"Ultimately, the goal of crypto is not to play games with million-dollar pictures of monkeys, it’s to do things that accomplish meaningful effects in the real world" - Vitalik Buterin



Those being said, the question that remains to be answered is how do we bridge the gap between such ambitious visions and the world we currently live in.

In the real world where Web3 is marketed as a tech democratic revolution and the Metaverse as a place where anyone can be whoever they want to be, ~ 3.6 billion humans still cannot access the internet and connect to the rest of us, while for the ones who can, statistics bring to light strong correlations between increased screen time and feelings of loneliness.

Your avatar in the metaverse could be the most conventionally attractive, fashionable, richest and successful but nonetheless have 0 things in common with your physical person and real self. Is this really empowering? Or is this whole “metaverse” thing some sort of losers’ wet dream?  

Most of the “innovations” in the space bring about 100s of new ways in which brands that pray on our insecurities could sell more with less effort, luxury labels are FOMO-ing to open up stores in video games (is it really a coincidence that Metajuku is seen as the equivalent of Harrod's?) and NFTs have failed so far to “empower” anyone but trolls.

Cute, isn’t it?

All of the emerging trends and developments in this space rather point out to the sad reality that the Metaverse might become just a sad representation of the class issues we currently have, being an unequal, uninclusive and divisive space lacking representation of all people and genuine concern for solving any real issues.

Now let’s take a look at what we can do to make this metaverse space “liveable”.

Our role ultimately is to provide art with meaning, regardless of what technologies are trending. This project is adopting a blend between an aesthetic that preserves these ugly truths, transforming them in surrealist - phantasmagorical expressions, in order to advocate for real life resolutions. Each collection features an overarching theme, rooted in the above mentioned issues. 

The STEM and Fashion collections are still in development.

Fashion digital items from this section are conceptualised and technically constructed in a way to actually be 3D printable. However those will get minted on ethereum blockchain, offering the possibility to be deployed in metaverses.

STEM collection materials will be realised in a partnership with a PhD student who tried to hit on me but because I am so work obsessed, I kinda coerced him to do this together huh. At least he can get work dates from me 👀

The 3D works are created in VR, with Tilt Brush and Gravity Sketch. The rest of the pieces are hand painted by me in Studio Clip. The pieces are stored on Storj DCS.

Some collections or pieces will be minted as ERC-721 tokens (launched on Ethereum) while others will be on Solana. This depends on the features of each digital asset.

Ethereum was chosen due to the universal token standards and due to the ability to facilitate interoperability of NFTs among different ecosystems. Solana was preferred as the more environmentally friendly solution and for the fast transactions speed.

The name is inspired and brings homage to Indian (Vedic) astrology and culture: nakshatras (lunar mansions) as well as Hindu deity – Vayu (the god of the wind, life sustaining breath).  The Swati nakshatra’s lord is Rahu (moon’s north node) and it has a movable quality. In vedic astrology, the Swati constellation is a symbol for the dream’s world, independent thinking, philanthropy and humanism, hidden universe.