Revolutionising The Art Fair in The Metaverse with Decentraland

Another boundary-breaking digital art venture by Decentraland lands on your screens this week. Launched as the first digital world to be owned and generated by its users in 2017, the online platform has fast established itself as a pivotal space when looking to Web3 and the metaverse, which in its most utopian form, will seamlessly merge physical and virtual experiences. From the first Metaverse Fashion Week in March, to Metaverse Art Week, Decentraland has cemented itself as the go-to when it comes to conceiving what the future looks like. For Metaverse Art Week 2022, an event inspired by this year's Venice Biennale Arte, the platform is armed with a theme that looks at how patterns, sequences, and formulas make up both the natural and virtual world. The art of code is integral to everyday living, meaning the event's title, The World is Made of Code, couldn't be more apt.

What does Metaverse Art Week actually mean, and how is it different from other international art fairs? Well, for one, it's a 360 virtual experience. However its roster of exhibitions, talks and installations intentionally mirror those that would normally take place in a public space, questioning how traditional notions of art can be repurposed to create a better viewing experience. Designed to showcase the latest technological innovations in digital art and design development, the virtual world fair brings the contemporary art world into further alignment with the emerging world of Web3. 'Metaverse Art Week 2022 is coming at a pivotal moment for the larger adoption of Web3 technology and decisions about our digital reality' said the Decentraland Foundation's Creative Director, Sam Hamilton. 'We believe that the future of the internet should be built by decentralized communities who do not seek to profit off of user data, imagination, or creativity. This year's Art Week will be a love letter to what the next generation of artists are doing in the metaverse.'

Not as familiar as they may first seem, the main attractions will be located in Decentraland's art neighbourhoods. Soho Plaza (aka Art Plaza for the next year) will be transformed into an open-air museum and gravity-defying sculpture garden for the event, featuring a one-of-a-kind work by Nick Knight and SHOWstudio, together with a contribution from legendary stylist to Lady Gaga, Nicola Formichetti, all of which we're sure will extend beyond the confines of reality into the realm of the surreal.

The adjacent space, Voltaire Art District, will host a multitude of community-designed and art collective gallery exhibitions and panel talks. Across the week, there will be participation from Frida Kahlo's family, David Cash of Cashlabs, Nick Knight and SHOWstudio, Sotheby's and more. Knight will participate in two talks throughout the week on Twitter Spaces, inviting questions from the online audience. The first - Beyond the Frontiers of Performance in Web3 - is set to take place on Wednesday, 24 August at 17:00 BST, and the second - An Open Air Museum Experience: Repurposing Public Spaces In the Metaverse - will happen at the same time on Friday 26 August. From discussing the new horizons of the arts in the Metaverse, blockchain and how physical spaces are repurposing themselves to fit into new digital realms, Nick Knight will join David Cash and others to weigh in their opinions, expectations and more.

The jam-packed week will also feature work housed in the Art Plaza by NFT artists including Damien Hirst, Laurel Charleston, Justin Aversano, Kenny Schacter and David Henry Nobody Jr, with all four floors of the gallery available for the public to interact with and explore. Make sure to visit the third floor of the Genesis Art Plaza gallery, which will feature a special takeover by SHOWstudio, where we will be showcasing Nick Knight's first official NFT collection ikon-1, described by the image-maker as 'the first NFT with feelings, with emotions, and with a point of view.' Sign up HERE to attend.