Hello, world! A genesis piece
Entry 1 of a crypto poet's guide to the metaverse
Two words. I vaguely remember the joy of seeing them appear after compiling and running that first bit of code typed in a new programming language. These two simple words, that one simple phrase, has become, for me at least, the symbol of stepping into the world of a new bit of technology. Hello world. Hello new world. I'm here now, and I'm starting to learn all about you. The first steps of the explorer (not the one just retired by that big corporation in Seattle). Yes, I have seen the rise and fall of IE, way back when website could be creating using nothing else than notepad. And yes, I have typed lines of code in several programming languages. Now, it's time to step into another new world. It's time to explore the metaverse!
In this new series in your inbox poetry magazine, I will recount my exploration of the metaverse. To be clear, the metaverse does not exist yet. However, blockchains and the cryptocurrency that come along with them, are seen as an important building block, with which the first bits of that metaverse is currently being built. Another way to put it, is that I am going to explore the depths of web3. To be clear once more: that is also partially true. When people say web3, they often refer to decentralised structures, such as blockchains, but also communication platforms such as discord. As I dip my toe into the NFT world, I will be exploring parts of the web3 territory.
A travelogue posing as a guide
So, what can you expect? As I dive into that NFT world - the toe dipping is done, it's time to dive - I will learn a lot about what is what. I will share these learnings here. Together, eventually, they will form a guide. A guide for people who also want to dip their toes in. Artists looking for a new place to create and sell, collectors looking for beautiful art to collect and wonderful artists to support, people who have heard about crypto, blockchain and fungible things, but don't get it all. These learnings will take the form of a journal of sorts. A travelogue. Added to that, I will share pieces of art as well. As the metaverse and web3 are now very rapidly evolving and growing, I will focus my journey on a specific type of NFT: the poetry NFT. What an NFT is, we'll discuss in the next issue: To funge, or not to funge, that is the token.
My question for you is: how do you join me on this journey? As a toe-dipper, an artist looking to create (revenue), a curious bystander, a collector, an unbeliever? Let me know in the comments.
A crypto poet to read more of
To add a bit of zest to this new section of your inbox poetry magazine, I will shine a spotlight on a crypto poet that I really like in each episode. The first is Marta Gazzola. She writes beautiful poems, which she combines with AI art in her NFTs. What I particularly like about her work, is that she writes using four different languages in one delicious cocktail. The first one I ran into is Jazzy Twist on Foundation. Below is a fragment. You can find (and collect) the full poem here.
You can find Marta’s work on the NFT marketplaces Rarible, Teia and Foundation. She also has a website and a very engaging Twitter account. And don’t worry, you can visit all of them without a wallet, but you will want one to collect her beautiful art.
This part of our inbox poetry magazine is about art that lives on blockchains and the enjoyment and creation of it. It is in no shape or form financial advice. If you want that, there’s an acronym for that: DYOR.