When European Professional Generative Art Collectors DAO into BTC: The Machine by Ismahelio on gm.scribe
As the growth of the ETH art ecosystem slows, attention is beginning to shift towards the BTC ecosystem. One of the most organically integrated art forms with Ordinals technology—generative art—is highly anticipated. However, in the current market, successful projects such as Blob, OCM, and BitGlyphs have emerged in the BTC generative art sector, but they still lag significantly behind the Ethereum generative art market in terms of market size. The core reason for this is that the main players in the BTC market are the Asian community and American BTC Maxis, whereas the primary collectors of generative art are typically from the European and American art worlds and NFT OGs. One important reason that generative art enthusiasts in Europe and the US have not yet realized the importance of BTC generative art is the absence of a formerly generative art native institution or community fully promoting and transitioning to BTC. However, this barrier might soon be overcome. A long-established European generative art community, gm.dao, plans to launch their first Bitcoin generative art project on their gm.scribe in May 2024. This project, titled The Machine, is created by renowned Spanish generative artist Ismahelio. This marks the beginning of a shift that could prompt OGs in the European generative art scene to adopt a more proactive attitude towards BTC generative art.
Introduction of gmDAO’s Ecosystem
1. gmDAO
Founded in September 2021, gmDAO is one of the earliest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) focused on generative art. The organization adheres to a long-term vision, continuously cultivating the generative art field while also boldly innovating to adapt to industry changes. Currently, gmDAO operates two art distribution platforms: gm.studio, which is oriented towards the Ethereum ecosystem, and gm.scribe, a new platform dedicated to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The governance of gmDAO is derived from its gmDAO Token, which was issued in January 2022 with a total supply of 1,000 tokens. The cumulative secondary market trading volume has exceeded 4,100 ETH, with the highest historical floor price surpassing 7 ETH in 2022. Most token holders are NFT OGs, collectors, and generative artists from Europe and the United States. Notable holders include NFT KO L Zeneca, confusedcollector (co-founder of GrailersDAO), and renowned generative artist Rich Poole.
The governance of gmDAO is derived from its gmDAO Token, which was issued in January 2022 with a total supply of 1,000 tokens. The cumulative secondary market trading volume has exceeded 4,100 ETH, with the highest historical floor price surpassing 7 ETH in 2022. Most token holders are NFT OGs, collectors, and generative artists from Europe and the United States. Notable holders include NFT KO L Zeneca, confusedcollector (co-founder of GrailersDAO), and renowned generative artist Rich Poole.
2. gm.studio
To better support the works of generative artists, gmDAO established a generative art trading platform, gmStudio, in 2022 within the Ethereum ecosystem. Artists released on this platform include MountVitruvius (@mountvitruvius), p4stoboy (@p4stoboy), Rich Poole (@rich__poole), Mathias Isaksen (@st4yhome_art), and DarioLanza (@dariolanza_art). The total primary market issuance has exceeded 619 ETH, and the total secondary market trading volume has surpassed 10,000 ETH.
3. gm.scribe
When faced with the emerging phenomenon of BTC generative art, gmDAO Founder Ross, who is more familiar with the crypto industry, differed from leaders of other art platforms. He recognized early on the organic integration of generative art with inscription technology and foresaw this market opportunity. Consequently, he launched gm.scribe in the relatively delayed European BTC market, making it the first BTC art platform in Europe and the first mainstream Western art organization to transition into BTC generative art. On their website, they provided ETH collectors with a detailed explanation of the technical principles of Ordinals and the importance of BTC art. Ross himself has been actively introducing and educating professional generative art collectors about BTC art on social media. On March 20, 2024, gm.scribe invited renowned AI artist Richard Nadler to launch their first BTC art project, Memento Mori. To adhere to the "Fully on Chain" concept, gm.scribe spent $15,000 to mint these images on BTC. For European collectors, this BTC-based art project was very novel. As a result, Memento Mori was highly successful in the primary market, with its Ranked Auction finalizing at a price of 0.049 BTC per piece, exceeding $3,000.
The Machine
The Machine is the first generative art project on the gm.scribe platform, created by renowned generative artist and architect Ismahelio. As one of the most prominent representatives of "art-chitect" in the Web3 generative art field, Ismahelio combines his architectural aesthetics with engineering programming experience to visualize his imagined self-aware, constantly moving, transforming, and iterating mechanical geometries through generative art. This exploration pushes the aesthetic boundaries of industrialization and spatial structures. Consequently, his works often feature complex and meticulously layered spatial geometries combined with modern, industrial palettes.
The Machine project by gm.scribe continues Ismahelio's signature style, while further exploring the application of minimalism in generative spatial geometry. This project marks the culmination of Ismahelio's single geometry series. For more insights into the creative concept and aesthetic value of The Machine, please visit gm.scribe's curatorial article. Click to read the full article and access The Machine project link.
Notably, Ismahelio is a Western generative artist with close ties to China. He lived in Hong Kong for many years and obtained his master's degree there. His generative art project Invisibles was launched on the world's leading generative art platform, Art Blocks, in 2023, inspired by the Victoria Harbour landscape he observed while living in Hong Kong. Additionally, he is one of the earliest generative artists to enter China's top auction houses. In 2021, his work was featured in China’s first digital art auction by Poly Auction and has participated in auctions by Sungari and Yongle Auction. All four of his generative art pieces sold at these auctions in China.
Introduction of Ismahelio
Ismahelio (born in 1986 in Spain) is a trained architect specializing in parametric and generative design, and a visiting professor at the University of Miami. Since childhood, Ismahelio has had a strong interest in visual arts and has worked and lived in Spain, Mexico, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong before settling in Miami. Leveraging his technical expertise in engineering and understanding of geometric forms and space, Ismahelio creates intricately complex imagery through programming. He is fascinated by the details of his work, the chaos within boundaries, and randomness, reinterpreting 3D works on a flat plane. Ismahelio's works have been exhibited in art galleries and institutions worldwide, including The Generative Art Museum Barcelona, Pandolfini Casa d'Aste in Italy, VCA Berlin, JAM Art Museum in Hangzhou, C Future Lab in Shenzhen.