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
Bridges Not Barriers: Exploring NFT Culture Beyond Language
Pravijn takes us on a fascinating journey through his evolution in the NFT space, revealing the moment digital ownership finally "clicked" for him. As someone who had always been bothered by purchasing digital books, movies, and music without truly owning them, the blockchain's promise of verifiable ownership resonated deeply once he understood it.
Beyond just collecting, Pravijn shares how Web3 has given him something his previous tech career couldn't – genuine community. "I never really had a social community that much," he reflects, contrasting the forced interactions of traditional workplaces with the chosen connections of crypto communities. These relationships extend beyond digital interactions, culminating in real-world connections over "burgers and beers."
The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Pravijn reveals his double life – maintaining complete separation between his Web3 identity and his "normie world" existence. When family and friends mention crypto, he playfully feigns ignorance: "Is that like Bitcoin? Is Minecraft an NFT?" This compartmentalization offers him freedom to explore his digital identity without the judgment often directed at crypto enthusiasts.
Perhaps most thought-provoking is Pravijn's insight into language barriers within the NFT space. Despite the visual nature of digital art, he notes how our communities remain English-centric, potentially missing incredible artistic voices. "There are artists who won't join Twitter Spaces because they use language translators for all their tweets and DMs," he explains, highlighting an accessibility challenge that AI and translation tools might eventually overcome.
As a DECA advocate, Pravijn continues to build bridges within the space, whether through thoughtful art collection philosophies (where he argues editions deserve the same quality as one-of-ones) or through finding unexpected connections via memes, anime references, and literary quotes. His journey reminds us that in Web3, we're not just collecting assets – we're building new ways of connecting, creating, and defining ourselves.
Who is this? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? 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 with chill time. Norcal and chill podcast. What the sh? What the sh? Norcal and Shill.
NorCal Guy:Today's guest is Pravin. Pravin is a renowned advocate of DECA. Pravin is a renowned advocate of DECA, deeply immersed in the fascinating world of the crypto art community. With his innate understanding of this landscape's dynamics, he has positioned himself as a supporter of all artists venturing into this novel intersection of technology and creativity. In his journey, he has displayed an extraordinary commitment to aiding others, often sharing his insights and resources to support aspiring and established artists. His kindness, coupled with his profound knowledge of the crypto art community, has cemented his reputation as a trusted and admired figure in the digital sphere.
NorCal Guy:Beyond his professional accomplishments, pravin's friends know him as an individual who treasures the simple pleasures of life, like enjoying a good beer and a burger. His vibrant personality and relaxed demeanor make him a cherished friend. Whether it's discussing the nuances of the latest NFT trends or reminiscing about old memories, a conversation with Pravin is always an enriching and memorable experience. Everybody. Please welcome Pravin. Hey, pravin, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today? Good, good, thanks for having me, gm. Gm, it is a good morning and, man, I'm glad to have you Like so much good energy with you and I enjoy our time together, our chats together, and, man, I want to go to Southern California so bad, just so I can hang out and like grab dinner and a beer or something Burger and a beer, like we did last time.
Pravijn:Anytime. Definitely up for it.
NorCal Guy:Might happen sooner than well, who knows knows, but hopefully sooner than later. So what were your first thoughts when you heard about nfts?
Pravijn:well, it took me a while for it to click because, um, I hadn't really heard much about it, but I'd always been fascinated with, like people spending so much money on Roblox and Minecraft. And then I can't remember where I heard about it first, or one of my friends, and they mentioned like buying NFTs. And I was like, are you just buying the picture? Are you just saying that you have a picture? Is it like a copyright? I didn't understand that. It's like enforceable on the blockchain, right. So that was completely new to me, and before that I was always thinking, like you know, I bought all these things like books and movies and music. I say that I bought them, but I don't own them. And then I realized these are all digital assets that I don't really own, but NFT was a digital asset that you actually own. You can actually give it to somebody else. You could sell it.
Pravijn:Then it finally clicked.
NorCal Guy:Yeah, no, that makes sense. Yeah, especially like this next generation.
Pravijn:You're just like thinking like, because they're buying all these digital assets that they don't own, but it means so much to them and you just coming, it's coming yeah, I mean, I once, uh, I thought it was a splurge when I spent uh 19 on some starcraft skins and I was like, oh man, I'm playing, I'm buying skins. That doesn't change my performance in game at all, it just. It just looked cool and I'm like wow.
Pravijn:People are spending way more than this on either in-game assets that are just aesthetics or actually have a performance advantage in games.
NorCal Guy:And then it stopped.
Pravijn:It took a while for it to click.
NorCal Guy:Right, if you could live or move anywhere, where would you live and why?
Pravijn:I definitely love SoCal, like for like with kids and the family and having the outdoors. But of all the places I've lived in the world, definitely for me I've only felt at home in New York. I don't know how things have changed after the pandemic. I've heard a lot of different stories. Things have changed after the pandemic. I've heard a lot of different stories. But, yeah, if I could live anywhere where it wasn't a matter of all the other inconveniences, of whether the weather or dealing with having no limited outdoor spaces, it would be New York, okay.
NorCal Guy:No, that's a solid place. I mean I enjoy the visits that I go there for nft nyc yeah what is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Pravijn:so it's very interesting, like I think a lot of people with an asian background especially um, we have a very critical inner voice, and it took me only recently, did uh, somebody say to me like be careful of what you're saying to yourself, like it's not what you say openly, but it's what? How harsh you are internally with your own inner voice. And I've realized like sometimes your inner voice can be more critical and less helpful than it should be, like you kind of of keep on going on about your mistakes rather than thinking of like hey, what, what have I done?
NorCal Guy:Well, Right, right. No, that's a good one. Good one. Did you collect art or anything else before?
Pravijn:I actually had like a few small piece of art that I bought for like 25 or $35 from art puzzle Miami, you know 10, 15 years ago, and I was like, why am I buying art? Like I'm just like I'll just some you know young guy and like somebody's like hey, buy this photograph. I'm like, okay, it looked kind of cool. But other than art, I had only collected books. I'd collected a lot of physical books, always just more like thinking of it, as you know, literature being art, that kind of a thing. But then, of course, when things went digital, I stopped collecting books, physical books as much.
Pravijn:So really NFT has kind of got me back into that and I had a very nomadic lifestyle, so I kept on like trimming things that I used to collect and, yeah, hey, you can live anywhere in the world and take your NFTs with you. Your 100 NFTs and your 1,000 hidden NFTs in your hidden folder.
NorCal Guy:Right, right, right. What are the best things about Web3 today?
Pravijn:So you know, I've been in tech for a while and it always felt like you were. I felt personally that I was trying to like, find people I could connect with and I never had really, you know, joined any particular like Reddit group, linkedin group or anything like that. I never really had a social community that much. It was more just like co-workers and it's more like you're forced into that situation, like you don't really get to choose who you get to work with, right, right.
Pravijn:But I feel like with web3 you kind of build these smaller communities that you get you choose to decide how much time you want to engage with somebody or continue your conversation, right? So I've, so I've really enjoyed that and, you know, whether it's discussions about art or memes or meme coins or even animates, it just feels like it's all part of like myself as a person, not just like if I'm coding, if I was working for, you know, oracle or working for any consulting firm. It doesn't feel like that's my identity that's awesome.
NorCal Guy:No, I definitely. Yeah, it's been um a good, a good transition to to meet some of these people and have this like common strong bond, which is interesting, that you built online and when you're in person, you, you're like what's up, yeah, and then you meet these people in real life and it's like you still want to have a beer and burger, right.
Pravijn:As much as you chat online about things, there are some still things you want to do in person.
NorCal Guy:True. Where do you see digital art and NFTs in five years and do you have any concerns as the space expands?
Pravijn:So I did feel you know over the last two years that I've been in NFTs that it just made more and more sense, Like there is digital assets increase in value, just like digital companies are worth more than physical companies, right, just. But what was very interesting to me is where will AI affect all these things People have been talking about, like what if AI decides the art for you or the music for you?
Pravijn:then, what happens to the art and artists that will be created. I think that things that were done I think somebody mentioned it like art that had been created before this version of AI, will be seen in a different light. But how much will all that value? So I think this seems to be the most disruptive unknown that has been on my mind Until this version of AI had come about. I felt a bit more secure of where the the parts might seem to be going, but I think it could be way more disruptive now yeah, it's crazy.
NorCal Guy:It it really is crazy to see what it can do. And then when you hear someone saying something about it, you're like, oh shoot, I didn't even think about it like that and you just, yeah, it almost feels like an unknown for sure yeah, like, um, you know there's this whole thing.
Pravijn:You know, I think like 20 years ago, uh, netflix was spending so much money trying to find these algorithms of like what's the best movie to choose for somebody? But then they realize that it's often the sequence that you watch it. So you might like Godfather more before you watch Toy Story or after you watch Toy Story. So all these kind of things that you could not predict. But with that much information, ai could choose the kind of music or the kind of movies you watch or the kind of content you consume, or even adjust the content you consume based on how you're responding to things. Right, change your mood, for you.
NorCal Guy:It's kind of scary. What makes you to decide? What makes you decide to buy a piece? Do you watch the artists for a while, get to know them, or is there sometimes just like man? I need to get that right now.
Pravijn:Yeah, initially it's interesting, there's, uh, when I first got into it I thought a lot of artists from the traditional world. It mattered how much their dominance in the traditional world. And then I I started trying to decide on art based on what you know, because I was so new I was trying to decide what if my taste was correct, um, and then I realized, you know, it doesn't matter, sometimes it's just what you really like. Um, yeah, it's sometimes easier with just, uh, you know just cheers, prices, you know pieces that are not too expensive to just buy it and be like, hey, I, I do like this art. Uh, it's, it's great.
Pravijn:But some of these you're like, I want this artist, even if it's just a small piece. It might not. I don't look at it as an investment. It's more that my collection feels more complete by adding that artist to what I have got. And, yeah, of course there's a lot of artists I haven't collected Not saying that my collection is in any way complete, but it just feels nicer that I can buy things for cheaper now, with less of the stress of like or that something I'm buying just because I see a lot of people buying it.
NorCal Guy:Yeah, Now, sorry there's a little bit of a curve ball because it's not a question on the plan questions. I am curious your thoughts on additions versus one of ones.
Pravijn:Yeah. So I saw a few people talk about this, where you know, if the additions like another one thing, looking at it from a financial aspect, of saying, okay, the sum of the additions should be more than the one of one, otherwise that artists, the market is unbalanced. But I think sometimes having those additions help get the artists have a bigger audience. The one thing I feel that some artists make the mistake is saying the quality of your addition should be less than the quality of your one-of-one. So my thing is the only thing that affects the price should not be the quality of the work. You shouldn't say, oh, I'm going to give something that I haven't put my heart and soul into and so, okay, I'm going to make an addition. It should just be the supply, that the supply just decide the price of it. But not like saying that, oh, my best work has to be a one-of-one, your best work could be a one-of-one as well. And like to give an example, rick Ostenbrook, I'm not going to pronounce his name correctly.
Pravijn:But it doesn't matter if he does a one-of-one or if he does an edition. He keeps. He's obsessive about his attention to detail to it and I don't think you'd ever look at his one-of-one or look at his edition and say, oh, that's an edition, that's a one-of-one. You have no idea unless you look at the actual supply, and I feel like that's a better way for an artist to treat their work and their collectors.
NorCal Guy:Yeah, no, I like that approach. I definitely feel that as well. I mean, I personally love editions. You know your one-of-one collectors aren't going to, in my eyes, spread the love as much as your edition collectors, because there's not as many people. I mean there's more voices for you.
Pravijn:Yeah, and definitely, you see it with collectors of editions definitely seem to rally around the artist just as much as the one-of-one collectors. I mean, x-copy has the biggest range right from one-of-one collectors. Uh, I mean x copy has the biggest range right from one-of-ones to addition, uh. And then I feel, and there's nothing wrong with artists who decide to do only one-of-ones, there's nothing wrong with the artists who want to do additions, it's all up to you, uh. But yeah, I don't think that additions take away from the art in any way.
NorCal Guy:Yeah, what is your favorite movie quote?
Pravijn:So this was really interesting to me because, like you know, some people always talk about movie quotes that inspire them. Oddly enough, I don't even remember this movie. It's this cheesy movie called Peaceful Warrior or something, and I wrote it in my calendar on April 14th 2001 2001 and I have it repeating every three weeks for some random reason, and it was something that said um, a warrior does not give up what he loves. He finds the love in what he does. And I think it was just something that I was like.
Pravijn:I was always constantly trying to find where I fit in with things. Did I love the work that I was doing or did I like the hobbies or activities that I would have? So it was just something that I had it in my calendar. It pops up every three weeks. I don't know why I chose three weeks. It's been in there since 2001. It's just something that sometimes I just dismiss it, I just ignore it. Like months go by, I keep on ignoring it and then once in a while, I look at it and go, huh, okay, interesting. So I don't even remember what that movie is about. I just like that one phrase.
NorCal Guy:Awesome, that's really cool. I like that little backstory. What would you like to see more of in the nft space?
Pravijn:so this is interesting because we are so stuck in twitter bubbles, and especially after that, um, after elon uh shared the source code about it and the way it creates bubbles, like you know, community bubbles of like, like there's a bollywood community, for example, or language bubbles. Right, it's really interesting that we've got so much of our art based around the English language, and it'll be interesting if things like AI or translation tools help surmount that, because we're dealing with NFTs and there's visual and audiovisual stuff, but it's so funny that there's a language barrier, whereas I know a lot of people are collecting artists from Japan and Brazil. But, you know, luckily for those artists, they are able to use English as a medium on Twitter, but there are so many other artists that don't. So it would be something I would love to see how that somehow expands where the art is not gated by the language.
NorCal Guy:Right, that's a good point, very good point. That'll be interesting. I mean, I think it'll happen pretty shortly.
Pravijn:Yeah, and there's a couple of artists who I've chatted with and they say, just I can't do Twitter spaces because I use a language translator to do all my replies. And I was like, wow, I didn't even realize you're doing all your tweets and DMs with translators, like using a Google Translate. That's how they're having their conversations, so they won't join on the Twitter spaces because they can't actually converse that way. But I do feel that there could be much more we would be exposed to if it wasn't for that language barriers Right.
NorCal Guy:What is the best thing and the silliest thing you've spent money on?
Pravijn:Well, the best thing it was like getting a gym trainer, because I spent years doing rehab for things and then going you're going to doctors and getting rehab. Then finally like forget it, let me just get a trainer. And like just getting a trainer really helped me like get past any using any medication or anything, which was kind of surprising the silliest thing I did was I went blonde.
Pravijn:I decided to go blonde. People like me don't usually go blonde. It was fun. It was very interesting. I had a lot of comparisons to Wesley Snipes from Demolition man. I don't know how to take it but, yeah, I should try to go red like my punk pfp mohawk. Now that should be my next thing to do. But yeah, just did that once. It was silly, it was fun, it shocked my family. It was worth the laugh nice, nice.
NorCal Guy:Was this, like I don't know how long ago this was, was Was this? Because, like I remember, I had a few friends that did it because of Justin Timberlake and like, wow, the band NZNK, oh, okay, okay.
Pravijn:No, it was not inspired by Justin Timberlake. It was like a mix of Chris Tucker from Fifth Element. It was like a mix of Chris Tucker from Fifth Element and Wesley Snipes from Demolition man.
NorCal Guy:It was a mess. If you could commission a piece and have two artists collaborate on it, which two artists would it be?
Pravijn:so can I cheat and have three different answers?
Pravijn:okay, okay, so one uh, one one would be east war and pia, who I? I don't know if I'm pronouncing pia's name correctly, but I do like both their. Another two would be Ahad, a-h-a-d and TGO. They both have very dark. Ahad has a way with creating characters in the shadows which are very interesting. And another combination for me would be Photon and Aleqth A-L-E-Q-T-H. I think he pronounces Aleqth with a lisp. Okay, okay, those are the three collabs that I'm like. I can't choose between one of them. I kind of like all their styles and how they could possibly work together.
NorCal Guy:All right, fair, that's fair.
Pravijn:Good choices, I'm stealing up all the choices for the next guest that you have.
NorCal Guy:Fair, fair, but they won't know. They won't know because this will be a couple weeks out Right right. So I haven't had any overlaps yet, but I'm interested to see any come. What is one interesting fact about you that people might not be aware of?
Pravijn:I'm such an open book Well, I'm an open book in web three I guess but it's just that I've um, I've really kept my web 2 identity separate. So it's kind of funny that in uh, my family and friends from the normie world still think I'm doing the old stuff I used to do. So it's like I still have an old LinkedIn profile. I still have an identity that has nothing to do with crypto and Web3. Whenever I meet people, my family and friends and they say something about crypto, I'm like oh yeah, is that like Bitcoin?
NorCal Guy:You just play it off.
Pravijn:I'm like I don't even know. Is Minecraft an NFT? Oh, you're terrible, you just play it off. I just I'm like I don't even know. Is minecraft an nft? You?
Pravijn:know, so you're terrible like I'm absolutely clueless about web3. Uh, I just one. I don't want to get into arguments with people and what and I do like to keep this ident. I really like having this like alter ego, alter identity. What is your favorite way to connect with people in this space?
Pravijn:So it's really odd, but I got into Web3 and it was all the silly memes that people would do with anime. So it was like it was memes like you know, and then, of course, your memes are on a whole nother level. So it was like it was memes like you know, and then, of course, your memes are on a whole nother level, but like, but memes somehow, like you, I don't know what it is about connecting with people with memes or anime. And then randomly, there's been a couple of people I've connected to because they put quotes about authors I've read, like Italo Calvino. So it's like it's just, it's just funny that I've been connecting with people on some things that I think in the traditional world we would never have had those conversations. You would not be having a dinner conversation and pull out a meme about biscuits. It's just something that happens to this space. It's kind of interesting.
NorCal Guy:Okay, are there any projects you're working on and would like to discuss, or any shout outs?
Pravijn:uh, you know, I think uh quite a few people might know that I I joined deca three months ago. I am really enjoying working with them. Uh, we definitely have a lot of things planned, um, and and we're always open to chatting with people about it and getting more ideas. So that's something I will shout out for what I'm doing with Deco right now.
NorCal Guy:All right, Nice, I love it and I can't wait to see, or you know, as it all develops and use it Awesome. Well, Pravin, thank you so much for your time today and this enjoyable chat. I really had a good time. Same here. Thanks a lot. Okay, well, you have a good day and we'll talk soon.
NorCal Guy:Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? North Calgary, North Calgary. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal and chill podcast. So it's chill time. Norcal and chill podcast. What the what the Chill? Norcal and chill podcast. So it's chill time, NorCal.