Soul gems meta
Metaverse & VR installation, NFT | 2022 - Currently
OVERVIEW
"SOUL GEMS META" is a multimedia project in which viewers experience the concept of the world of souls and the story of the souls.
There are three elements to this work. A 3D animation that expresses The World of Souls created in the metaverse. The viewers can experience this world in Virtual Reality (VR) . Thirdly where the World of Souls is composed of 101 souls called "SOUL GEMS", and these weave their story in the blockchain universe as NFTs.
This work is a developed version of the "Soul Gems" series, which was created from 2015 to 2018. The previous work focused on the relationship between our souls and the universe. Now, the current project SOUL GEMS META focuses the similarities between structures of "souls and humans" and "the core of the work and the medium of expression". SOUL GEMS META presents these from the perspective of evolution based on the premise that the medium and methods of expression will be updated with the evolution of technology and media.
CONSEPT
In the exhibition of this project "SOUL GEMS META", viewers will experience the World of Souls created in the metaverse through VR. The definition and interpretation of the World of Souls differs depending on country, region, religion, and era. My interpretation, based on my own experience, is that the World of Souls is an interdimensional world that exists parallel to our physical dimension. The souls that exist in that world, are the core of us human beings. Our souls evolve and grow through our experiences as humans on Earth, that is, the physical dimension (or as other beings in other dimensional worlds). I believe that using Metaverse as an artistic medium allows me to choose the dimensions in which the work will appear. In my previous "Soul Gems" series, I had expressed the concept of the World of Souls, a world of different dimensions, by putting it into the physical dimension. This time, however, in SOUL GEMS META , by using the Metaverse as the output dimension, it became possible to express a different aspect than the expression through the physical method. For example, that the World of Souls always exists in another dimension parallel to the physical dimension. That we can meet there beyond time and distance. The world of Souls is made up of digital elements which are called "SOUL GEMS", by releasing them into the blockchain world as NFTs, I will attempt to approach the expression of the story of souls, such as the connection between souls, history, and evolution. By expanding the non-physical realm multi-dimensionally, the range of expression will also expand. Alongside the Corona Pandemic, new technologies and media (e.g. Metaverse, XR, NFT and AI) have developed rapidly in recent years and will continue to accelerate in the future. Three years from now, the concept of media itself may have changed. Therefore, what I am looking forward to is how I will update this work at that time. It may be an update on the same media, or it may be a transfer to a different technology (in fact, this work has already been transferred from the physical method to the current method). Even if the expression changes, the core of my "Soul Gems" series is the universal concept of "souls". I present that artworks are no longer limited by the media, and can be changed lightly with the changing times. My "Soul Gems" series will engrave many different ways of expression in its history. In my point of view, there are similarities in the structures of "souls and us humans" and "the core of the work and the medium of expression". When the core of artwork, that is, the concept, is nurtured by the output, it is like the growth and evolution of the soul, and the renewal of the medium of expression is the transformation that embodies the development of the concept. We human beings, too, have changed our bodies many times over the years, with our souls as the core, and we are here now. This gives me a sense of the future of the work and of art as a whole. My and the project’s aspiration is that even after I leave this world and return to the world of the soul, the project will be passed on to someone else over the ages. Artworks evolve, by riding the waves of change. As do we humans and our souls. Yuiko Ráyka
METAVERSE & VR
-The World of Souls-
The World of Souls exists in the Metaverse, an interdimensional world parallel to the physical dimensional world in which we humans live.
In the official exhibition of SOUL GEMS META, the World of Souls is invoked into a physical space, such as a gallery, through VR devices. Viewers can enter and experience the World of Souls physically - in a VR-style multiplayer field (multiple people participating simultaneously).
The World of Souls can be accessed at any time from anywhere in the physical dimensional world, as long as there is an Internet environment.
How to access to "The World of Souls" metaverse
NFT
-SOUL GEMS NFTS-
101 souls (SOUL GEMS) that make up "The World of Souls" and they will be dropped as 101 NFTs. Find your soul = SOUL GEM among them, and your SOUL GEM will proceed to grow as it meets you. The bond between holders of SOUL GEMS NFTs is proven on the blockchain as soulmates, and successive holders of the same SOUL GEMS NFT are proven on the blockchain as those in a soul reincarnation relationship.
Currently, 30 of 101 SOUL GEMS NFTs have been revealed, and revealing will be resumed in 2024.
Past Exhibition for SOUL GEMS META
-"SOUL GEMS META", Gallery G-77, Kyoto, 2022
Special Supporters
TOUNNE | Katsuyasu Kouchi | Yuriko Yamamoto | AITG Samurai | Tet | Mochi | Gallery G-77