May 9 2023
Basqunks 101
What Are The Basqunks?
It's a pfp collection I created that combines the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat with the concept of the CryptoPunks created by Larva Labs Studios (Matt Hall and John Watkinson).
Work in progress Basqunks.
Three existing minted Basqunks on the tezos blockchain.
History of the Basqunks Collection
Please see my article published on fxhash Ode to the PFPExcited for Art Again
Web3 PFPs (Profile Pictures) helped reinvigorate my artistic journey.
Well, so too did unemployment during the pandemic.
I noticed during this return to working on art and selling PFPs that rarity trumped aesthetics, which I found a little frustrating.
Rarity being a number ranking assigned to an image based on how often attributes within the artwork appear throughout the generated collection in other images. Like I mentioned in the article, "It didn't matter if another token with a lower rarity score was more aesthetically pleasing, rarity trumped all and ultimately dictated how someone felt about the tokens they owned or wanted to collect."
Furthermore, "This could lead to negative feelings and lead to negative interactions with the creator or community." Which was really frustrating. To say the least.
The Argument for Abstraction
So because of that observation, I set out to make a collection that used abstraction as a way to distort the PFP image and hopefully raise the argument against rarity. I wanted to try and get collectors to ignore rarity. Or at least see value in the image they had, even if the rarity of that image was the lowest in the collection.
Let's be clear though, I do understand the importance of rarity, however I want the art of the image to have perhaps equal weight in the consideration of value.
Why Ethereum?
Flippin' Burgers
A low paying minimum wage job.
That's the reality I am facing here when I return to work.
The 15 seconds of fame in the NFT marketplace I experienced briefly is gone and forgotten. Now the reality is that bills need to be paid and I have a choice to make.
Pre-pandemic Job Search
I returned to school in 2016 and studied Computer Technology at a local community college here in Ontario. I graduated in 2019, but went back for one year to complete a graduate certification in AI. I finished that just in time for the pandemic to shut everything down. Needless to say, I didn't find work.
I don't know if it's due to age, distance, experience or all three, but I did not seem to be an attractive prospect for employers. Add to that the recent tech layoffs; and what does that do for my chances of landing an entry level tech job?
Kickstarter
So I've decided to take one last kick at the can.
I would prefer to see this as a Kickstarter. Basqunks deserved bigger. The fans of the collection deserved more and 500 tokens on a small chain was never going to cut it. The Basqunks need to play in the big leagues.