The founders of the gallery each bring a unique perspective to the space. Caballero is an established lifelong writer and poet as well as a recipient of the Beverly Prize. Stiles is an acclaimed poet, writer, and AI researcher who has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net for her works exploring the intersection between text and technology. Using generative texts, AI, and machine code, her unique body of work explores “what it means to be human in a nearly post-human era.” The third founder is Iwamoto, a boundary-pushing conceptual artist and writer who has encouraged and guided new writers to release their poems on the blockchain. She’s the creator of the Crypto Writers Discord, and co-producer of the Crypto Writers Podcast where members of the community hold international readings, share works, and talk shop. You can find her cryptoliteature exhibition, “Twelve” which features up-and-coming crypto writers on view in Decentraland.
Like many NFT projects, theVERSEverse has grown out of a nurturing community with a shared love of poetry and craft. The gallery creates a space where poems can be exhibited while actively challenging and expanding the medium in a digital context. While poetry has been seen as solitary art, shared through readings, the gallery encourages collaboration between visual artists, videographers, poets, and AI. There is an emphasis on play and experimentation that allots writers freedom to grow and expand beyond the boundaries of the market.