Rug Radio Recap - August 27, 2023

gm fam! All eyes were on Sam Spratt and his gamified artwork, IX. The Monument Game, as dozens submitted their ‘observations’ for an opportunity to receive a highly sought after Skulls of Luci NFT and join the exclusive Council of Luci.

This is Rug Radio. Build it, and they will come.

Here's what we've got in this week's recap...

• STUBS claim🎟️

• Sam Spratt’s Monument Game🖼️

• F*ck it Friday & Saturday with MAYC🔥

• Pepe memecoin sparks controversy🐸

STUBS

This week's featured artist is Michael Kutsche, an award winning German painter and digital artist who creates evocative paintings and animations that feel like fragments of old-fashioned fairytales, but also raise questions about the human condition.

This week’s piece by Michael, Onward, paints a picture of an artist navigating challenges, acknowledging the influences of those who came before them, and embracing their creative calling with a sense of curiosity and a realization of the fleeting nature of life.

• Ready to claim? Head over to the Fair mint site

• Need more mint passes? Grab a couple on Opensea

• Not familiar with Stubs? Check out our guide

Sam Spratt & The Monument Game

Digital art is still very much alive, and Sam Spratt, a digital artist based in New York, displayed this in remarkable fashion through his piece, IX. The Monument Game. The piece, spanning an impressive 20,000 pixels in width, was sold as a 1/1 artwork for 420.69 ETH to the 1OF1 collectors' group — the same group that acquired Beeple's "Human One" sculpture.

The interesting aspect of this entire piece is that it was much more than just art. There was a unique gamification layer on top of the artwork that allowed his community to get involved in the story and vision.

• Alongside the artwork, Sam introduced 256 "Player" tokens. A portion of these tokens were distributed to select artists and collectors, while the remainder were sold via a Dutch auction at 3.3 ETH each.

• Every Player NFT provided its holder with the ability to make an ‘observation’ on a specific spot on the expansive artwork and contribute a comment, which many used as an opportunity to write personal stories and notes.

• Those who possess The Skulls, known as The Council of Luci, will hold a vote to determine the top 3 player submissions.

• When voting concludes, the holder of the winning token will receive a Skull and the opportunity to join the council among several other influential individuals.

All of this is the result of multiple years of developing the Luci series, and building a loyal community who are deeply invested into Sam’s vision and the meaning behind his work.

Initially, the earliest pieces from the series were put up for auction by Christie's, followed by a set of 50 artworks, The Skulls of Luci. These pieces are owned by some of the most prominent people in the digital art scene and are currently sitting at a price of ~191 ETH.

A combination of patience and a mentality of "If you build it, they will come” is what led to Sam’s biggest success in his artistic career. He doesn’t exactly view this as his success, but as one for the entire community of artists, the players, the council, and of course his wife, Rachel.

Credit to The Metaversalist for the information in this section.

Mutant Ape Yacht Club celebrated their 2nd anniversary with F*ck it Friday and Saturday in Miami. Happy birthday, Mutants🎉

Popular memecoin $PEPE addressed concerns after unexpected multi-sig wallet transactions. They attributed the $15 million in transfers and signer reductions to internal conflict among the team.

Solana Pay announced a partnership with e-commerce platform Shopify. Another perfect real-world use case for crypto.

Unstoppable Domains introduced instant messaging via web3 domains. You’ll be able to chat with other people via your your web3 domain name, such as ENS, without giving your personal info.

VeeFriends launched their collaboration with Reebok. The sneaker features the Aspiring Alpaca character along with the branded green stripe.

Context

• NFTs: NFTs continue to be quite muted with just over $22.5 million on OpenSea for the past week, however, many top projects saw double digit percentage increases in floor prices.

• Crypto: Not much action on the crypto side of the market either after last week’s crash with the majors moving mostly sideways. The exception to this was the Pepe memecoin which fell 25% after it’s fiasco.

Interview with Rug Radio Creator, Taslemat

Taslemat Yusuf, from Lagos, is one of three Nigerians featured in the Tribeca Film Festival nominated film, Minted.

She’s not only a talented web3 artist, but an entrepreneur, a Rug Radio show host, and an advocate for African artists. Wendy sat down with Taslemet to hear her thoughts on uplifting emerging artists and marginalized communities in the web3 space.