This program will be presented via Zoom, register online here.

“Welcome to the Metaverse” is a two-part program exploring the emergence of virtual forms in community, economy, and culture. The program draws its title from Snowcrash, a novel by Neil Stephenson, in which it describes a communal, virtual space. Driven in part by the increasing turn to online life during the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept has gained traction as way of describing specific kind of platforms: immersive virtual worlds that cater to all of a user’s wants and needs, from shopping and socializing to seeing art.

“Welcome to the Metaverse I” explores ways of understanding the relationship between physical and virtual as value systems and capital positions. “Welcome to the Metaverse II” will explore new speculative infrastructures that facilitate virtual shared spaces online. In particular, it will consider forms of collaboration and exchange that are enabled through the blockchain and decentralized platforms, and how these might take forms beyond skeuomorphic virtual worlds.

Panelists include Marguerite deCourcelle, artist and CEO of Blockade Games; Kevin McCoy, artist and founder of Monegraph; Trevor McFedries, founder of Brud and Friends With Benefits; and Rhea Myers, artist, hacker, and writer.

This event is presented in conjunction with “World on a Wire,” the first exhibition in a new partnership between Hyundai Motor Company and Rhizome of the New Museum to showcase leading digital art globally.