NorCal and Shill
A podcast where NFT artists tell stories, hosted by NorCal Guy. https://twitter.com/GuyNorcal
https://twitter.com/norcalandshill
NorCal and Shill
Exploring NFTs with Chikai: From Digital Art to Community Connections - Throwback
Imagine stepping into the world of digital art and NFTs with someone who has significantly shaped our digital landscape. Meet Chikai, the visionary mind behind Monolith Gallery, Circle of Friends, Postino, and Bluebeard AI. As a co-creator of Google Earth, Chikai shares his initial surprise and curiosity about NFTs, which later evolved into a profound appreciation for this burgeoning digital art market. Alongside this digital journey, we explore his love for San Francisco, his dreams of living in New York and Japan, and a charming family tale about his kids' eagerness to visit the Godzilla Museum in Japan.
Take a nostalgic trip with us as we blend the love of collecting comic books with the excitement and challenges of the Web3 space. Chikai and I discuss the deep community bonds formed within this digital realm, even amid market fluctuations. We delve into the complexities surrounding NFT royalties and provenance, highlighting the urgency for consistent standards to uphold trust and sustainability. As we reminisce about cherished childhood toys, concerns about the shifting practices across platforms emerge, underscoring the need for clarity and stability in this dynamic landscape.
Feel the energy of passionate environmental efforts as we draw parallels between Christine and Doug Tompkins' conservation projects and the pioneering spirit within the NFT community. Inspired by their story, we emphasize the value of in-person connections in the crypto art world and share aspirations for fostering global micro-events that strengthen our collective spirit. Join us in celebrating memorable NFT collaborations and dream partnerships, while reflecting on the balance between ambitious projects and family life. Chikai and I express our gratitude for the community's unwavering support, which continues to fuel our enthusiasm for future collaborations and opportunities.
Who is this? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Who is this? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy. Norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal and chill podcast Show it's chill time.
Speaker 2:Norcal and chill podcast what the sh-. What the sh-? Norcal and Shill Podcast.
Speaker 1:So it's shill time. Norcal and Shill Podcast. What the sh-. What the sh-? Welcome to this next NorCal and Shill Collector's Vault. Today we have Shikai. Shikai is the founder of Monolith Gallery and the creator of Circle of Friends. He is also the director of Web3 for Niantic Labs and the co-creator of Google Earth. Everybody, please, welcome Shukai. Hey Shukai, welcome to this podcast. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:Good, it's great to be here on uh on the, this podcast I've been listening to for I don't know how long, for how long you've been doing it for over a year over a year it's been like, yeah, it'll be two years in september two years. That's amazing. I know I know how many you've done, but I love this podcast. This is an awesome podcast, so it's totally a huge honor to be on. Yeah it's.
Speaker 1:It's awesome. I'm so happy I finally have a collector version of it and I get to talk to you know, people that I admire and and trust in the space, so it's fun yeah, it's a.
Speaker 2:I get to talk to you like in a podcast I'm gonna talk to you a lot, so it's I guess it's not that much different, but it's it's fun to talk to you.
Speaker 1:Everybody loves talking to you it's a well thanks, thanks, always a good time, I mean. Yeah, I mean I guess is more question focused, we'll get some answers. See what your thoughts are on some things. Yeah, good, what were your first thoughts when you heard about inepti?
Speaker 2:um, I think with as people answer this question, it's been the same react. Which is what the fuck is this? Because, like, it's like, I mean, I think I've heard about it from some friends and on twitter and stuff, and then I looked at it and and the one that I remember the most I talk about often is I saw nyan cat, which is this popular gift that has been around or video forever, with the music and everything, and it sold for like over a half million dollars. I was like what is going on? Like what is this? Why is this this way? And so a lot of it was just a complete bewilderment, uh, and trying to then understand it. Um, so little did I know I'd be sucked in and be one of those people buying a nine cat, maybe not for half a million dollars, but like buying jpegs, right?
Speaker 1:right now, I feel you on that one because I mean it does for mean definitely for a generation like my, our generation. Um, it's definitely cause we are like on that edge of like we didn't, we weren't born with tech, but it came in later in our lives and uh, so it definitely is more of a getting used to or adopting something new getting used to or adopting something new.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. Uh, it was definitely very new and it was very uh, it took some time to get it. I think for most people, either you get it or you don't. It's pretty binary and something happens that make you think, oh, I get it now. Um, and I think I didn't really start getting it until after I started buying NFTs and actually getting into it, and then at some point it clicked and then all my time and energy and money were going toward NFTs.
Speaker 1:Right, right. I feel you on that one. If you could live or move anywhere, where would you live and why?
Speaker 2:So I'm pretty happy where I am right now in San Francisco, in the Bay Area, which I love. But the one place that I think would be interesting and be fun to live for some period of time not forever but for some period of time is New York, because I spent more time in New York recently because of all my NFT stuff and different events going on, and it is such an iconic city with so many things there to offer that every time I go I just go there for, you know, nft, nyc or meetings, whatever, but not get much time to sort of sit with the city, which seems to have so much to offer. And so we love to sort of get that vibe and sort of that feeling in new york, um, through all the seasons, um, and so that's the one place that has come to mind, um, but the other place maybe japan. Since my, my family is all japan, it's great to spend time there and have my kids um sort of uh, get a sense of the place, because I think it's a pretty special place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, yeah. I've only been to New York a couple times and have yet to do any of the tourist stuff there and Japan's definitely on my list, I'd love to go there someday, one day, one day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I would love to go there. Hopefully we'll go there next. We'll still go soon. I think my kids are are begging to go. But my son wants to go because he wants to go to the godzilla museum. Oh, awesome, forget like all the tourist stuff and all the famous things. He wants to go to the godzilla museum. That's why we're going to japan.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. That's awesome. I mean, I think your kids are old enough. Like they, it going to be good memories for them and that's great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they'll remember it. I think they'll definitely remember it for sure.
Speaker 1:What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Speaker 2:I have this friend who I met at the very beginning of my career in Silicon Valley a long, long time ago he unfortunately passed away a couple years a guy named Michael T Jones, an incredible guy, one of the smartest guys I've ever met.
Speaker 2:I think I was pretty young when he said this, because I met him as an intern at in Silicon Valley a long time ago and later on he was telling me about stuff, and one thing that stuck in my head is that you know, you hear about going to the moon, like when the man first went to the moon, and you hear about Neil Armstrong as the first man on the moon.
Speaker 2:But when you go for something that big like going to the moon, it's not just one person who says I'm going to go to the moon, you go to the moon, it's a whole team of people that allows you to accomplish something that big. And so if you have these really big, big goals, you can't do it by yourself. You have to work with the people and work with the team and lead a team. And so it just reminded me that, especially when I was younger, you know you've got to do everything yourself and you can sort of be independent and you like the independence. But if you really want to do something really game-changing, you have to work with other people and convince other people that this is a mission worthy of going after. And so the idea that you know it takes a team, it takes a whole organization to get to the moon, it's not just one person.
Speaker 1:No, I like that a lot. Yeah, you can start off with an idea, but you've got to sell it and get a team around you to help everyone succeed and make that happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you can't just do it yourself. You can't build that rocket and launch yourself into this outer space and then have the command control center to make sure you're going the right direction, or whatever, just like. It's amazing how much goes into it, and that's true of a lot of things in our space also, but it is when you think about something that big, it does take a a pretty a group of people, not just one person, for sure, for sure did you collect art or anything else before nfts?
Speaker 2:um, I did not collect art. My wife more did. We collected me together but she's the head curation uh curator in our house, so everything has to go through her curational review before it goes on our walls, um, but uh, so mainly through her. Uh, but I was thinking like, did I ever collect things as a kid? And the one thing I did collect was comic books. Uh, and my sister recently sent me a whole box of my old comic books and I need to sort through them. Uh, but I have a whole bunch of comic books I was really into, like x-men and new mutants and a whole bunch of different series uh, which, uh, I didn't really collect them necessarily intentionally, but just sort of happened. Yeah, um, because I enjoyed the series and and I make sure I kept them in, like these plastic sleeves and stuff, so they're hopefully fairly well preserved dude, that's awesome, that's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2:You're gonna have to like get a wall in your office and be like sorry, these are all for my comics yeah and put into like I don't know uv protected frames or something, uh, but they're pretty cool like, and I debate, like you know I guess I could sell them, but I mean I'm not sure how much I would get for them these days or whatever. But like just the value of it from my childhood and just the memories I think is is huge yeah, so that's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's so cool that you just happened to like. Your sister was like hey, I got these, here you go yeah, she was cleaning out my parents house.
Speaker 2:She also sent me my um millennium falcon, my original millennium falcon from the I guess from the 70s or whatever it was. Uh and uh, I have that too. I need to clean it up and stuff right, but it's the original million falcon toy back from the day oh dang, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's really good inside of it wasn't just star wars figures but it was also tron figures. So when tron first came out, they had, yeah, figures, and I think I still have one of the light cycles and everything which you can actually have a little zip thing where you make it go, and so I have that. It's in there, and so it's cool to see that, because they didn't know what Star Wars was versus Tron, so it just got stuck into one sort of package.
Speaker 1:So there's all these other things. Wow, that's really cool. That's really cool. What are the best things about Web3 today and what are your concerns as it expands?
Speaker 2:The best thing about Web3, which I think most people would agree with is the people. I mean, that is the reason why I'm here. I may have come for the art and come for the spectacle or whatever it was that made my head spin around, but what made me stay was the people people like you, people like you know, all the artists we know and other collectors and people in the community. It really is a good group of people. I mean, that's also why I'm so bullish about it long term, because of the people. But that is what I'm most excited and just so happy about. And FTMRC last week definitely brought that home in a big way, and every year, for me at least, it's been even more and more solidified. You would think on a bear market year it would feel worse and a little more dead, but for me it was even more vibrant than last year for my core community. I think the space is tough for sure. Um, there's a lot of tough things going on and some really sort of crazy stuff going on, but like um, but the core group has just gotten stronger, I think, um, and that that's why I'm staying. Um, so, but uh, to the other half of your question about what am I concerned about long term?
Speaker 2:I think that the two thoughts, well, the one main thought is I think a lot of the things that we take for granted within the NFT space are not necessarily a given truth. And the two things that come to mind is one is royalties. We always assumed that royalties would be there and it was a given. It was a truth and it's why we came in, but as we realized recently with Blur and everything else, it could easily be taken away. It's not a guarantee and you could see that a couple of years ago. I mean, that was the case fundamentally from a technical standpoint, but everything where everything was traded was respecting royalties and as soon as someone didn't and they were doing well and stealing market share it it sort of eroded very quickly.
Speaker 2:Um and so. And the other one? I'd say that I think people taking for granted which I think is not a given and we need to do a lot more work to so truly do a good job of doing well and making sure it actually is something that will hold on long, long into the future is provenance. Provenance is something that we took for granted. I think in the space that it's a given for NFTs, but I don't think that's the case. I do think that there are ways that people have done contracts or minting or whatever, where it's a blurrier um sort of uh provenance, and each platform is actually recording providence and reading provenance in different ways, and so it's not consistent across platforms either.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, I didn't realize that I did rise, wasn't like a standard way, you know, in a sense, nice yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:A simple example is like with monolith gallery. When, when a you know an artist mints a piece in monolith gallery on the super space, you know, when you go to the site on super, you'll see their name and as the one that created it and they get credit for it. But if you look at that same nft on foundation or even open c, the creator is monolith gallery because it credits to the contract creator, not to the first mint, um, and then the first mint is a tricky one because if you do a claim, drop of like additions, the first mint is done by the collector, it's not done by the artist, and so you have to go back to the contract. But you have shared contracts, then that's not the case either, and you know, if you back to the contract but you have shared contracts, then that's not the case either. Right, and you know, if you talk to super oh, we did it right, it's written on the blockchain this way. Talk to foundation no, they did it wrong.
Speaker 2:So it's like it's a really, and I'm not sure who's really right or wrong, but all I care about is consistency is like I just want everybody to do the same thing, right, uh, but they're not, and so I think there's a lot of work to make sure. I just want everybody to do the same thing, but they're not, and so I think there's a lot of work to make sure we just take a very closer look at it and make sure it's preserved, because that's what's going to create value long term is that you can trace it back and say, yes, this truly is a Ruin Woo or an X copy or whatever it's going to be, because you see the provenance and it's clearly written on chain, right, right, no, I think provenance and it's clearly written on on chain, right, right.
Speaker 1:No, I think provenance is a huge thing, you know, always being tied back to that artist's wallet somehow. That's yeah that you can find. Uh, where do you see the digital art and nfts in five years and nfts in five?
Speaker 2:years. That one is a hard question because I don't know what. Like five years ago, nfts didn't exist. Uh, right, really, I mean it just started to exist, uh, and so and so much has changed in five years. Uh, and I'll separate digital art from nft. Okay, I think digital art is here to stay. It'll still be here, it will be growing. People will be adopting it.
Speaker 2:I do think the idea of a digital property and digital ownership is definitely kicked off, and the best place at the current moment is the blockchain to record that. Nfts may evolve and become something more, but I think that concept of digital ownership and digital property I have more, but I think that concept of digital ownership and digital property, I have a pretty good feeling that that concept is here to stay and so I think that will persist. I mean, there's a lot of investment going into it. There's a lot of artists who have developed their careers on it, and I think there may be a lull at the moment, but I think long-term it will be something of huge value, and so in five years I still see that be consistent I could definitely see in five years that the technology may have evolved in some other name or some other sort of new standard or something in order to sort of have it grow and be able to expand and have a stronger, more robust contract.
Speaker 2:Or maybe it's a different chain. It's not totally impossible. I think it's a different chain. I that could also. It's not totally impossible. I think it's improbable that it'll be not ether bitcoin, maybe it'll be all bitcoin ordinals, I don't know, but like uh, but like it will be something that uh will persist. The technology may be different, but I I hope I hope I'm still around, I hope I I'm still doing this because that's what I want. I mean, that's all I really care about is like I just don't want to stop having fun. Whatever I can do to keep the fun going where I'm still involved supporting artists, you know, having the community grow, everybody's able to sustainably be in here versus just bleeding money. I hope that happens. I hope we all do well overall, especially this core sort of OG group that has been here and stuck with it. I hope that everybody does well and continues to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no good points, I agree. Yeah, what makes you decide to buy a piece? Do you like watch the artists get to know them?
Speaker 2:Or is it like a combo of all the above, like, oh, I gotta get that right now yeah, I, I thought about that as to why did I buy recent pieces of art and so I was looking back at it. And you know, sometimes it is I following this artist for so long and finally it clicks. And that was true of Omar. Omar and I are very close and we talk, but there was months where I never bought his art. I met him, we chatted, but I never bought his art Until finally one day I did and that was the case recently with Jack at the street Jack Simpson and I bought one of his pieces called Three of Diamonds, and I never bought his art for such a long time. I bought an edition and stuff, but not a 101. And finally it clicked and it worked. But sometimes there are people like 0009 who came out of nowhere and I just loved it and I sort of just bought it and then I learned more about it and I chat with them a lot now and sort of developed that relationship.
Speaker 2:Um, and and sometimes, like right now, like there is some part of me like I never loved the hunt for buying like uh, like um, like vintage clothing. There's some people who love finding the deal the dress that costs $1,000, you got it for 10 bucks and you just love that hunt. There's a sort of shopping, sort of sale hunting that some people have a lot of fun doing. I never did, but I do enjoy looking for the diamond in the rough, the gem that nobody else is looking at, that I can somehow get on top of and get for a good deal because nobody else is looking at that I can somehow get on top of and get for a good deal because nobody else is checking it out.
Speaker 2:And I do enjoy those, especially in this market, because there's a lot less competition or there are segments of the market which have less participation, like all these ones with the big auction houses, like Sotheby's and Christie's and Pace Gallery.
Speaker 2:Now they have a bunch of auctions going on but you have to dock yourself to be able to participate and so if you're not willing to do that, it cuts the number of buyers a lot. So there's an opportunity there because they bring in some good artists, and so I bought a couple from those that I thought like nobody was looking or was paying attention to because of this barrier, and so I'm looking for those also because that you want you want to not overpay, for sure, but like you also want to find the ones that nobody. It's fun to find the ones nobody's looking at. It's easy to buy the ones that everybody's looking at and hyping up and it's obviously yeah, people are jumping in that train, but it's for me, it's a lot of fun finding the ones that nobody else is looking at, either a known artist that's a piece that's not being paid attention to, or artists that nobody's looking at. That, you know, is really, really good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, I'm with you on that one. I like finding the work that's undervalued overall. No one has eyes on it yet, yeah, that's where you find the deals, the good stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also you get to support them when nobody else does. And there's something really rewarding to me to say I believe in you and nobody else believes in you. Nobody else says you're good or wants to buy your art or whatever. You're the one or one of the very few who say, yep, you're good, or wants to buy your art or whatever. You're the one or one of the very few who say, yep, you're good, I'm, I'm gonna totally support you and do it and and especially if that artist as well, even if it doesn't, I do enjoy that moment to show people confidence in them when nobody else will, because you've taken the time to look for it and pay attention. When when nobody else would. And and that's the part that I think is it's a big bang for the buck, because it really becomes meaningful and the relationship becomes meaningful, um, especially over time, and you could be consistently, have a good relationship and connect with them. There's something incredibly rewarding to me about doing that, yeah.
Speaker 1:I definitely agree. I enjoy it like that as well. What is your favorite movie quote?
Speaker 2:you know I thought long and hard about this one but luckily last night saved me, because I was, because I went. Last night I went to a movie showing a special screening of Jimmy Chin's new movie, wildlife, okay, and I was lucky enough to get in. Jimmy was there. So I finally got to meet Jimmy in real life and connect with him, because I'd helped him launch his first NFT last year and we've been chatting a lot over text and email and stuff, so it was great to finally meet him, email and stuff, so it's great to finally meet him.
Speaker 2:Uh, and the movie was about this woman named christine tompkins, uh, who was the ceo of patagonia, uh, and sort of co-owner of it with jan schnard, and about her relationship in life with doug tompkins, who created a spree and you know, and they came in yvonne's created north face also. But like it's incredible story, absolutely incredible story, uh, and uh, there was a quote from doug in the movie that I remembered and uh, that I thought was I liked because it does. It does take this mentality to be able to forge into something where everybody says it's stupid and doesn't make sense, which is, you know, commit first, uh, just commit first and then figure out the rest later. Uh, it was this quote like, just commit and do it. You don't know how it's gonna happen, but just commit to doing it and figure everything else out later. And so I felt a lot of my nft was I did that. I don't know if I did that on purpose, but I did that, I fully committed. I don't know how it's going to turn out even now, uh, but we'll figure it out problems, and there's lots of smart people with good intentions and we'll figure it out. And I think that is working out the way it is.
Speaker 2:Because he did this thing where he was going to go out and basically privately buy all this land in Patagonia and then privately create these national parks for this country of Chile. Oh, wow. And so he bought this land and made it happen. And you would think like that's crazy, like who would go off and buy like millions of acres of land in a foreign country and then give it all away back to the government to form National Parks, um, for conservation. It was such a radical, crazy idea that you would never think would be possible. But they did it and in the end of the movie, I mean, they show them sort of you know, sort of launching these National Parks and it's just absolutely amazing, uh. And so I think that bit of that spirit I think is in in a lot of us in nfts, because we definitely committed first, not knowing exactly what's going to happen next, if it's all, but we're having fun doing it and lots of good people, lots of smart people are in it.
Speaker 1:So right, right, no, it's. Yeah, I definitely like that. It's very fitting for the space, very fitting. It's a lot of headfirst. All right, we're just going to go with it, see where it goes, and we're going to make it work. I like it. What would you like to see more of in a crypto art space?
Speaker 2:I would, you know. I think that part of it would be it's sort of happening now is more in real life connections. I think that happens once a year. I wish we could do it more internationally, because there's a lot of people who can't come, and so I'm trying to create more micro events to bring people together in real life. I think there is something magic about that and that helps sustain a lot of people from a pure sort of like just filling up your tanks and your sort of your perseverance and desire to stay in the space. When you see these people, it definitely fills you up. I mean, it's exhausting this past week, but it definitely filled me up in terms of just commitment to the space and wanting to see it succeed because of all these people, right, um, but, uh, I think a lot of other things.
Speaker 2:That sort of hint back to what I said before is just getting down to make sure we don't take for granted what we have. There's a lot of work that we have to do to make the dream and the promise come to life and sustain, and I think that we just need to make sure that we we think critically about what's happening and we make sure it's done right, because, uh, if we don't do those fundamentals right, I think it's gonna the dream won't happen. And the dream won't happen, uh, without us working hard. It's not just like it's a given now, it's the blockchain's, this, it's all going to happen. It's like there's a ton of hard work and a ton of work to sort of bring in and educate and have it grow in the right way. Because I think the other thing would be is that if you have good actors leading the space, I think you'll go in a good place, but if you have bad actors, it could also go awry.
Speaker 2:And so how do you make sure the good actors succeed and get the most support possible? Because they're often quiet, doing the work and heads down and not trying to make a big sort of uh, sort of uh, attention grabbing stuff. They're just working hard. And so how do you make sure the good actors get the voice and support they need? Um, which I think I'm very conscious of, as I sort of engage and support people. It's like, who are the good actors? Like you, like I mean, I would do almost anything is that guy says you do this, okay, I'll do that. I sort of engage and support people. It's like who are the good actors? Like you, like I mean, I would do almost anything you said. Guy says can you do this? Okay, I'll do that. It's almost a guaranteed yes, because I think you're such a good force and good spirit in the space.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks, thanks. I mean I say the same to you. I mean, like there's definitely a few people that you're like all right, if they ask for something, I'm going to do what I can to make that happen and you're definitely on that list for sure. Like since the get go, I was always like, okay, he's, he's, he's different.
Speaker 2:He's doing something good. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Definitely mutual respect for sure For sure what is the best thing and the silliest thing you have spent money on.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to answer this from an NFT perspective. Okay, because, like I'm sure there's silly things I've bought in the real and physical life. Maybe I should answer both ways. I'll at least answer from a NFT uh, nft perspective. But the best thing I bought, I think this is because it has so much meaning for me, because these two people were some of the very first people I I connected with in the space and I was never able to buy one of their pieces either one of them, because they did so well, so early on, and I finally met them in real life. Just this, both of them. I met one of them earlier. I never met until this last week, which is the collaboration between Ruben Wu and Jenny Passon. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, jenny Passon, like that, like Metamorph, I think, is the name of the collection is like.
Speaker 2:It was amazing. I could not believe I got one, because Jean-Michel was continually outbidding me. On every single one I put bids on, he would come in and start outbidding me. He was like, what are you doing? He was doing it on two or three pieces. Let me just have one. And so, luckily, I got one, and so I was very happy, but that's probably one of the best ones that I just like. I'm so happy I got that piece, um, and the silliest one, because I couldn't afford a legit dick butt. I got a dickle butt, uh, when that was a thing, uh. And I got it because, like you know, cath loved dick butts. I'm like, okay, if cath loves it. I can't afford a dick butt or want to spend that much on a dick butt, but I'll spend one on a dickle butt. And so I bought one of those Nice.
Speaker 1:Perfect, I love it. I love it. It's always good to hear those. It's a solid, solid goodbye on that. Collaboration, collaboration. Oh, speaking of collaborations, if you could commission a piece and have two artists collaborate on it, which two would it be?
Speaker 2:and it sounds like you may already have that piece well, that one's a great one, uh, and I guess I do have one that has that collaboration. But if I were to pick another one, it'd still be Ruben Wu. I'm a huge fan of his I think many of us are. But the other one, if Ruben Wu and Rick Oostenbrook did a collab, that will be insane. I mean, I don't know if they ever talked about it, but that would be incredible. I would love to see that and I hope they're listening and I hope they do it and they give me early access to whatever they do, right.
Speaker 1:No, that would be a good combo, it'd be good. They both have their own unique style and you'd be like that's a, a woo and rook and rick, uh, collaborate there. I mean I like, yeah, you know, they both have their own deaf, definite style that you can tell for sure. What is one interesting fact that about you that people might not be aware of?
Speaker 2:so I wasn't sure if I should go serious or silly on this question. Either way, I'll do both. I'll do the serious one first, which is I think it's not very well known, but I do have a PhD in biomedical engineering. It is completely different from you know art today, or even you know google maps and go earth before, but it's just completely separate fields. It just shows that life goes in ways you never anticipate.
Speaker 2:Like you, I thought I was a professor doing biomedical engineering, teaching and doing research, but it did not turn out that way. I went to silicon valley, started google earth and that became its thing, and now doing art. So you never know how life's gonna turn out and you just have to roll with what comes up, comes opportunity, wise and just right to go with it, and that's how life has taken me. So um and uh. The silly one is I own three lightsabers and one full-size Mandalorian Nerf gun, so I have all these toys. So I'm definitely still a kid at heart and all these toys I wish I could have bought as a kid and I get to buy as an adult because I can spend the money as an adult.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome. I love that um man and I. You know, I knew you went to school um back east, but I had no idea that was what you went to school for. Like holy cow, that's not what I expected. Yeah, yeah, awesome. Um. What is your favorite way to connect with new people in the space?
Speaker 2:um, it's a simple answer and it's true for lots of people, for me at least, many people I met because you could say, like the medium, like the space, or tweets or dms or whatever.
Speaker 2:But honestly, the one that has always I get this consistently has been a great topic and way to bring people in the space, or tweets or DMs or whatever.
Speaker 2:But honestly, the one that has always I get this consistently has been a great topic and way to bring people in the space has been the art To talk about their art, to buy their art, to be fellow or just both admire the same artists. We'll talk about that. That has been a huge connection point for a lot of stuff and it often is between artist collector, because that was my initial role. A lot of my connections are through that or as a curator, but the art has been a huge connection point. That often is a way to get to know them, to ask questions and it's a question that I think people appreciate being asked about is their art, and that often leads to so many other revelations and connections and conversations that I love, and so that's often a simple answer, but it's the most common and it brings me the most happiness is to talk about that. I like those type of connections.
Speaker 1:No, that's awesome. That's a great way to approach it. I like that. I like those type of connections. No, that's awesome. That's a great way to approach it. I like that. Oh, I like that advice. Do you have any projects, upcoming projects or anything you'd like to talk about and let the audience know?
Speaker 2:I have so many projects going on with Monolith and with Circle of Friends and many of which I can't say too much about because they're still in flight. But I do want to say on the flip side, which is I am so thankful for the community to support these projects. I mean, I'm still blown away by the fact that Circle of Friends did so well in the same week that Silicon Valley Bank crater Silicon Valley Bank like cratered and died. It was a tough week, yet I was still able to sell it out, which is blowing, still blows me away. And a lot of that comes from the community having so much support and trust in what I'm doing. So, more than anything, I am just grateful for the people and I hope I can do right by everybody in terms of doing that thing.
Speaker 2:It's still a learning process of how to manage that, especially a 10K project which I've never managed before, and to do it right, because there's so many opinions, so many people wanting different things about it For sure. And how do you manage that? Well, I think it can be managed well if you're transparent enough, but that's a journey that I'm on right now, but I am just so thankful for what? Um, that community and the model of community and the artist uh, have supported it uh, and what I've done and believed in me. So I think that's the most. The biggest thing to say about upcoming project is that they're only possible because, um, that people seem to think I'm an okay guy. I'm not going to rug them.
Speaker 1:Definitely not worried about that for sure. Well, awesome, thank you so much for your time today and, uh, doing this quick show with me, and I just really enjoyed it. I always enjoy meeting you and seeing you in person. It's so fun to hope there's another time when I can run down the SF and do something with you again. It's nice that it's close enough that we can meet up every once in a while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was thinking about inviting you to the Jimmy Chin one, but it was so last minute that I was like I should invite Guy, but it was so last minute.
Speaker 2:We just got back from NFT NYC but I thought, because you had invited me up to the showing of Kirby Brown's film Facing Monsters and that was amazing. Plus, you own his Genesis piece. You own Jimmy Chin's Genesis piece, you own Jimmy Choo's Genesis piece, so he's a great guy. I thought about it, but it's still last minute, but I couldn't do it. But some other film will have to do something or have to come up to wherever you are, and I wanted to go on that trek with Ruben. Ruben basically said hey, you want to come to Tahoe? I'm like, well, I can't get up there that quickly.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure if my wife will let me go last minute to tahoe right, but I so badly want to go to hang it with you and him for that. Uh, the, yeah, what's it called? Again, the project click pass camera.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah no, that was so fun. Uh, yeah, it was last minute for me too.
Speaker 2:I was like, uh, like there might be a chance it might go to tafo fyi she was like as long as you have someone to cover and watch the kids while you're gone, yeah, I'll make it happen yeah, we were juggling last night because she was going out to a party at the SF MoMA that night with some friends and so I threw this in. So I had to time it so that basically I was back in home time and the kids weren't left alone too long Because they're old enough to stay home by themselves.
Speaker 2:And so I came back and sort of took care of her for the rest of the night, put her to bed and stuff. But yeah, it's tricky, kids are tricky. They're worth it.
Speaker 1:But they're a little bit of a hassle sometimes. Throw some kinks, definitely. Yeah, well, awesome, well, I hope to talk to you. Well, I'll be talking to you soon, but I hope to see you soon in person. And just again, thank you and hope you have a great day. Yeah, you too. Bye, bye, who is this guy? Yeah, you too. Chill time, norcal and Chill Podcast what the sh-.
Speaker 2:What the sh NorCal and Chill Podcast.
Speaker 1:So it's chill time. Norcal and Chill Podcast. What the sh-? What the sh-?