Minty Fresh: Edition 66

Welcome to another edition of Minty Fresh, your weekly source of the cleanest, freshest NFTs found across the Tezos ecosystem! Today, we look on the bright side - this week's secret word is: "light."

December is a month of darkness. The longest night of the year is next week, December 21. Cold snows and winds in most of the Northern Hemisphere means we're staying inside. Communications tend to go dark. But there is also light: everywhere, there are Christmas lights, trees, menorahs, giving us hope for spring. So today we've turned to art on fxhash, Objkt, Teia, and Versum to show us the light.

Then you gazed up at me
And the answer was plain to see
'Cause I saw the light
In your eyes (in your eyes)

1. Transitions

“What you seek is seeking you.” — Rumi

Starting off with a surreal, AI photograph from CG artist Elisey Zhukovsky. Transitions is part of his Unknown Spaces series, a collection of surreal, otherworldly images, most of which depict some sort of doorway or portal. Here, the doorframes divide a world of darkness from a world of light. The cold, shadowy interior segues into a bright, golden landscape. Our lives are full of transitions, and here Zhukovsky shows that tension between where we are and where will go so beautifully. Check it out on Objkt.

2. Afterglow

An exploration of the intersection between dark, light, color, and space...

The editions in developer and creative coder Jeff Clark's latest generative art project are a range of color, light, and, for lack of a better term, starburst! Each feels like a unique celestial explosion, mixing dark circles and squares with these abstract poofs of light. It's like watching a fireworks show from your screen, with the same delight of wondering what shapes will be created next. Find it on fxhash.

3. XVisage

XVisage

Digital artist and "digitally embodied entity" Francoise Gamma uses GIFs in his practice to create clean, effective NFTs that often show the human form. Here, he emulates a classic line drawing using light beams to trace out a feminine visage. Does it remind anyone else of an etch-a-sketch?? There's definitely a sense of nostalgia, and a feeling of calm, watching the light lines evolve into the woman. Check out XVisage on Versum.

4. Dragon Murmurs

Do I exist?!!

"Do I exist?!" Photographer and visual artist Sally Sharifi asks us as we gaze at her black and white photo - a mirror selfie to put it in internet-speak. The artist looks into the highly reflective windows as fairy lights and a dragon mural decorate the scene. But the artist is barely noticeable, allowing the buildings, the lights, and the dragon to take center stage. Dragon Murmurs is part of Sharifi's abstract self-portrait series Me, Myself, and I. Find it on Objkt.

5. Tales of Light & Motion

Alexandre Rangel, 2022

Let's bring some bold color into the mix! Multimedia artist Alexandre Rangel created four quadrants of vibrant, psychedelic colors for this generative art release - a lava lamp of code. The result trippy, dizzying, delightful collection. Who knew code could be so bright! Check it out on fxhash.

6. Virtual Phenomenology 160

Field note recording taken whilst conducting ethnographic research in a virtual world.

Ah, yes, this whole post was inspired by the magic of light in winter. Anthropologist and curator Wade Wallerstein documented this "field recording" as part of "an ongoing anthropological research initiative to explore how experience in simulated spaces affects human culture." What strikes us here is the reflection and shine behind the water and snow. It's like watching diamonds fall from the sky. Whatever this simulated space is, we'd like an invitation please :) Find it on Teia.

Related Links:

• Minty Fresh Edition 65
• Tezos.art
• Minty Fresh Archive