It’s been about 2 months since we released “Forever Supper”, Async’s first Dynamic Blueprints which invited over 50+ web3 creators to come in and become guests in a dinner that can go on forever. Our team is constantly in awe of how our community has surprised us with their curationship, the co-creation that organically spawned, and of course the social signaling.
One of the biggest learnings is that gas on Ethereum is a consideration. While changing/editing a Core is completely free and gasless, purchasing an Expansion can cost upwards of $50+ for Mystery Packs or Packs that contain multiple NFTs.
For our next Dynamic Blueprint, we have to remove that friction point for our community. This was the perfect time to charge forward with one of the blockchain alternatives we have always considered and today we’re proud to announce that it’ll be on the Polygon network.
Curated and co-produced by Kenny Schachter, our next Dynamic Blueprint is called “Open Book”. Instead of the empty room of “Forever Supper”, users mint their Core, the blank pages of an open book. Expansion Packs contain pages with text and pictures Kenny’s collaborators submitted, and later on, will be open for public submissions too.
The content of the book? All about NFTs of course!
Are NFTs a paradigm shift, or are they just a total scam? This question has fiercely divided the Internet, and the Async team as well as Kenny now invite you to define NFT history with your own curation as well as own content.
The concept is that of a digital book that never ends, where Kenny’s collaborators kick things off with the first couple of pages, and then invite the public to openly comment and refute that content. This project will redefine the participatory nature of NFTs; and, in turn, rethink the notion of a book as a finite and complete volume comprised of text and image.
As more people get involved—by buying Expansion Pack NFTs that enable them to curate the content of the book or by submitting original content to be added to the ongoing project — all of the existing NFTs that are part of the project will be steadily transformed over time just like how we saw the many different variations of Forever Supper grow over time.
“Open Book” captures the ever-evolving narrative around NFTs, starting with pro and con stances from a roster of cultural figures such as Kenny Schachter, Jerry Saltz, Krista Kim, and Kevin Abosch as well as from the public: the good, the bad, the ugly.
Here is the full list of collaborators, with more to come! These pages will be rolled out in Chapters over time.
- Kenny Schachter - Art Critic, Artist, Writer. Lead on Open Book.
- Hans Ulrich Obrist - Curator and Art Theorist
- Jerry Saltz - Art Critic
- Kevin Abosch - Artist
- Krista Kim - Artist
- Sarah Meyohas - Artist
- Operator - Artist Duo
- Claudia Hart - Artist and Academic
- Noah Charney - Art Historian and Academic
- Osinachi - Artist
- Anne Spalter - Artist
- Georg Bak - Digital art advisor and curator
- Mimi Nguyen - Art Academic
- Sputniko! - Artist
- Lynn Hershman Leeson - Artist
- Manuel Rossner - Artist
- Nina Roehrs - Curator, Art-Entrepreneur & Publisher
- Sarah Friend - Artist
- Sasha Stiles - Poet, Artist, & AI Researcher
Everyone starts with their own blank digital book as an NFT, but then can have the capability to curate and possibly influence the narrative within.
This digital book will continuously evolve and reflect public sentiment towards NFTs and spur substantive discourse…or propaganda. We anticipate and welcome both of those outcomes!
How it Will Work:
1) Go to openbook.page
2) Sign in with your existing wallet, or if you don’t have a wallet yet, you can sign in with email or social login, and we'll provision a wallet for you under the hood (powered by our partners at Privy)! If you sign in with an existing wallet, make sure to switch your wallet network to Polygon by clicking on the Metamask browser extension (detailed instructions here).
3) Mint a Core (the blank book NFT)
After connecting your crypto wallet/signing in via Privy, the button on the blank book will turn into “Mint Core”. Click on that and a prompt will walk you through the transaction. Do note that it will take a small amount of Matic to make a transaction on Polygon network.
4) Collect your first Expansion (book’s content NFT)
Click on Expansion Packs, pick out the one you like, and click “Buy Expansion.” Same as minting the Core, it will require a small amount of Matic in addition to if it’s priced or free pack.
However, the Polygon team has sponsored a free Expansion pack for new community members of Open Book. For a limited time, gas fees for “To The Moon” background will be covered and essentially takes no Matic to mint. This is an exclusive offer only available for community members who did early sign up here.
At a pre-launch event in NYC hosted by Kenny, attendees were able to get a sneak peak of the upcoming pages of Open Book. Kenny also invited them to annotate and share their thoughts. We also have invited the Polygon team to submit their own thoughts on NFTs and the way this space has evolved.
We cannot wait to invite everyone in to start minting and collecting their pages. Sign up to be the first to know when it goes live here.
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