EDEN Stories season 2 – EDEN as collectible

CEGZ, juin 2022

12 Minitel screen-pages
videotex, VDT

12 prints based on Minitel screen pages, limited edition, 40 × 30 cm
Print on Hahnemühle Ultra Smooth 305g, pigment inkjet print on Epson P20 000

1 installation
Black and white Minitel, colour video projection, wooden stool

12 animated GIFS
Each GIF is associated with an NFT archived on the Ethereum blockchain and distributed on the superrare.com platform

Description
Exhibition
See season 2 on SuperRare
The Eden Stories project

Video rough cut of the first 6 episodes of season 2 (Fast forward)

Description

In season 2, EDEN is like a ghost in the machine. It knows that it is an NFT and goes in search of collectors. It displays itself on social networks and transforms into a series of trading cards. Originally a Minitel file (videotex, VDT*), it takes the form of a JPEG and GIF in order to be able to become NFTs.

These twelve cards recall that the first NFTs were playing and collecting cards (see Spells of Genesis, 2015) and that the first collection of digital artworks on the Ethereum blockchain was made up of collecting cards (see Curio Cards, 2017). There’s Pokémon in NFT’s DNA.

The season comprises four episodes. Each episode consists of three cards. The first card of each episode refers as much to the clichés of social networks as to certain more or less well-known images from the history of art. It is common practice within the NFT community to engage with art history, hijacking its images and codes.

The series is archived on the Ethereum Blockchain and published on the SUPERRARE platform, which is more selective than that of season 1. It is hosted by the space “New French Touch”, created on the initiative of Benoît Couty, which at the time brought together many artists. Season 2 is then taken to New York, where it is exhibited in two galleries.

Each episode has a similar ending. The image seems to deteriorate little by little. Sometimes, a programming language appears in the image. Text is omnipresent in the work. Here, EDEN encounters the culture of glitch, of more or less deliberate digital alteration, which is a common practice in digital art. The episodes conclude with a vanity.

Cards N°1 ( Episodes 1, 2 & 3)

S2:E1 Eden with a blue collar

#DuMinitelToAnNFT
#FromFreeSexToUnCollectionneur
#LesTagsInFrenchCestSuperRare

S2:E2 Quoi ? !!

#BecomingUneCollectibleCarte
#LikeUnTableauAncien
#OhUnNewPokemon

S2:E3 Nothing went as planned 

#CaughtUpParLaVanit
#JAiGlitchedLikeAnNFT
#Zut

Cards N°2 ( Episodes 4, 5 & 6)

S2:E4 Eden in A Red Dress

#EdenInARedDressCestMonNom
#LikeTheJeuneFilleWithAPearlEarring
#JeSuisInÆther

S2:E5 OH NON !!!

#DevenirUnToken
#CommeUnStamp
#MaisOnChain

S2:E6 Oops!… It Did It Again! 

#IGlitchedEncore
#SuisJeDoomed
#UneVanityFair

Cards N°3 ( Episodes 7, 8 & 9)

S2:E7 Eden with the Pig

#PourMaNewCard
#JeSuisTheLadyWithThePig
#ThankYouFélicien

S2:E8 OH LA LA!!

#AsACollectorsCourtisane
#TheRulerOfFornication
#MaDressEstEnPulledPork

S2:E9 Skull in Love

#LeCyclamenTombeEnClinamen
#LesStilettoEnSpaceInvader
#QuelqueChoseDeRottenIci

Cards N°4 ( Episodes X, XI, XII )

S2:EX Eden Unleashed

#JeTryLe_BDSMinitel
#OhUnSadEmoji
#MesCensuredTitsOntUneSaleTete

S2:EXI ENCORE !!

#MaOnlyFansCarte
#IsEncoreMinted
#WithLeMemeGlitch_Ouch

S2:EXII Pirate Tatoo 

#MyRadioactiveTetons
#SoDangerDeDeath
#NextStopVenise

Exhibition

The tangible edition of season 2 of the EDEN Stories project was exhibited in New York, from June 20 to July 10, 2022 at the FIAF Gallery, as part of the exhibition NFT: New French Touch.