Andrea Bonaceto is an Italian contemporary artist. He believes that painting, music and poetry can merge into a new art form. Through NFT, artificial intelligence and programmable art, he is trying to bring the public into his abstract works and iconic portraits. Bonaceto has been part of the blockchain and NFT world since its beginnings. He is one of the founding partners of Eterna Capital, an investment company focused on blockchain technology. In addition, Andrea is co-founder of AoRisT, a next-generation cultural facility. On the launch of his new artwork in London, we had a chat with the artist to understand what connects him to NFT.
How did you start dealing with blockchain, metaverse and NFT?
I got involved within the blockchain space a few years ago mostly investing into early stage blockchain projects. In 2018 together with a group of friends that used to work at Blackrock at the time, I launched Eterna Capital – an investment fund focused on blockchain technology. Simultaneously I was having a parallel life in London as an artist busking around pubs in the Camden Town and experimenting with visual art. When the fine art NFT trend came about in 2020 I felt I had to publicly get involved as a creator.
What led you to start a career as an artist and which have been your main sources of inspiration?
I would say I never started a “career” as an artist. It has all been a very organic and constant introspective process towards trying to be more coherent with my self. This led to deeply exploring several fields including music, poetry and visual art. Death is one of my main sources of inspiration as there are no reasons not to be ourselves once we deeply understand that our time in this world is limited.
On May 16th you will present your new work in London, can you tell us about it?
AB Infinite 1 represents my most ambitious NFT art project to date. The artwork represents an interactive snapshot of my life in the eternal cycle that goes “ab infinite” (Latin for “from infinity”) to the origin, symbolised by the number “1”. As an interactive digital installation AB Infinite 1 invites members of the public to become artists themselves, encouraging viewers to alter the digital artwork through a specially designed AI (Artificial Intelligence).
My purpose-built AI collects viewer interactions online through social media channels and turns these reactions or suggestions into visual responses which then appear as part of AB Infinite 1. This represents a new user-friendly form of AI, which does not require the user to be a software specialist or coder in order to manipulate it.
The piece will be displayed in London, Oxford Circus as part of W1 Curates from the 16th of May. Then the artwork will go on tour in major museums worldwide during the summer. Following the end of the tour, AB Infinite 1 will be auctioned by a major auction house.
A year ago you founded Aorist with Pablo Fraile and Ximena Caminos, how did this project start and how does this work?
I met Pablo in 2020 as we were both involved in the NFT space, myself as an artist and Pablo as a collector. We became good friends and started brainstorming about what was missing in the NFT space and AoRisT came to life quite naturally. We both wanted to elevate the experience and quality of the art we were seeing in the NFT ecosystem.
This led us to create an aspirational cultural institution that would bridge the gap between the NFT space and traditional art. This also includes an easy to use NFT marketplace where the best creators can showcase their works. Ximena brought that fine art component that brought AoRisT to the next level and established the brand as a leading player in the NFT and traditional art space.
Aorist has recently partnered with Algorand, what is this partnership about?
AoRisT is build on the Algorand blockchain, which is currently the greenest and most efficient blockchain out there. This ensures we can mint NFTs in a sustainable way as well as leverage a network of top tier talent.
Could you tell us about your plans for the next future?
I’ll try to continue this process of self discovery that involves creating new art and also help other creators fulfill their vision. I see art as a mean and not an end. I want to be part of a community that thrives on creativity, as I can also thrive in that context as an artist and as a human being. NFTs represent a paradigm shift way beyond art, and I want to be a key part of this paradigm shift which I feel very aligned with my inner values.