French artist Bernard Venet has collaborated with Sotheby’s Metaverse on ‘EVENT’, his first generative artwork on the Ethereum blockchain, challenging traditional artwork with 500 unique works.
French artist Bernard Venet, known for his integration of mathematics, geometry and randomness in art, has unveiled his latest venture into digital creativity with his first generative artwork, “EVENT”, hosted on the Ethereum blockchain via Sotheby’s Metaverse. This collaboration marks an important milestone in Venet’s illustrious career, which spans more than five decades of challenging and redefining artistic boundaries. EVENT appears as the second edition in Sotheby’s Gen Art program, showcasing Venet’s pioneering approach to generative digital art.
Venet’s artistic journey began in 1963 with “Tas de charbon” (Bowl of Coal), signifying his early engagement with materials and the role of chance in composition. His subsequent work continually blurs the lines between order and chaos, using mathematical equations, geometric shapes, and the unpredictable results of physical actions, such as the random arrangement of steel bars in his Accident series, begun in 1996. These studies set the stage for the endeavor of Venet in digital art, where algorithms serve as a new medium for creativity.
“EVENT,” a clever anagram of Venet’s name, draws inspiration from the playful linguistics of Marcel Duchamp, reflecting Venet’s ambition to “dematerialize” art. This series represents a fusion of Venet’s sculptural language with digital technology, creating a space where gravity, light, shadow and materiality are reimagined through the lens of generative algorithms. In collaboration with curator Viola Lukács Venet aims to produce 500 unique digital artworks, each embodying the essence of his physical sculptures, but enriched with digital possibilities, including color, a departure from his traditional palette.
Venet’s adoption of generative art was not simply an extension of his existing practice, but a manifestation of his belief in constant innovation and rejection of stylistic repetition. He sees digital technology as a tool to uncover new forms of expression, going beyond the boundaries of traditional media to explore uncharted territories of artistic creativity.
“EVENT” isn’t just a digital counterpart to Venet’s physical works; it is an exploration of the potential of digital mediums to create art that resonates with the tactile and visual qualities of his sculptures while venturing into new aesthetic dimensions. This initiative by Venet and Sotheby’s Metaverse not only enriches the landscape of digital art, but also confirms the enduring relevance and adaptability of established artists in the digital age.
As Venet continues to challenge the boundaries between different forms of artistic expression, his work with generative art is a testament to the evolving nature of creativity, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. Through EVENT, Venet invites viewers to witness the convergence of past and future, order and chaos in a digital realm that expands the possibilities of what art can be.
French artist Bernar Venet has collaborated with Sotheby’s Metaverse on ‘EVENT’, his debut generative artwork on the Ethereum blockchain. This project reflects Venet’s long-standing fascination with the interplay of mathematics, geometry and randomness, now explored through digital algorithms. “EVENT” stands for a bold step into digital art, aiming to create 500 unique works that merge Venet’s sculptural concepts with digital aesthetics, challenging traditional notions of artistic creation.
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