MoMI x Tezos Foundation announce the finalists from Community Curation, an exhibition, shaped by the public

The Museum of the Moving Image and the Tezos Foundation announced today the three finalists from the MoMI x Tezos Community Curation project. The three artists were selected by public vote from a shortlist of 10 artists nominated by esteemed blockchain advocates. Each of the three artists will have their work presented on the Herbert S. Schlosser Media Wall in the Museum lobby, while a fragment of each of these digital works will also be available for visitors to take home, minted on the Tezos blockchain at a station in the lobby at no cost.  

Community Curation is the second project in the MoMI x Tezos Foundation year-long collaboration “Museum Without Walls.” 

The three finalists are: Rodell Warner, Anna Malina and Ceren Su.

The ten nominated artists for the Community Curation project were: Rodell Warner, Travess Smalley, Anna Malina, Linda Dounia, Ceren Su, Sarah Ridgley, Maya Man, Martina Menegon, Kerim Safa, and Marcelo Soria-Rodriguez. To learn more about each artist, visit https://movingimage.org/choose-the-next-artist/  

Each artist was nominated by an invited advocate from the Tezos art community, and selected in collaboration with Regina Harsanyi, MoMI Associate Curator of Media Arts, and Aleksandra Artamonovskaja, Head of Arts at Trilitech. The advocates are:  

Chris Coleman – Artist; Director, Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design at Ohio State University 

TheFunnyGuys – Collector; Founder, Le Random 

VincentVanDough – Founder, AOTM Gallery 

Danielle King – Artist, curator, and writer 

Grida – Curator, NFC Summit; Director, Artverse 

Steven Sacks – Owner and Director, Bitforms gallery 

Olha Pylypenko – Head of Programs, fx(hash) 

Kika Nicolela – Artist; Curator, Objkt 

Xer0x – Artist and collector 

Jiggy – Collector and researcher

Following the announcement of the artist shortlist, the public was able to vote on their artists between September 12 and 22nd, participating in a community curation and shaping the museum’s exhibition.

 Harsanyi and Artamonovskaja said: “The Community Curation project highlights the strength of blockchain-related art communities by expanding beyond the conventional role of a singular curatorial vision. By inviting widespread public participation in the final voting process, we aim to illustrate decentralized curatorial power in practice and engage a broader audience in shaping art exhibition alternatives.” 

 About Museum Without Walls: MoMI x Tezos 

MoMI’s yearlong collaboration with the Tezos Foundation, which started June 2024, continues the Museum’s 40+ year commitment to exhibiting artists who integrate emerging technologies in their moving image practice. Central to this initiative is the Tezos blockchain, celebrated for its innovative and sustainable approach to blockchain technology. The Tezos Foundation’s commitment to supporting the arts underscores its pivotal role in fostering creative expression and technological integration. In the spirit of both digital and participatory installation art (such as that of Carlos Motta, Yoko Ono, Carsten Höller, and Félix González Torres), visitors can acquire complimentary fragments of the artwork they encounter in the Museum with help from blockchain technology. This initiative extends the Museum’s reach beyond its walls, fostering free engagement with the act of collecting. For more information visit movingimage.org/series/momi-x-tezos. 

Information about all artists: https://movingimage.org/choose-the-next-artist/ 

Quotes from artists 

Kerim Safa

In a world obsessed with detail, pixels stand as a testament to the lasting charm of simplicity, invoking nostalgia while remaining relevant in the digital age. They offer a canvas to distill complexity into minimalist forms, encouraging viewers to discover beauty within constraints.

Linda Dounia

My name is Linda Dounia and I’m a self-taught artist. Before I was an artist, I was a designer. I’m interested in how technology impacts society, how it changes us fundamentally for better or worse, and what the way we develop and spread technology says about what and who the world cares about.

Anna Malina

My materials are as important as my images. Not just paper, or charcoal, or the marching ants of GIMP; they too have their characteristic aesthetic quality and density. How will acrylic brushstrokes move? What feelings will pastel residue evoke? What kind of rhythm will torn paper edges create?

Rodell Warner

"There's an overwhelming abundance of innovation in the Tezos art community, and a shortage of documentation, contextualization, and preservation of those artworks, bridging them to IRL realities. The artists on Tezos and the cultural workers at the museum of Moving Image absolutely deserve rich connections to each other, for all of the professional, historic, and artistic possibilities that will result."

Marcelo Soria-Rodriguez

"I am interested in the notion of identity, on how it changes through relationships among any combination of human/nature/machine, plus the role of emotions, in this age of new artificial beings entering our societies. Generative+evolving/interactive pieces seem to me more inclusive as they provide more diverse spaces for the experiencer to find themselves or what they resonate with."

Ceren Su Çelik

Ceren Su, a multidisciplinary artist, explores post-human hybrids and organic transformations.

Martina Menegon

One of the main reasons I clone my digital self in several of my artworks is exactly this idea that our virtual selves are no longer a separate — and lifeless — entity. On the contrary, they are part of us. In our phygital reality, they are actually us. 

Maya Man

I am into this idea of community curation, curation is so beautiful and actually what life is all about… making choices and cultivating a world you want to live in. Everything is Art if you want it and you see it. Big fan of MoMI so it is quite special to be included!

About Tezos 

Tezos is a cutting-edge, energy-efficient blockchain. Tezos is used by thousands of artists around the globe to create and sell digital art, and cultural institutions including Serpentine, Musée d'Orsay, and LAS Art Foundation for their innovative approaches to cultural programming. 

About Museum of the Moving Image 

Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) is the only institution in the United States that deals with the art, technology, enjoyment, and social impact of film, television, and digital media. In its acclaimed facility in Astoria, New York, the Museum presents exhibitions; screenings; discussion programs featuring actors, directors, and creative leaders; and education programs which serve more than 70,000 students each year. It houses the nation’s most comprehensive collection of moving image artifacts and screens over 500 films annually. Its exhibitions—including the core exhibition Behind the Screen and recent addition The Jim Henson Exhibition—are noted for their integration of material objects, interactive experiences, and audiovisual presentations. For more information about the MoMI, visit http://www.movingimage.org/. 

Museum of the Moving Image is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and has received significant support from the following public agencies: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; New York City Council; New York City Economic Development Corporation; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; Institute of Museum and Library Services; National Endowment for the Humanities; National Endowment for the Arts; and Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation).