TLDR
To onboard in real life artists into web3 technology, proper onboarding steps need to be carried out as well as incentivizing the artists to take the steps. Charged Particles and Unchained Music are examples of organizations with individuals from them being both influenced by and influencing the XCHC community. Members from all these organizations now realize the need to make full steps into the web3 space but need support in creating onboarding processes. The XCHC recently made a purchase of metaverse land that will enable artists to showcase their art in a virtual gallery tied to a physical location (similar to Pokemon Go) as well as cryptovoxels parcels that will allow people to stream music into the metaverse space. Recently the cryptovoxels parcels were used the artwork of 40+ artists in 52 different NFTs, music from an in real life event (both main stage and boiler room of Mary Hush) was streamed into the parcel allowing numerous New Zealand djs to be experienced by an international audience, and culminated with a full day of talks around regenerative finance from world leaders that got streamed into the physical XCHC location. Through bridging physical art to virtual art, we were able to connect people with art they would not of been able to experience otherwise. The 52 different NFTs were auctioned and resulted in 5.3 ETH being donated to environmental organizations around the world through Giveth! Now we are working with more New Zealand artists to onboard their work into this space. An example of this is an upcoming event September 10th that will allow a digital artist that has been making art for decades to portray their art in the metaverse and have the NFTs that are auctioned, gather resources for mental health organizations on Giveth.
In the metaverse not only the art, but the stories of the artists and why they created the art will be portrayed. Especially for events. An example of such an event is Mary Hush. Mary Hush is a pop-up event that inhabits abandoned/industrial spaces around the city, inviting artists to create an immersive art experience for 1-night only. Along with that they were one of the first spaces to incorporate gamification, and NFTs into their events. Enabling further art created for these events to become part of the metaverse will build momentum for more of these events to occur and artists to be supported in this movement. Throughout this movement, a percent of the funding would not only support artists but would be channeled towards real life change and organizations that are inspiring it.
Problem / Opportunity
Web3 technology is often disconnected from in real life applications and the people that could benefit from them. Letting preconceived ideas about why web3 is bad block their ability to utilize these technologies, people that could benefit from them the most do not. One example is artists. Without having somebody to talk with artists about the technology and facilitate them embracing this technology, artists are not able to be benefitted from it.
For many artists, creating new NFTs, as well as attracting and maintaining communities that believe in their project is an issue. In Christchurch, New Zealand there is a community of artists (tied to a physical location XCHC) creating a movement in real life through creative events and facilitating spaces in a way that enables community and culture to thrive. However, this community has only started to embrace web3. As a fairly young and small country, the culture has room to improve with their standard of entertainment, nightlife, and creative options in Christchurch and the wider New Zealand. This ultimately leaves many dissatisfied, feeling it lacks the creativity and diversity found in other cities. Without alternatives, the local scene is left with an unhealthy and at times unsafe binge drinking culture, repetitive entertainment, and a socially reserved reputation. Christchurch is especially known for being largely consertive, “closing early”, clique art world, and most “music venues’ ’ are just bars profiteering off music, leaving most alternative/original music overlooked. Though the XCHC has been doing great work with artists for 7+ years, this community remains a bit hidden from the wider world (as we’re sure most alternative/independant art spaces can relate). Artists here remain disconnected from the global reach and possibilities enabled by embracing web3 technology, such as NFTs, tokens, and DAOs. However, some are ready to take the next step.
Once people embrace web3, initially it’s often for personal gain and not for public good. Without utilizing this technology for public good, people are unable to see the huge benefits for the world that can come from web3. By embracing web3 through an artistic community and ensuring that the community is guided by doing public good, we can create a more positive narrative than is currently portrayed in many media outlets.
Funding Milestones and Payments
Now- December 10th: NFT crowdfunding for metaverse space, and exploring how Mary Hush can work with web3, digitizing art $150,000
December 10th: Second opening of metaverse land featuring some art of the Mary Hush event as well as streaming music from the event into the Mary Hush metaverse $50,000
December 10th 2022- June 2023: Experiment in DAO tooling for the IRL community, send grant funding to artists to onboard more art into the web3 space. Document process. $300,000
June 2023: Launch an immersive collaborative art space (next iteration of XHC) and expand reach of organization to support more in real life artists as well as web3 techonology. $1,000,000
Total payment: $USD 2,000,000
Payments will be made to the following Ethereum address: 0x5A6C1AFa7d14FD608af17d7e58e8DB52DF5d66Ea
We consider ourselves independent contractors of the Rarible DAO and will report taxes accordingly. Forms W8-BEN and W9 will be filled out accordingly before funds get distributed to our team. [this is a requirement]
Business Model
**The first event we did in the metaverse generated 5.3 eth to environmental organizations on Giveth. Utilizing Giveth’s tokenomics we receive 75% of that donation back in the form of Giv tokens while the in real life organizations we donate to through Giveth keep 100% of the amount donated. This means that through the first event we received back 75% of 5.3 eth and are able to continue building the organization through that. By receiving grant funding we will be able to scale up this impact, onboard further artists and create a bigger movement within a shorter time frame.
Team Members
T.R. Price | Web3 Leader
For the past year and a half T.R. has worked exclusively on regenerative finance and building this movement. From that they have had the opportunity to speak alongside organizations like Giveth, Charged Particles and NFTP in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency conference, EthDenver. During that time, they helped many organizations to adopt web3 principles and created various DAOs. Including Return to Green, which has successfully ran the first metaverse event in collaboration with XCHC.
Preston | Community Builder
I’ve been running one of New Zealands few self-funded artist run spaces for the last 5 years; working with all creative disciplines including music, visual, installation, performance, digital works & recently NFT projects. Due to having a variety of production, showcase, and residency spaces, our interarts space has become the largest collective of creatives in NZ. We experiment with culture, more regenerative models, and impact driven work which has lead to advising on Arts Recovery funding for Manatū Taonga (National Ministry for Arts and Culture), advising on a creative marine education centre in Rarotonga (Cook Islands), and becoming a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum.
Now looking at expanding nationwide to create a crossover between the digital and the physical. Preston is also a core member of Mary Hush, a collective (lead by our team) that organizes invite-only intentional nightlife/immersive art events featuring creative work from all over NZ and bridges the gap between the metaverse and IRL events.
Ryan | Music & Metaverse
Ryan has been featured in Forbes and has progressed from a world-first release of a music videos in the metaverse, to creating NFTs and DAO’s, to now being offered space in Sandbox alongside major brands and partnering with bigger name artists. Living part time in New Zealand & Berlin, Ryan plays in a music project called Beacon Bloom, produces a podcast, is using NFT’s/blockchain technology to create more fair royalty systems in music, is an organizing member of Mary Hush specializing in NFT/Metaverse integration, and steward of Grandmother Grove DAO (a tree planting DAO).
Royce | Culture & Cacophony
Royce is a zone designer and storyline developer for Mary Hush, fashion designer, and fellow cacophonist is creating events that influence culture and building alternative nightlife scenes here in ĹŚtautahi NZ. Royce also has the most experience in land preservation through his/his familys work preserving a national forest in Rakaia NZ.
Cricket | Experience Designer
Illustrator, Mary Hush instillation specialist, performer, and tattoo artist. Cricket will be covering visuals from the body to the blockchain. Professional thrill seaker, storyteller, and adventure junkie, Crickets magnetic energy keeps fresh ideas flowing and will be taking their trippy digital designs into the metaverse and helping other visual creatives become more confident and technologically literate with NFT creation.
Gregg Painter | Visionary & Builder
Gregg has worked with gatherings around the world and has been involved/lead 12 builds for regional burn events and festivals. His recognition for leadership and building has earned him collaborations with designers from WETA Workshop and roles in some of New Zealands top festivals. Nothing seems like too big of an idea for Gregg if a small group of people are involved. Currently exploring buying land and creating a retreat for artists around NZ and the world to up-skill, retreat, connect, and learn through participation in festival/culture building. He is building the financial pathway for this through his work with festivals and his NFT project.
Other advisors include:
Activism: LM Bogad |
Commons & Culture: NATALIA IVANOVA MOUNT |
DeFi: Mango Dogwood |
Change & Tech: Martin Montero |
Mutual Aid DAO: Miles Thompson |
and many others…
The contact person for this project will be Person A. Their contact information is hardwoodstablecoin@gmail.com and their Discord handle is Terexitarius#4750
How long has your team worked together? What other projects have you worked on?
We have worked together for the past 4 months at xchc.co.nz
Accountability
Our project will attend weekly community calls, and provide updates on our milestones as we make progress. In the event that we can’t fulfil our commitment, funds will be returned to Rarible DAO. We will also work with community members to ensure updates are distributed through the Rarible communication channels.
Why should Rarible DAO fund this?
Currently people not in the web3 space refer to NFT art as “trash art” or “not art”. To facilitate more people adopting web3 technology, more NFT art needs to be created that is able to be relatable for individuals and a lot of this art comes from art that they have been able to experience in real life. With this relatability there is also the ability for people that experience this art to be more affected by it. This enables evoking emotions that enable change to real world issues. Combining this with tokens and organizations already in the web3 space that facilitate real world change towards these issues can help build a massive movement for any blockchain this organization is on.