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An Ode to glitch Marfa

The Ultimate 'Art Collectors' Collection

Sparkz

Sparkz

Aloha gang, it's Jacy!

This is probably long overdue, but I wanted to give some flowers to one of my absolute favorite teams + projects, glitch Marfa and the Every 30 Days collection.

This is going to be a packed post, but I'll try to both distill it into bite-sized nuggets and make it worth your time.

So, What's glitch?

glitch, in its own words, is an IRL Gallery that sits at the intersection of Marfa, TX and the internet. A self-described 'analog space for digital objects,' if you will.

What that looks like in reality is:

  • A physical gallery space in Marfa - the remote, sleepy town that's also home to Art Blocks Marfa, the most magical event in all of web3 (sorry FarCon, I don't make the rules 😬)

  • A live view of the current exhibition online at glitchmarfa.com

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: Glitch Gallery

A friend put glitch on my radar in a group chat about a year ago when they launched their first project, Every 30 Days (E30D), a revolving month-long exhibition of a single, culturally significant art piece.

I scoped out the site and instantly, three things caught my eye:

  • The Team

  • The Concept + Mission

  • The Content

The Team

glitch is the brainchild of:

  • Derek Edwards, MP at consumer startup VC Collab+Currency, Top 10 Squiggle holder, and former lucky recipient of Ben Roy's MCM appreciation post

  • Madison Page, glitch Gallery Director + Curation Board, founder / performance artist / community builder extraordinaire, and someone for whom akaStevey will go full DND mode

  • Malte Rauch, co-founder of Fired Up, head curator, unrivaled art analyis, and author of the kind of tweets that get bookmarked

The wonderful duo and all-around good humans, GnomeM + Steve, round out this incredibly stacked team.

Concept + Mission

glitch is a physical gallery, but it was born from a vision to educate the world on digital objects. They crafted a plan to integrate storytelling, digital collectibles, and exhibitions that live online, offline, and onchain.

They found the secret sauce: Crypto enables provable scarcity for digital goods, but narrative storytelling and curation help imbue them with cultural resonance.

Content

Their inaugural project, Every 30 Days (E30D), launched almost exactly a year ago.

A skillfully woven 1,133-word essay penned by Malte Rauch about XCopy's Right-click and Save As guy unassumingly appeared on May 1, 2023 at glitchmarfa.com.

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The essay was accompanied by a digital poster referencing the art, artist, and collector (Cozomo de' Medici).

As the name implies, the artwork was viewable for 30 days, both in person at glitch Marfa and simultaneously online via digital livestream.

In addition, 1,000 commemorative posters that paid tribute to the piece were available for .02E, of which 332 were minted.

The next month, another poignant essay and tribute poster dropped, this time featuring Claire Silver's Genesis, owned by Flamingo DAO.

With each passing month, my fascination with E30D grew. By the release of #3 in July - featuring Snowfro's CryptoPunk #1478 - I was entirely sold. This collection was special.

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💎 For one, the curation and writing was top caliber. I simply wasn't seeing anything comparable to what the team was producing from an artistic editorial standpoint.

💎 Secondly, these were popping up in group chats with folks who I consider high signal.

💎 And lastly, the posters are straight fire and it became pretty clear early on that collecting them would be +EV

I made moves and started my full set collection. I also left some bread crumbs along the way, but with fewer than 100 Farcaster friends back then, no one seemed to notice 😉

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Community

As a digital art collector, being a full-set holder of glitch's E30D collection has been one of the most rewarding experiences.

And I'm not just saying that because Snowfro and Grant Yun hand-signed numbered prints for us at the gallery last year. Or because we're getting limited run, NFC-chipped 'fits from 9dcc this year. And did I mention they also gave away this stunner of a bold squiggle to one lucky poster holder?!

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While we do love and appreciate the premium giveaways, far and away the best part of glitch's small, self-selecting group of full-set holders is the people.

At the time of this writing, there are only 121 full-set collectors, according to this data-packed Dune dash from our resident statitician and head memester, Wayne Simonetti.

And there can only ever be 332 at most. Likely less in reality, because a handful of folks are already sitting on multiple sets.

We've done IRL meetups, formed close online bonds, and engage regularly with Derek, Maddie, and the glitch team, who care deeply for their holders and fellow art appreciatoors.

There's just something so special about a community formed organically around a shared appreciation for: Art. Storytelling. Culture. Connection.

Where to Next

Now that E30D is coming to a close, I'm not sure what the team has in store for us next season, which kicks off in two short weeks.

Whatever it is, I'm already all in.

If you wanna jump in too (or at least learn more), check out these resources:

Lastly, a little bit of alpha if you made it this far:

  • You too can get a signed Snowfro poster simply by burning any of the NFTs in the E30D collection. Check this tweet for the deetz; Burn closes April 29.

Thank you to Derek, Maddie, Malte, Steve & GnomeM for cultivating a loyal community through your multifaceted approach to digital curation and engagement. And also for feeding us the best burritos and mimosas Marfa has to offer. Can't wait to do it all over again soon.

Congrats on a successful Year 1, looking forward to whatever comes next 🥂

dollars_and_sense
dollars_and_sense
Commented 1 year ago

@onderful write-up Jacy, keep up the good work!

Kyle Patrick
Kyle Patrick
Commented 1 year ago

So based!

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 6 months ago

things i have received for free since becoming a @glitchmarfa full set holder: - 2 different signed @snowfro prints - 1 signed @grantyun2 print - 1 meet & greet with @toadswiback and a front row seat to Beef Brothkos - 1 LE chipped @9dcc.eth “ask me about my digital art collection” tee - top tier group chat with some of my fave collect00rs and it looks like a signed @joepease print is on the horizon. glitch marfa full sets are alpha. always was. always will be. https://x.com/glitchmarfa/status/1851676068492775450?s=46&t=U7m_z6BiIrApC7Puc9tXAA

siadude.degen 🎩Farcaster
siadude.degen 🎩
Commented 6 months ago

dang i miss only those 2 most expensive ones (xcopy&claire) but was super happy to receive such a snowfro print after burning one i luckily had 2 of...but my goal is to have a full set too! 💯

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 6 months ago

if you ever get serious about it lmk. some of the full set holders have multiples and might discount for friends.

siadude.degen 🎩Farcaster
siadude.degen 🎩
Commented 6 months ago

wow that would be awesome!! thanks lot for the hint!! i might come back to that soon (after christmas hopefully!!) ❤️

Kyle PatrickFarcaster
Kyle Patrick
Commented 6 months ago

Where can I check how to buy and how much did it cost you :O

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 6 months ago

you can find all the links and deetz here. the posters all minted for .02 originally, but they’re not cheap these days for obvious reasons. they introduced some fun burn mechanics topics they love playing with scarcity. recommend if 1) you have the budget; and 2) you really love digital art as the great @raptornews says tho … “prob not a flip” https://paragraph.xyz/@futureproof/an-ode-to-glitch-marfa

Kyle PatrickFarcaster
Kyle Patrick
Commented 6 months ago

Thanks!!

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

✍️ I wrote some long overdue /words about one of my absolute favorite projects @glitchmarfa @derekedws and the team are really brewing up something special in the desert. s/o @wayne-simonetti @pyoong and the rest of the full set crew 👊 🔒 https://paragraph.xyz/@futureproof/an-ode-to-glitch-marfa

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 11 months ago

@maxo spocked some @glitchmarfa posters in your vault 😍 Are you a full set collector, cuz we have a group chat 😃

MaxorgelFarcaster
Maxorgel
Commented 11 months ago

Yes, big glitchmarfa fan and in the chat. Just difficult to be active everywhere. Thanks for the pointer though!

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 11 months ago

!!! So awesome, didn't even realize you were in there, hope to meet ya in Marfa this year 🤙

Kauffman 🪂Farcaster
Kauffman 🪂
Commented 1 year ago

Loved learning something new! 209 $degen

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

join us jeff 😃

Raptornews🎩🟪Farcaster
Raptornews🎩🟪
Commented 1 year ago

456 $DEGEN

AmandaFarcaster
Amanda
Commented 1 year ago

🥹🥹🥹 the shoutout exposing my obsession with Madison is 🤌🤌🤌 1000 $degen 💜

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

marfa ain't ready for us

Jordan LyallFarcaster
Jordan Lyall
Commented 1 year ago

50 $degen

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

thx jordan 🤙🏾

Wayne SimonettiFarcaster
Wayne Simonetti
Commented 1 year ago

so good

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

ayyyyyyee

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

444 $DEGEN to the chief of memes

Wayne SimonettiFarcaster
Wayne Simonetti
Commented 1 year ago

The Yellow Demon Farcaster
The Yellow Demon
Commented 1 year ago

Great article. Wish I got on this project earlier! 16 $DEGEN

sparkzFarcaster
sparkz
Commented 1 year ago

Season 2 starts May 1 😃

derekedwsFarcaster
derekedws
Commented 1 year ago

❤️

An Ode to glitch Marfa