AKNEYE, a visionary in the fusion of traditional art and digital innovation, is pleased to announce its presence in Venice during the highly anticipated 60th Venice Biennale, where it will unveil the AKNEYE Phygital Space by ftNFT. This installation, situated adjacent to the Arsenale venue on Ramo de la Tana, offers a selection of AKNEYE’s ever-growing collection of non-fungible token (NFT) artworks that bridge the gap between physical and digital art.
AKNEYE aims to harmonize the tangible aspects of traditional sculpture with the virtual dimensions of NFTs by creating a novel platform for artistic exploration and collaboration. Artists from Armenia and around the world have crafted original artworks on eye-shaped wood or resin sculptures. These forms serve as the raw canvas upon which the artists, typically employing traditional methods such as paint or mixed media, realize their creations.
AKNEYE
These sculptures are then scanned in painstaking detail and rendered digitally, essentially creating a digital twin of the physical version. This virtual proxy is then displayed as an NFT artwork in AKNEYE’s digital gallery hosted on Fastexverse, a navigable, 3D metaverse platform that enables users to participate in events, engage in commerce, and interact with other users in an immersive digital environment.
In Venice, the AKNEYE Phygital Space installation brings the relationship between tangible and digital art full circle by creating a real-life environment for viewers to interact with the art. The Venice site, established in partnership with Fastex’s NFT marketplace ftNFT, joins a growing roster of ftNFT Phygital Spaces in Dubai and Yerevan, Armenia, which also serve as outlets to purchase artworks.
AKNEYE
“The Phygital Space is not just any digital space; it is a vision of the future of art, where boundaries are blurred and new connections are formed between the artist, the observer, and the medium,” says Vigen Badalyan, founder of AKNEYE.
The exhibition, curated by Anastasia Dawson, features digital representations of the AKNEYE sculptures on LED screens alongside their tactile counterparts, symbolizing the fusion of conventional art methodologies and contemporary technological advancements. Throughout the duration of the Biennale, visitors will have the opportunity to observe both Armenian and international artists create physical pieces of art on-site, which will subsequently be transformed into NFTs.
AKNEYE
“AKNEYE by ftNFT is a testament to the power of collaboration across cultures and disciplines,” Dawson notes. “It embodies our mission to innovate within the art world while respecting traditional idioms.”
In devising a medium that both embraces and transcends physical space, AKNEYE has created a vehicle for artists from diverse backgrounds to create experiences that engage, educate, and inspire and share them with an international audience. The featured artists at the AKNEYE Phygital Space are:
● Raffi Yedalian
● Elene Metreveli
● Sarko Menee
● Natalia Gudovich
● Stephany Sanossian
● Mako Lomadze
● Anahit Margaryan
● Roman Reznitsky
● Alpha Odh
● Satenik Ghulijanyan
● Larry Amponsah
● Lusine Ginosyan
● Anna Chekh
● Ashot Yan
● Miroslava Romanova
● Ellen Demirian
● Lokher
● Edmon Harikyan
● Gareggin Harutyunyan
● Rafayel Nersesyan
AKNEYE
Visitors to the Venice Biennale are invited to the AKNEYE Phygital Space to engage with a new realm of creativity, and in doing so, engage with a community of artists crossing the boundaries of the cultural divide and artistic medium. For more information, visit AKNEYE’s website and follow AKNEYE on Instagram.
ftNFT Phygital Space
Ramo de la Tana, 2124a, Venice, Italy
April 20–Sept. 30 (11 a.m.–8 p.m.)
Oct. 1–Nov. 24 (10 a.m.–6 p.m.)
