The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has ventured further into the domain of NFT art via a new collaborative project involving notable digital artists operating within the Web3 space, as part of LACMA’s ongoing “Remembrance of Things Future” program.
In partnership with blockchain consultancy Cactoid Labs, LACMA has embarked on this NFT art venture, providing an opportunity for a selection of artists — Deafbeef, XCOPY, Erick “Snowfro” Calderon, Jen Stark, Monica Rizzoli, Ix Shells, Emily Xie, and Sarah Zucker — to choose pieces from the museum’s permanent collection and reinterpret them using blockchain technology.
Deafbeef’s contribution to the “Remembrance of Things Future” initiative draws parallels with the work of Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer recognized for his groundbreaking studies of motion and early experimentation in motion-picture projection during the 19th century.
Taking cues from Muybridge’s renowned piece “The Horse in Motion”, Deafbeef produced a sequence of chronophotograph still images. However, the artist diverged from the original by transforming each image into individual NFTs via a smart contract. This blockchain-based process enabled the creation of a “release shutter” function that can generate a series of still snapchats, resulting in multiple chronophotographs for each digital asset. These can be preserved, traded, or sold as separate editions.
Deafbeef’s “Noumenon + Chronophotograph” NFTs feature an additional element: a time lock that doubles after each snapshot. This mechanism causes the subsequent chronophotographs to increase in size and clarity, evolving into a high-resolution series of static images.
The project underscores a shared objective among all participants: to reinterpret traditional artworks in a contemporary context. This approach brings a new dynamism to LACMA’s collection, positioning the institution at the forefront of innovative artistic expression.
