of this piece at NFT Paris 2022.
Skin - the first thing seen
Flesh - the image file which contains a hidden gift for previous collectors of Nahiko’s The Frame
Bones - “the contract is the art”, the smart contract allows you to declare your love on chain for ‘ethernity’
Mind - “the token is the canvas”, how love is deeply rooted like DNA
This concept is further extrapolated in @dievardump & Nahiko’s smartbags. Released on 18 May 2022 smartbags is a NFT contract which allows for anyone to mint their favorite smart contract for 10 $ASH.
What motivated you to release in $ASH?
ASH is supposed to be a community token. It is ours to shape, and I’d like it to be a token of innovation. I’d like people in the future to say “ASH projects were cool, innovative stuff, in a time when NFTs were boring and all looked alike”. Smartbags was a perfect match.
Can you shed any light on the twist?
Which twist ? :3… I heard reading contracts is a cool thing to do.
What is the most important lesson that you have learned since Unplugging Humans?
Amount of work ≠ Amount of success = Quality of work
What does it mean to be a Pak collector?
It means being part of a family that believes the token is the canvas, and not just a box to put stuff in. There are very few (less than 5) big creators that understand this right now. In the future, when NFTs are more widespread and people understand how they are made, this will be a no-brainer.
Life (both professionally & outlook on life) before NFTs?
I’ve always been someone diligent at school, so I didn’t struggle until NFTs. However as soon as I heard about them I just knew this was what I had worked for all my life. I lived a life learning things, because I like learning. I never knew how I would eventually apply all this, and then NFTs came up. The perfect match between design, art, code and innovation. The perfect match for me.
When did you first start creating?
My first post on a forum where I used to create signatures for people is on Aug. 2nd 2008. I have since been constantly in the digital art world, in many forms and shapes. That makes a whole 14 years of my life.
What mediums did you create in, and what were you drawn to?
I mean I’ve always drawn stuff, some of you may have seen my drawings with pencils too. In any case I’ve always been attracted to pencils, and then digital works using photoshop for a long time. Eventually I got into sculpting. Also if you count coding as art (which I do), then that happened too obviously
I think what comes out of all this is that I like learning haha. Ultimate aim would be to become a true polymath, but much work is needed for that, a life’s work.
Growing up, what did you collect?
Apart from the usual pokemon/yugioh cards as a kid? Nothing much, If you come to my place you’ll see I don’t own many things myself. Haven’t bought a piece of clothing in years.
Which artists or creators do you enjoy and how have they influenced you?
Let’s pick non NFT people, makes it more interesting:
Isaac Asimov, for having had such a keen eye for what will happen, definitely had a huge impact on how I see the future of humanity
Voltaire, for his work on animals
Stephen King, for reminding me that inspiration does come, if it finds you working
Chopin for soothing my soul (nocturnes are A+)
Elliott Alderson, for obvious reasons
Can you take me through your creative process?
There are many ways pieces come to life, but here’s the most planned way:
I basically have a list of ideas (whether techniques or meaningful topics) I curate. I then always try to find matches between meaning and form (techniques and topics), it is usually at the moment I find them that everything starts to unfold.
From that moment things move very fast and I get things done quickly.
I think the process of finding those ideas to curate is the most important part, and I rely on the fact that I’m a very spread out person (in terms of interests) to make this my strong point.
What programs/software do you utilize?
Any ! I adapt, previous works used ffmpeg, photoshop, javascript, python, figma, google chrome, blender, …
Future works may or may not include barcodes, magazines, Ledgers, …
Are there any hidden elements within your work that have not yet ‘been’ noticed?
Eh, sorry didn’t get that 😐 (Inside joke)
How do you view your legacy?
Ethernal
Official Pak Project Links
Do you exist? mass.black
∴ AB AETERNO lostpoets.xyz
Creation Through Destruction ASH burn.art
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