As M○C△ grows and further establishes itself as a centralized destination for those interested in digital art, it will evolve to meet the needs of artists, collectors, and members. The first iteration of M○C△ member profiles are a demonstration of the utility of $MOCA and the tools that will allow members to create and interact with the community.
Briefly, the member profile will allow for:
-The aggregation of NFTs in various media formats (audio, video, 3d models) for display within a member profile (brought into the platform by the user themselves)
-Individually curated tabs containing any combination of pieces from the M○C△ Collection and a member’s personally owned NFTs
-Integration of social media platforms
-Interaction with and display of NFT and avatar projects
The initial version of the member profile will feature most of the functions listed above, with the rest being added by the end of the year.
Membership in M○C△ is synonymous with ownership of $MOCA. Members will have the opportunity to curate on an individual level via the functionality of the member profile page, while also having a role in broader curatorship of the museum, exhibitions, and events.
The analog art world has utterly failed to adapt to the needs and interests of the Metaverse; as the NFT art scene has exploded (the emergence of the NFT scene itself is an indictment of the stolid and insular nature of the traditional art world) it is now apparent that the tools required for personalization and interaction are requisite for continued growth in the space. The aim here is, broadly, to make art visible and accessible, to make the discourse surrounding art visible and accessible, and to foster a symbiotic and self-sustaining community of collectors, artists, and members.
Curation is both an individual and a collective experience. Inspiration is individual, the experience and process of curation requires a connection with an audience (and, on some level, with the artist). Social media is an ongoing and ceaseless act of curation. It is a continuous self-creation, a self-definition, and it has proven intrinsically empowering for the massive swath of the global population whose social existence is substantially Metaverse-based. Digital experience and digital identities are inherently curatorial: to exist online is to personalize and create an aesthetic. NFTs are a natural extension of the shift towards personalization and identity in the Metaverse. Digital art offers an opportunity for individuals to personalize and develop tastes; physical and financial impediments to art collection are minimized. These obstacles that have, in the past, made it unthinkable that any but the incredibly wealthy would be able to “curate” an artistic experience on a scale comparable with what technology allows.
NFTs will, one way or another, be brought into line by the overarching gravitational forces exerted by the Metaverse. The scene will be streamlined, consolidated, and unified. It goes without saying that this has often been a damaging and disillusioning process (the “flattening” of the internet has smoothed out so much of what made it wondrous and weird). This illuminates the vital importance of the crypto art scene making a conscious and concerted effort to preserve the aspects of the community it holds most dear while accepting the inevitable changes that come with technological, economic, and community growth. It is not a foregone conclusion that things will unfold in a predictably deflating manner; it is up to a self-aware and determined community to dictate and maintain the standards by which it can be self-sustaining and weird. In this spirit, M○C△ aims to provide individualized homes for art and digital identity, firmly placed within an immersive, supportive, and interactive digital community. The ability to express oneself artistically within the larger context of a supportive collective is an opportunity that isn’t readily available to all. To make it as accessible as any other digital community is to introduce a level of inclusivity that has yet to permeate the analog art world with any consistency.
Allowing for curation and collection tools across platforms and mediums in the NFT space is a necessary progression and a clear step forward in the utility and application of NFT collections. The ability to view an NFT collection in a single place and to organize it according to one’s own preference is overdue — to couple that with the community curation tools and access to the M○C△ collection is to offer a metaverse experience that is unparalleled in its depth and interactivity. This sort of detailed self-expression within the NFT realm is a much needed consolidation of what can at times be a scattered, fractured, chaotic mess of a scene. To the casual observer and those outside the NFT scene, the predominant question is one of utility. Nobody doubts the utility or appeal of, say, Spotify. As tools for customization and personalization are integrated into the NFT space these questions of utility will dissolve and appear quaint in retrospect.
Technology will continue to evolve and will increasingly permeate daily existence; M○C△ seeks to foresee and adapt to the rapid pace of change within the NFT scene, within the art world, and with the digital landscape, more broadly. The “profile” page represents both a ubiquitous practice and a process of self-determination. In digital landscapes, personalization and pseudonymity allow for personal freedom in ways that are unattainable in the analog world. This is often reflected by NFT art and the crypto community in a broad sense, and it is that which is worth carrying on as the inevitable tide smooths out the jagged edges of such a rapidly shifting movement.
