One year ago, I wrote an article about 3D sculptures in the metaverse and how I considered them “the new frontier of digital art.” One year later and nothing much has changed on that front. From where I’m standing, one of the most exciting elements we can discuss regarding the metaverse is its limitless potential. Anything is possible—beyond the confines of reality. This is the case from a novelty perspective, such as the ability to levitate or fly, but also from a point of practicality. If an artist wanted to create a 50-meter-tall sculpture of a human figure out of solid marble, in physical form, this would prove prohibitively expensive. However, in the metaverse, anything is possible. Whether creators have a background in physical sculpture or come from a digital background, 3D sculptures in the metaverse unlock a new realm of creative potential.
And it has certainly been the case for these artists—from gaming experiences to sculptural fashion art, the future of 3D innovation in virtual spaces are explored below.
Narcissus Gallery (Decentraland)
Narcissus Gallery is a collaboration project between @AkiraReloaded and @Ioannis_AG via his project entitled “M0NA” (Museum Of NFT Art) representing their combined extensive NFT collections of over 2000 pieces. Their gallery space in Decentraland, situated in the 100x Arts District, boasts an impressive art collection with its crown jewel being a swimming whale sculpture, pictured above, designed and executed by Metaverse Builders. This moving sculpture almost outshines the hundreds of rare pieces of crypto art it’s surrounded by.
Hack the Tao by Hackatao (The Sandbox)
‘Hack the Tao’ is the first art game experience designed by Hackatao for The Sandbox Game. Hackatao’s art combines formal aesthetics with the symbolism of the ancestral self. The land design is also an homage to Jung’s archetypes of the collective unconscious: each level of the game represents a phase in life and is built within sections of a golden spiral. This game acts as a new-age immersive metaverse art installation, which takes the gamification of Hackatao’s practice to a whole new level.
The Meeting Place (Spatial)
Lyon-based French artist Cyril Lancelin partnered with creative director Benny Or to bring to life the world’s first interactive environment NFT. Readymade and interoperable, The Meeting Place is a proposition for what the metaverse can become. The space is first and foremost art, and although intangible, brings to life real-world connections, serving as the backdrop of reunions, spontaneous encounters and breakthrough moments. This piece is a great example of how sculptures can be scaled up to massive sizes and used as immersive spaces in the metaverse.
The Fabricant x Toni Maticevski — Sculptural Fashion-Art
Digital fashion house The Fabricant and designer Toni Maticevski have created the Animator Overcoat, a piece of unisex virtual haute couture that is decorated with claw-like spikes. The garment was available for visitors to virtually try on at Australian Fashion Week, where they were digitally dressed by the team from DressX. It goes beyond the traditional confines of “wearablility,” making it more of a sculptural piece of art. According to Amber Jae Slooten, co-founder and creative director of The Fabricant: “It’s very much inspired by this idea of hostility and the fact that the digital space often looks quite hostile. We were thinking about how the experience contrasts with this, and we really love that.”
Hermine Bourdin: Where Sculpture Meets Dance
Traditional French sculpturess Hermine Bourdin uses “digital art as a new material of exploration and creation.” According to Bourdin, she finds it “very liberating to defy physical universe laws through digital works where terrestrial gravity isn’t a constraint.” Bourdin creates pieces for Metaverses enabling her to play between static and kinetic, material and inmaterial, different colours, shapes, textures and scales. In addition to experimenting with 3D motion graphics, Bourdin recently decided to create her own virtual world. In virtual space, Bourdin can create sculptures in bigger sizes and in motion. See how Hermine Bourdin is taking her traditional sculptural practice to a new level, through technology, in the video below:
