Art Week Dubai
Fakewhale pavilion
Dubai, UAE
During Art Dubai week, the Digital pavilion of the fair at Madinat Jumeirah hosted booth X13, shared by Fakewhale and objkt.one. Objkt.one, a platform for one-of-one artworks on the Tezos blockchain linked to the marketplace objkt.com, chose the fair's opening day for its debut, and Fakewhale, a collective of artists, collectors and entrepreneurs, curated the launch with the support of Valuart. Before Dubai the selection had been previewed at Valuart's gallery in Lugano. The published line-up of the debut drop included Kevin Abosch, Jesse Draxler, Max Papeschi, Lorna Mills, neurocolor, Qubibi and the Acid Camels collective.
Federico Clapis appears in the presentation with a work shown on one of the booth's large square screens, set into a black wall under the Fakewhale and objkt one logos. The image on screen is a gallery room with white walls and a skylight, where a grey faceted volume, like an oversized box, rests at an angle on a bare tree trunk with spreading roots. The contrast between the geometric, manufactured form and the organic base recalls the themes he was exploring at the time, between natural and artificial matter, through digital images of sculptures that exist only on screen.
The booth belonged to the wave of crypto art projects that used Art Dubai's Digital section to reach collectors in the Gulf, at the meeting point between a traditional fair and blockchain platforms. For Clapis, who had moved from bronze and resin sculpture to digital works, it was a further appearance in Dubai within the circle of Tezos curators and collectors.