As text-to-image AI excites and enrages the world, the 105 cryptoart collective* calmly ponders the joys of using AI to make art. — Text-to-image AI has hit the collective imagination big time since companies like Midjourney and DALL-E opened to the public last year. Servers are grinding away with the storm of activity, and social media feeds are clogged with images claiming to interpret our thoughts via words.

In a pivotal moment for publishing, DADA co-founder Judy Mam launches her first novel — a sexy story of interclass passion in Mexico City — as an immersive, interactive NFT. — Judy Mam needs little introduction as co-creator of early blockchain drawing platform Dada.art. The irony: she can’t draw. When not championing DADA, she attends to her own creative medium — writing. The Platform is thrilled that Judy has chosen to launch her debut novel Quién te manda* as our inaugural…

This week at CADAF Paris, I launch my first solo Async Art piece and show a selection of works from my life (so far) in cryptoart — The modern age doesn’t care about dreams, because there’s no money in them, and they’ve been pushed back somewhere to the periphery of the human psyche, which I consider an absolute devaluation of human life. …[I]t is only the fusion of dreams and reality that can make what is called…

Established NFT platform Mintbase has just launched on the NEAR protocol. If you’ve been waiting for an eco-friendly way into NFTs, this is a great opportunity. — You may be reading this because you’ve been eyeing the NFT scene looking for a way in that’s not too difficult to access, understand, or afford. Or maybe you’re an established cryptoartist smarting from high minting fees and seeking an environmentally — and socially — friendly platform where you can…

Passionate entomologist Marcel Dicke reveals the multitude of reasons to appreciate insects you’ve likely never considered—but should. — Wageningen University professor of entomology Marcel Dicke has devoted his life to bugs. Not only does he work to popularize insects in the mainstream—offering lectures and festivals on the many wonders of bugs, including hosting a world record–breaking insect-eating event. He also tirelessly investigates ways insects can contribute to the…

Manchester-based cryptoartist Stina Jones’s popular GANOODLES creatures are making the evolutionary leap to Async’s programmable-art platform. — One of the most immediately recognizable, accessible and popular artists in the cryptoart scene, Stina Jones’s vivid colors and clean lines instantly catch the eye. But stay with her artwork a moment longer and you’ll also sense something deeper: a thoughtfulness and—sometimes—a melancholy. The adorable, expressive characters she’s most famous…

Why would an American choose lockdown life under martial law in Morocco? A conversation with Iranian-American global health physician Nassim Assefi on different cultural approaches to COVID responses, coping as a single mother in quarantine, and navigating the precarious line between safety and sanity. — When the pandemic hit, Iranian-American physician and global health expert Dr Nassim Assefi actively chose to stay put in Rabat with her 8-year-old daughter rather than return home to Seattle, despite Morocco’s strictly enforced lockdown measures. The country’s major cities have seen the longest and strictest quarantines in the world…

A shaggy-dog story of a virtual art collaboration in the Metaverse. — Some folks are feeling too isolated during lockdown. I’m not feeling isolated enough. I typically work from home in blissful solitude in a forgotten Norfolk town. When COVID-19 hit, all my friends rushed online at once — on the one hand delightful, but on the other, overwhelming for an introvert…