Kenny Schachter has had, shall we say, a <\/span>challenging <\/span><\/i>relationship with the art establishment. An artist (<\/span>and Artnet News columnist<\/span><\/a>) operating at the edge of new media, Schachter has long eschewed gallery models and market winds, instead embracing emerging technologies in ways that have rubbed against the traditional art crowd.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Case in point: Schachter\u2019s <\/span>involvement in NFTs<\/span><\/a>, which began in 2019. \u201cNothing prepared me for the level of conservatism and backwardness of the art world,\u201d he told Artnet News of the response to the blockchain ventures. \u201cIt\u2019s been very disconcerting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Schachter\u2019s new NFT project won\u2019t improve those relations\u2014though it is canny work. Created in collaboration with digital gallery Daata, <\/span>Pop Principle<\/span><\/i><\/a> is a gamified project that pits two distinct camps against each other. In one corner is a group of traditional art players and in the other, the digital art vanguard. And how will the winner be decided? By the number of mints, of course.<\/span><\/p>\n On May 18, Schachter will release a series of eight open-edition NFTs, each featuring a player designed in three dimensions. They include artist Yayoi Kusama<\/span>, critic Jerry Saltz, and mega-dealer Larry Gagosian on the team of old-schoolers, as well as digital stars Beeple, Osinachi, and Refik Anadol<\/a> who make up the new media squad. Curator Hans Ulrich Obrist is included as a \u201cneutral player\u201d because he is Swiss.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The tokens will drop at Schachter\u2019s solo show at the NFT Gallery in New York<\/a>, and <\/span>sold on Daata<\/span><\/a> through June 17.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kenny Schachter, Larry Gagosian<\/em> [left] and Yayoi Kusama [right] (2023). Photo courtesy of Kenny Schachter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Four rounds of <\/span>Pop Principle<\/span><\/i> will be played, with the most minted character in each round being crowned the winner (the \u201cPop\u201d in the project\u2019s title references Pop art as much as popularity). The collector holding the largest number of the winner\u2019s NFTs will further be awarded a physical sculpture of the character, while other holders will be able to burn their tokens to redeem prizes. <\/span><\/p>\n Once the rounds are completed, the four winning characters will face off in an ultimate showdown.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That a battle royale, even a fantastically imagined one, should be raging between the traditional and digital art worlds is \u201cjuvenile and stupid,\u201d Schachter admitted, \u201cbut that\u2019s really the way it is.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt should just be one happy little universe of people making art with similar goals and intent,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut I created a whole new set of enemies by being such an adherent to NFTs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kenny Schachter, Osinachi<\/em>\u00a0(2023). Photo courtesy of Kenny Schachter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Schachter\u2019s vocal support and near evangelism for NFTs\u2014coining the term \u201c<\/span>NFT-ism<\/span><\/a>,\u201d among <\/span>other<\/span><\/a> things<\/span><\/a>\u2014aren\u2019t entirely misplaced. As a contemporary art practitioner working in mediums from digital art to video, the blockchain has made sense as \u201ca way to codify work into a digital certificate of authenticity, to be able to buy and sell these works,\u201d he said. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In <\/span>Pop Principle<\/span><\/i>, this utility is folded into the content of art itself. <\/span>For Schachter, the project\u2019s participatory, gamified element, leveraging the format of open editions, offers a departure from existing static art forms. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cArt relates to social, political, economic, and technological aspects of our culture and society,\u201d he said. \u201cIn that regard,\u00a0it\u2019s really interesting to have a project where there\u2019s a participatory nature, and it\u2019s really commenting upon a new form of art that is transformative and dynamic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kenny Schachter, Refik Anadol<\/em> [left] and Paris Hilton<\/em> [right] (2023). Photo courtesy of Kenny Schachter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The release of <\/span>Pop Principle<\/span><\/i> is merely the tip of a multi-chapter project. Schachter currently has 50 to 75 other characters in development, with hopes to expand his cast into the hundreds. The goal is for them to populate an actual video game in a later phase, in which the traditional and digital artists can engage in non-lethal combat, possibly by shooting paintballs at one another. <\/span><\/p>\n (<\/span>Schachter plans to \u201cflesh out\u201d this game, plus his other blockchain projects such as Open Book<\/a>, at his upcoming solo show at the Francisco Carolinum Linz in Austria.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kenny Schachter, Hans Ulrich Obrist<\/em> (2023). Photo courtesy of Kenny Schachter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If all that sounds funny, even a little silly, that\u2019s because it is: Schachter is no stranger to humor of the absurdist<\/a> flavor<\/a>, calling it \u201ca release valve for life.\u201d So even if the divide between the traditional and new media art worlds might never heal, that doesn\u2019t mean an artist can\u2019t make art, or light, in the meantime.<\/span><\/p>\n No points, though, for guessing which side Schachter is leaning towards in Pop Principle<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s an NFT project,\u201d after all, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor me, NFTs are just a way to find people that would look at my work and potentially collect it when the art world was just a series of doors shut in my face,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s just a great way for artists to empower themselves to find other ways.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n More Trending Stories:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art\u2019s Director Has Resigned After Less Than Two Years, Citing \u2018Resistance and Backlash\u2019<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re Not All Ikea-Loving Minimalists\u2019: Historian and Author Michael Diaz-Griffith on the Resurgence of Young Antique Collectors<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The First Auction of Late Billionaire Heidi Horten\u2019s Controversial Jewelry Proves Wildly Successful, Raking in $156 Million<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An Airbnb Host Got More Than They Bargained for with a Guest\u2019s Offbeat Art Swap\u2014and the Mystery Has Gone Viral on TikTok<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Not Patriarchal Art History, But Art \u2018Herstory\u2019: Judy Chicago on Why She Devoted Her New Show to 80 Women Artists Who Inspired Her<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An Artist Asked ChatGPT How to Make a Popular Memecoin. The Result Is \u2018TurboToad,\u2019 and People Are Betting Millions of Dollars on It<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An Elderly Man Spray-Painted a Miriam Cahn Painting at a Paris Museum After Right-Wing Attempts to Censor It Failed<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.artnet.com\/app\/news-upload\/2023\/05\/6.-Osinachi-s2-1024x1024.jpg\")
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