What is it about events like NFT NYC, Marfa, Art Basel Miami, etc that captivates us more than any online event could?

This is the very question that I’ve been pondering since Transient Labs’ offsite last week (9/18/23) and getting massive FOMO seeing everything going on in Marfa. I don’t have a complete answer, but I do have the core hypothesis to offer. I may be wide of the mark here as well, so feel free to roast me in the comments!

Covid sent shockwaves throughout the world as we had to go fully digital. You’re probably thinking, “thanks captain obvious”, but stay with me for a moment as we delve back into those darker times.

We do owe this forced digitization some appreciation as the world came to reckon with something that was already brewing under the surface - the digital realm is something that we can utilize for more than just consumption (looking at you social media). Amongst other things, remote work has become much more common, digital art became an even greater force to be reckoned with, and we all made friends across the world because we were all forced into the digital realm. Our eyes were opened to the true boundless opportunities in the digital world.

But now with the world returning back to some sort of normalcy, I’m starting to realize that we also lost a lot during this period. There is energy in the air whenever you go to an IRL experience. The Van Gogh exhibit, Gugenheim, MOMA, Meow Wolf would all be much different in a purely digital world. Personally, I think there is a human connection that we all share when meeting up IRL that isn’t replicable online. I can’t put my finger on exactly what we can’t replicate online, but I know it has to do with human connection. Even in my own experiments with my Lines generative art collection, there is some much more energizing about co-creating a Line in person than over a google meet.

This leads me to my core thesis - digital + IRL experience >>> pure digital

Thanks for listening to my TED talk 🌈