What can we understand from the works of top crypto artist Pak?

Author: 0xEliven

Pak, as a pioneering artist entering the crypto world, has created legendary works over the past two years, gradually ascending to the pantheon of crypto art. He is the first crypto artist whose total NFT sales surpassed one million dollars, and today his total sales have ++reached $355 million++.

He is the creator of the record for the most expensive NFT artwork, with his creation The Merge being purchased by over 20,000 buyers for a total price of $91.8 million, which is also the highest price for an artwork sold at public auction by a living artist.

Who is Pak? This genius standing at the pinnacle of the crypto art world has no known real name, appearance, or even gender. What is known is that he is the founder of Undream Studio and the chief designer of the AI curation project Archillect, having engaged in digital art creation for over 25 years, collaborating with hundreds of major brands and studios.

Some praise Pak as the Satoshi Nakamoto of the NFT world, but unlike Satoshi, he has never stepped away from the pioneering movement of crypto art experimentation. From the release of "X" in August 2020 to the recently renowned "Censored," Pak has remained active at the forefront of crypto art.

We have sorted through Pak's NFT creation journey, attempting to discern the similar elements behind these unique crypto art pieces while appreciating them: openness, homogenization, performance art. Do these elements indicate a direction for the development of digital art? Art has no standards; there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes. The answer can be found in the works below.

"X": A Pioneering Experiment in Open Editions

Unlimited minting seems to contradict the classic law of "scarcity determines value."

++X++ made a bold attempt. Released in August 2020 on the NFT trading platform Nifty Gateway, it is a collection of 15 NFT works, of which 13 open editions were sold in unlimited quantities during a 24-hour window, ultimately selling 61 pieces. The other 2 NFTs are limited auction editions, existing in unique versions.

Limited auction editions The Void and The Touch

Two pieces from the open edition: The Force and The Divide

X first introduced the concept of open editions in the NFT world, allowing collectors to purchase NFTs in unlimited quantities within a specified time frame. The fewer copies a collector buys, the rarer that NFT copy becomes, with this model dynamically defining the initial value of the NFT based on demand. X also offered 2 limited edition NFTs sold through a bidding auction mechanism. This "open edition + limited edition" model runs through a series of Pak's works and is frequently applied in his subsequent pieces.

The Title: The Value of Titles?

The same artwork, different values.

Released in January 2021, ++The Title++ sold visually identical NFT works at different prices, distinguished by their different titles and edition sizes.

For example, The Cheap is priced at $499, containing 192 copies; while The Expensive is priced at $10,000, containing 8 copies. The Cheap and The Expensive not only look the same, but they also point to the same storage file.

The Cheap and The Expensive

In this series, Pak attempts to think about and explore the core value of artworks. Why are collectors willing to pay completely different prices for these identical artworks, all of which are "originals"?

Moreover, they share the same storage file; who should own this file? Pak is also challenging the concept of NFT ownership.

The Fungible: Homogenized Non-Fungible Tokens

Using the same elements to build different NFTs.

++The Fungible++ is a work released by Pak in collaboration with the world-renowned auction house Sotheby's on Nifty Gateway. The Fungible, translated as "homogenized," is the opposite of NFTs, consisting of open edition small squares.

Unlike the previous X, The Fungible introduces a merging mechanism, where when the number of squares reaches 5, 10, 20, etc., they automatically merge into a larger square, with a maximum size of 1000 x 1000 squares. A total of 23,598 small squares were sold at public auction, ultimately creating 6,156 NFTs with greater scarcity through the merging mechanism.

Single square and five squares

The limited edition items The Switch and The Pixel, auctioned simultaneously, each exceeded $1 million, with total auction revenue approaching $17 million. This series also includes free limited edition NFTs, such as The Cube, which is limited to one piece and given to the collector who purchases the most cubes; and Complexity, limited to 100 pieces, given to the 100 users who purchase the most open edition small squares.

Like a building block game, identical components can be combined into different NFT works. Through the theme of Fungible, Pak suggests that homogeneity and non-homogeneity are not entirely opposed but can transform into one another. The merging mechanism also provides new ideas for NFT art creation.

LOSTPOETS: A Renaissance-style Strategy Game

NFT creativity is not solely determined by the creator; collectors can also write the story within it.

++LOSTPOETS++ is an NFT strategy game with a literary story background, where a group of sleeping poets slowly awaken, and their stories are written by collectors.

LOSTPOETS is divided into three phases. In the first phase, NFT distribution has been completed. LOSTPOETS includes 65,536 blank paper NFTs and 1,024 initial poet NFTs. The blank paper NFTs are distributed through public sales and airdrops to ASH (the token issued by Pak) holders, while the initial poet NFTs reward 294 to the first 100 holders of the blank paper NFTs, with the remaining 730 randomly airdropped to 2 blank paper NFT collectors each day over the next 365 days.

Currently in the second phase, blank paper NFTs can be converted into poet NFTs without names or verses. Each poet is one of the 1,024 initial poet NFTs, carrying 256 different genetic traits that give them personality, value, and meaning. This phase will also complete the distribution of initial poets (initial poets can name themselves and write poems).

In the third phase of the game, blank paper NFTs can be used to name and write poems for poet NFTs. Collectors who retain both blank paper NFTs and poet NFTs from the second phase can destroy their blank paper NFTs to name the poets and write their own stories.

Collectors who convert all their blank paper NFTs into poet NFTs in the second phase will only have silent poets. Pak leaves collectors with a question: Do you want a group of silent poets or a poet who can write verses?

The Merge: A Public Performance Art

Art is for the few, but also for the many.

++The Merge++ was released on the Nifty Gateway platform in December 2021, attracting over 28,000 collectors, with a total auction value of $91.8 million, making Pak the most expensive living artist in the world.

The Merge continues the auction model of open editions, allowing anyone to purchase any number of masses during the auction period, with the price of these masses gradually increasing from $299 to $575 over time.

The Merge also introduces a merging mechanism, where each wallet can only hold small spheres. When a second sphere is purchased, the two spheres merge into one, changing color and volume. "Mergers" will continuously occur with secondary market transactions, and the number of spheres will decrease.

Through a series of interactions among collectors, the overall appearance of the work will continuously change. The Merge is no longer just an image or a game; it is public performance art written in smart contracts on the blockchain, with the final presentation of this artwork determined by each participant involved.

Censored: A Freedom Song to Rescue Assange

It is also a public art experiment, but sung for freedom of speech.

Censored is an NFT work released to advocate for freedom of speech and raise funds for the defense of Assange, who is imprisoned. Earlier this year, the controversial AssangeDAO raised 17,000 ETH, participating in the auction of Censored's limited edition NFT "Clock," which ultimately sold for 16,593 ETH.

Clock records the days Assange has spent in prison

Censored consists of two parts, with the limited edition ++Clock++ being the core of the entire series. It is a dynamic work, with the main part being English numerals that increase every 24 hours, recording the time Assange has spent in prison. The second part is ++open edition "X/X"++, which is also a form of public performance art, allowing anyone to input any characters (limited to 72 characters, only supporting letters and spaces) to generate their own work.

Interestingly, the content entered by the creator will be crossed out, perfectly fitting the theme of "censorship." Each address is limited to minting one piece, which can be minted for free or at any price. Currently, about 26,000 X/X have been minted, and these NFTs are locked in wallets after minting, unable to be transferred or traded. These unfree NFTs can only be freely traded when Assange is released, symbolizing that the crossed-out line of censorship will be removed.

Remember Pak's Works, Not Pak Himself

At this point, we have appreciated Pak's most representative NFT works. Some may scoff, saying, "What? This is called art? It has no aesthetic appeal."

Indeed, Pak's works do not possess the visual impact found in the works of top digital artist Beeple; they often feature repetitive and monotonous elements, much like Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup cans. But does that mean it is not art? Does it have no value? This question is certainly subjective, but the market has recognized it, and Pak has become the most valuable living artist.

Returning to the distinct elements of Pak's works: openness, homogenization, performance art. We do not know if this represents an evolutionary direction for future art, but when we one day see monotonous and repetitive digital elements transforming into complex artworks, we will think of Pak.

Having read this, does the initial question, "Who is Pak?" still matter? As Pak said, "I hope what people focus on is not me, but my works."