LAND (18, 114) is a plot on the Lion City land parcel in the Sandbox and it belongs to the Iriseum. This virtual land plot is where we hope to build a presence and a virtual experience one day, maybe. The Iriseum was and is indeed envisioned as a place… just not one that is necessarily pinned down into a specific spot on virtual or physical land.

Perhaps not the best analogy, but we will like to be as the inflatable tents designed by Michael Rakowitz are to “the homeless of web3.” They function on existing city infrastructure (i.e. the city grates that emit excess heat inflates the plastic tent), and they provide necessary support to the homeless who gain both shelter and safe heating with these tents.

Place, to us, is not just about a physical or virtual space. Place involves the process in which a place gets its spirit and identity, the structures that keep a place clean and healthy, and the content that sustains a place everyday and keeps it enjoyable.

“With the Iriseum, I am not so much building a community, but a place. A community is made of people who should feel free to come and go; a place is enduring, full of creative potential.” - Serene G aka girlfrances, director of the Iriseum.

More than a brand within a brand, more than a community extension of a community, my vision for the Iriseum is to be a place, a rest stop and sometimes a home, on this journey of adventure that is web3.

Yet the beginning of every hospitable place is an effort by the host to organize it in a way that makes it safe and comfortable for others. People make up and direct the content (activities and function) of a place. For the Iriseum, we are making our NFTs in The Iriseum Entryway the doors - the way - to enter into our “place.”

We open our doors soon, on 10 May. Read more about our introduction to the Iriseum here and learn about our mint mechanism. We look forward to your interest and support!

Beyond the art and the money, which have not been able to sustain the NFT economy through these years of bear (slowness, poverty) and FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt), NFTs are also about Placemaking - “The Way” in which governments, entrepreneurs and participants alike can create meaningful spaces where we all live, work and play with and within this new realm of web3.

In a theatre performance, in every scene, there are three walls: the background, stage-left, and stage-right. Sometimes actors refer to a fourth wall - the audience's view, invisible, but present to view the play in front of them, since the scene is in a way taking place within a box the audience is peering into.

Now, an actress may “break the fourth wall,” such as by making a reference to the fact that she is a performer in a play, or by addressing the audience directly, or by responding to something that happens in the audience, such as an empty seat next to someone, or a spilled drink, or an interesting outfit.

NFTs are the way to break the fourth wall that is the theatre of the blockchain.

People own NFTs, become attached to them, get inducted into communities through them, enter whole new worlds of irl events with them, and get pulled through a ton of emotions just by the fluctuating floor and listed prices of an NFT… Blockchain is no longer “performing” but “engaging” with the audience through NFTs.

And as the ethos of web3 is all about a freedom to transact and a decentralised web that encourages all rungs of Arnstein’s ladder of participation (see image below) to be utilised, wouldn’t we want to break the fourth wall?

Shouldn’t we continue our pursuit of the ways in which NFTs help us all to participate and engage more intimately with the theatre of the blockchain economy?

PS: If you love a good show, we recommend that you bookmark The Iriseum Entryway and keep your eyes peeled as the mint opens on 10 May. ENJOY!