MF Dynamics Goes Digital
Digital art is not new, but the way we can now sell, collect, and think about it is.
Heads up: This article lightly touches on blockchain technology and NFTs (non-fungible tokens), but we avoid the technical weeds. We welcome you to explore with us!
Blockchain technology is complex. The barriers to entry can feel high to people who do not have the time or capacity to research the fundamentals. It’s even more challenging to grasp when best practices are debated, within and across different blockchains.
While the technical aspects can feel intimidating, there is so much potential. One amazing aspect of blockchain is that it can function as a precise record keeper. By using certain tools, a digital art file and all its data can be logged, attributed to, and owned by an artist or collector with full transparency.
One way to think of it is like capturing a bug in amber: the bug is stuck there, in exactly the way it landed. You can see it, magnify it, take it with you where you go (under the assumption that your pockets or purse are big enough), and everyone knows that the ambered bug belongs to you.
Maria Finkelmeier recognized the potential of this technology and assembled a team to explore the ways we can capture a musical moment.
Melody Figments
Live performance is at the heart of what we do at MF Dynamics.
In the past, live performance was captured through recording sound and taking video.
These mediums can be great, but with all the new digital tools and ways to share digital art with the world, we asked ourselves, how do we elevate the experience and memory of a live performance?
Motion capture
Imagine you are watching a musician perform live. Imagine how the body moves while performing and how various nuanced gestures make different sounds. Now imagine tracking that motion and feeding the data into a computer program that creates visuals based on that movement, sound, and environment of the performance. Then, imagine those visuals create a 3D web of sonic light. Okay, you can stop imagining and see exactly what this can look like:
This is footage from our first Melody Figments LIVE, held at Roundhead Brewery in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, MA. In a word, it was awesome. Denver Nuckolls opened for Maria, and they painted the brick walls with captivating light. The projections were generated from Maria’s movement as she played in real time. So, each web was and is unique to the location, audience, and emotion of the moment.
Special thanks to ILLUMINUS Boston and Departure Arts for their partnerships to produce the show, and Mad LABS for the collaboration in digital fabrication and CODAMADE for the start-up support. For the technically-inclined, we used Unreal Engine to translate data into visuals.
Own the moment
If you’ve read this far, you’ve braved it beyond the word “blockchain,” and we’re glad. Here is another potentially daunting term: NFT, or non-fungible token. There’s a lot under the hood which we’ll dive into in a later post, but for now, the best way to think about NFTs is as the ultimate merch with a win-win for artists and fans.
The sales from an NFT go directly to whomever the artist chooses. This opens new doors for artist revenue streams, gives artists the ability to donate funds directly to charity, and, because of the underlying technology, artists can make money from secondary sales in perpetuity.
For fans, collecting an NFT by an artist you love can be proof that you attended their show, own a limited edition piece of their work, and generally support them and their future as an artist.
Beginning in March 2023, we released two Melody Figments as NFTs. These are both part of the collection Oscillation to the Edge which is an original piece of music written and recorded by Maria Finkelmeier. The piece is inspired by Maria’s transition into a new artistic medium, as a digital painter motivated to explore her ideas around music preservation and the potential.
Melody Figment No. 001: Oscillation to the Edge of Consciousness belongs in the collection of Wes Hazard, a standup comic, storyteller, actor, and writer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. The piece was minted as a one-of-one, and Wes collected it in a 24-hour auction on CODAMADE:
Melody Figment No. 002: Oscillation to the Edge of Eternity belongs in the collections of 48 people who attended Melody Figments LIVE at Roundhead Brewery. Thanks to partners at Autonomy, each of these collectors experienced a swift and seamless minting experience, free of charge.
Jumping into the digital unknown
As MF Dynamics launches into this new adventure, we prioritize three things:
Curiosity: We ask ourselves what hasn’t been done, what we want to learn, and explore different ways to do both.
Connection: Part of our motivation for dancing between the physical and digital is our desire to connect with more and diverse groups of people. We recognize that some people have access to live performances, others prefer online experiences, but everyone wants to be part of something.
Fun: We are here to have fun with music, art, and all of you. Please don’t be daunted by NFTs, and blockchain. We are on this journey together and we’re going to learn a lot along the way.
Be on the lookout for more performances of Melody Figments LIVE and opportunities for artists to join our studio to explore the potentials of live performance and capturing the moment.
Keep in touch with us on Instagram, Twitter, and email at hello@mfdynamics.com.