Welcome to the Spatial Internet 🖥 🌸

Hey fam! Happy Tuesday and a belated happy Juneteenth! This year, we saw how blockchain and web3 creates new ways for communities to organize and take ownership of their futures. As Black communities in the U.S. are getting more involved in the tech space, this year’s Juneteenth has us thinking about all the ways that we’ll see blockchain technology empower underserved communities. 

This is also a special newsletter as we want to shine a spotlight on a company leading the charge in the spatial internet, a new technology changing the way we interact online. They’re all about supporting artists who are paving the way for this new tech, and they've got a special lineup of insanely talented Black artists we're excited to showcase in this newsletter. 

What company is it? Read this newsletter to find out - let’s get into it. 

So, what exactly is the spatial internet?

The spatial internet merges the virtual and physical worlds, creating an immersive and interconnected digital environment. It goes beyond traditional web browsing and introduces technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and spatial computing. 

When you think of a spatial web, you should think of a heightened level of interactivity. Instead of passively observing content on a screen, users become active participants within a dynamic three-dimensional landscape in a more immersive and dynamic way. Instead of being confined to flat screens, the spatial internet allows for an experience that engages multiple senses, making it more lifelike and engaging. 

What does the future of the spatial internet look like?

It’s no secret that after Apple launched Vision Pro a few weeks back (read about it here), even though buying it is outside of most of our budgets right now, the spatial internet is the future of internet technology. And as spatial internet technology like the Vision Pro gains mass acceptance and adoption, we can expect significant transformations in various aspects of our lives. We’re basically opening ourselves to a whole bunch of new possibilities for collaboration, communication, and productivity. From immersive virtual meetings and personalized shopping experiences to interactive educational environments, the spatial internet has the potential to reshape our everyday interactions and empower people like us and communities we love in unprecedented ways.

But more importantly, by embracing the spatial internet, we can shape a web3 that celebrates inclusivity, creativity, and empowerment, where culture and technology converge to create a more immersive and interconnected digital landscape.

Introducing Wildxyz, a company at the forefront of creativity in the spatial internet 🌸

When we think about companies that are pushing the bounds of human capabilities by using blockchain technology, we think of companies like Wild. Founded by Douglass Kobs, former CEO and Founder of Apartment List, the company believes that the future of the internet is spatial and they’re deeply dedicated to supporting the artists who will shape it. In a recent Coindesk feature announcing their $7M Seed round, Kobs shares “What we're building at Wild is a collection of some of the most creative humans on planet earth who are building this new surface area of experiential art that we can all play with, interact with, engage with and build community within.”

Of course, at the core of what they’re doing is building a more creative and interesting way to experience art, but one thing that drew our attention to them is their dedication to supporting Black digital artists to create magic in web3. Don’t believe us? Check their artists out for yourself: 

Meet Nygilia. 

Nygilia is a UK-based experimental artist who creates abstract art inspired by fantasy, gaming, and Afro-Caribbean worlds. She makes mixed media portraiture which fuses digital painting, 3D modeling, and generative image-making. Her newest collection, KIEYA, “is a collection of animated island spirits that are revived through the exchange of life. Employing generative artificial intelligence techniques, the collection tells an otherworldly science-fiction narrative extrapolating on a future techno-utopia.” 

It drops this Thursday, 6/22, exclusively on Wild. And what’s even better is that as a bonus to being part of the Web3 for the Culture fam, Wild is giving you the chance to join the allowlist (think about this as early access to ensure you don’t miss out) for this drop if you’d like to support and buy a piece!

Meet Aluna.

As a Wales-born, London-raised, LA-based DJ, singer-songwriter, and world builder, Aluna is breaking down boundaries in the dance music industry and reclaiming space for Black artists. Her collection, Death Before the Bloom, “is a collection of 111 unique snapshots of an evolving palace from my imagination. With each mint, fans collect a snapshot of a unique rendition of this immersive experience, and are invited to follow along as their particular space evolves to either match their snapshot or reveal alternative phases of this developing environment.” A few of her pieces are still available to collect, so check them out here!

Meet Yinkore.

She’s a self-taught Nigeria-based artist exploring the intersectionality of multiple minority statuses through color, texture, and digital paint. Her collection, As Above, So Below, is a bold and powerful tapestry of 100 unique pieces, each portraying Black women in a vibrant array of environments and detailed clothing, deeply inspired by Yinkore's own lived experiences as a Nigerian woman. The collection dropped (and sold out!) exclusively on Wild this past March.

Meet Andre O’Shea.

An Atlanta-based 3D artist, animator, and world builder, Andre has produced work in collaboration with Adult Swim, The Grammys, The Oscars, and John Legend, just to name a few. His collection, Index Grids, “explores the symbiotic, sometimes uneasy, and ultimately inextricably-linked relationship between the artwork, the artist, and the art market, a complex relationship that is only amplified by Web3 and its blockchain particularities. Each of the 113 tokens in 'Index Grids' will evolve between four phases each time the token is transferred to a new owner. With this gesture, Oshea explores the potential of how the market affects artists’ output.” The collection dropped exclusively on Wild this past May, and also sold out!

Aren’t all of the artists incredible? It really makes our hearts happy to see Black creatives reaching the success they deserve through platforms like Wild because we know that artists, specifically Black artists, aren’t always recognized for their contributions to society if they don’t already have a major platform–and sometimes even when they do. With platforms powered by blockchain technology, artists like Nygilia, Yinkore, Andre O’shea, and Aluna have more agency and financial control over their work and therefore their success. And with the power of the spatial internet, their work will come alive like never before.

In order to keep building a platform that supports artists like our faves above, Wild is looking to connect 1:1 with our subscribers (AKA you!) for a short informational interview! If you’re interested in speaking with them and sharing more about your interest (or even curiosity) in digital art, reply directly to this email and we’ll get you connected. In the meantime, we hope you all have a great week and are inspired by the creative world being built around us. 

NOTE: This week’s post was created in partnership with Wild. If you or your company are interested in partnering with us to share dope web3 trends, opportunities, or insights with our community, hit us up!