Amidst the craze of collectibles that have been invading the NFT market in the past couple months, there have been a few natively Korean projects that have been released or have yet to be released that merit greater attention. Here is my short list:
1. Project URS
(Full disclosure- I am helping with marketing for this project, and own around 19 of the collectible series)Project URS, or Underground Robogenetic Subterraneans, is an 3d animated avatar project that was started by a team of 9 Korean artists/cofounders and 3 developers. I was not originally part of the team, but forced myself onto it after seeing the insane quality of the product, offering my English speaking marketing skills. The release has happened a few days ago already, and the project is notable for many reasons but here are three:
-As a 10,000 piece generative art collectible series, the artwork goes above and beyond others with its high quality 3d rendering and animation, which itself is a variable trait. The vast majority of other 10K projects are simply still images, most with much less detail and craftsmanship.
-To avoid gas wars, half of the URS were given away in presale via giveaways, but more importantly, the main sale was done entirely by a raffle system in which people deposited the amount of ETH that corresponded to the number of “tickets” they wanted to put into the pot. At the click of a button, the tickets that were won were minted and sent to the buyer’s wallet, and the remaining ETH was refunded as well. The average cost for gas that people paid was around $20-40 per transaction (one for deposit and one for refund).
-This type of contract was totally new, however the confidence level of the community was high enough that approximately 33million USD was deposited into the raffle. This did result in a relatively low percentage for the average person, which was disappointing for many. However, most people appreciated the fact that the inability to mint for the common person is the same as with other popular 10K projects, but this time did not cost 0.5-1.0ETH gas cost with no guarantee of getting the product itself.
Knowing the team of artists and developers personally, I can say that I have utmost confidence in the project and its trajectory upwards. Despite their language barriers and scattered global team (Korea, Germany, US), they managed to make an excellent quality product while also organically mobilizing the community, while also paving the way for other projects to potentially follow suit with a solution to the gas wars. Current status: 10K mint complete, moving on to the next stage of the roadmap.
2. Space Inmates
Another Korean led project, Space Inmates, is the brainchild of artist and community leader Donglee Han, who is also one of the central parts of the Korean NFT community (website, Clubhouse sessions, and more). Her first generative art project saw her teaming up with another Korean artist, Bo Kim, and together they created the animal / alien characters in a self proclaimed “silly” aesthetic. 9999 in total, the charm of these characters lies not only in their visuals, but in the extensive backstory, roadmap, and community activities. Donglee is a master community engineer and she pulled no punches in setting up the universe of Space Inmates with great depth but also approachability, spontaneity, and above all, silliness. Potatoes were almost accidentally incorporated as a major theme, when one of the other team members mistook Donglee’s drawing of a planet for a potato, and from there it became almost the central focal point and the economy around which the characters in the story exist. This project’s strong suit is its story, foundation, and community focus to back up its charming artwork, and this combination will ensure that it goes far into space! Current status: pre-minting!
3. Bad Kids Alley
Bad Kids Alley is based off of the artwork of an up and coming Korean artist, Unstable Kido. I have been observing him since the start of his career in the NFT space, eventually becoming his collector, right before his collection skyrocketed and became effectively unaffordable. In a truly unexpected turn of events, one of the major figures in the NFT space as well as one of my close friends Clare Maguire (head of community outreach at Tryshowtime, famous musician) suddenly announced that she and Kido were partnering together to make a new 10K collectible. Having utmost faith in both of these people even before the project began, my mind was blown by the possibility of these two collaborating together (what better combination of art+community might there be?) and indeed they have proven to grow the community into a tight knit force to be reckoned with, embracing and celebrating the “outsider” identity. Current status: Pre-minting!
Korean Generative Collectible Art 2021
Amidst the craze of collectibles that have been invading the NFT market in the past couple months, there have been a few natively Korean projects that have been released or have yet to be released that merit greater attention. Here is my short list:
1. Project URS
(Full disclosure- I am helping with marketing for this project, and own around 19 of the collectible series) Project URS, or Underground Robogenetic Subterraneans, is an 3d animated avatar project that was started by a team of 9 Korean artists/cofounders and 3 developers. I was not originally part of the team, but forced myself onto it after seeing the insane quality of the product, offering my English speaking marketing skills. The release has happened a few days ago already, and the project is notable for many reasons but here are three:
-As a 10,000 piece generative art collectible series, the artwork goes above and beyond others with its high quality 3d rendering and animation, which itself is a variable trait. The vast majority of other 10K projects are simply still images, most with much less detail and craftsmanship.
-To avoid gas wars, half of the URS were given away in presale via giveaways, but more importantly, the main sale was done entirely by a raffle system in which people deposited the amount of ETH that corresponded to the number of “tickets” they wanted to put into the pot. At the click of a button, the tickets that were won were minted and sent to the buyer’s wallet, and the remaining ETH was refunded as well. The average cost for gas that people paid was around $20-40 per transaction (one for deposit and one for refund).
-This type of contract was totally new, however the confidence level of the community was high enough that approximately 33million USD was deposited into the raffle. This did result in a relatively low percentage for the average person, which was disappointing for many. However, most people appreciated the fact that the inability to mint for the common person is the same as with other popular 10K projects, but this time did not cost 0.5-1.0ETH gas cost with no guarantee of getting the product itself.
Knowing the team of artists and developers personally, I can say that I have utmost confidence in the project and its trajectory upwards. Despite their language barriers and scattered global team (Korea, Germany, US), they managed to make an excellent quality product while also organically mobilizing the community, while also paving the way for other projects to potentially follow suit with a solution to the gas wars. Current status: 10K mint complete, moving on to the next stage of the roadmap.
2. Space Inmates
Another Korean led project, Space Inmates, is the brainchild of artist and community leader Donglee Han, who is also one of the central parts of the Korean NFT community (website, Clubhouse sessions, and more). Her first generative art project saw her teaming up with another Korean artist, Bo Kim, and together they created the animal / alien characters in a self proclaimed “silly” aesthetic. 9999 in total, the charm of these characters lies not only in their visuals, but in the extensive backstory, roadmap, and community activities. Donglee is a master community engineer and she pulled no punches in setting up the universe of Space Inmates with great depth but also approachability, spontaneity, and above all, silliness. Potatoes were almost accidentally incorporated as a major theme, when one of the other team members mistook Donglee’s drawing of a planet for a potato, and from there it became almost the central focal point and the economy around which the characters in the story exist. This project’s strong suit is its story, foundation, and community focus to back up its charming artwork, and this combination will ensure that it goes far into space! Current status: pre-minting!
3. Bad Kids Alley
Bad Kids Alley is based off of the artwork of an up and coming Korean artist, Unstable Kido. I have been observing him since the start of his career in the NFT space, eventually becoming his collector, right before his collection skyrocketed and became effectively unaffordable. In a truly unexpected turn of events, one of the major figures in the NFT space as well as one of my close friends Clare Maguire (head of community outreach at Tryshowtime, famous musician) suddenly announced that she and Kido were partnering together to make a new 10K collectible. Having utmost faith in both of these people even before the project began, my mind was blown by the possibility of these two collaborating together (what better combination of art+community might there be?) and indeed they have proven to grow the community into a tight knit force to be reckoned with, embracing and celebrating the “outsider” identity. Current status: Pre-minting!