Whole Picture: What you need to know

Héctor Falcón and Strata proudly present Whole Picture, a pioneering NFT art experience involving 1200 multi-layered, interactive artworks. The aim? For art, artists and audiences to collaborate in a different way.

Launch date: June 2021

The Introduction

Strata is a new gallery with a new philosophy: that the digital and physical are not at odds. Rather, they can elevate each other.

Strata’s first project sums up this belief. Whole Picture is an interactive art experience made possible by blockchain technologies. But it also builds upon the best-known paintings of Héctor Falcón — one of Mexico’s leading conceptual artists — where he slashes through his canvases to reveal what lies beneath. Digital craft, artistic technique and technical artistry are all on show.

To read more about Héctor and his career, go to Strata’s first Medium article. To understand the details of how Whole Picture works, read on here. It is a project that can be described as unpredictable, unfamiliar, unconventional. But this is the flavour, not the recipe. What are the actual mechanics?

The Premise

The first thing to know is that 1200 participants will be co-creating their own unique, digital, Héctor Falcón artworks. These will be based on fifty physical paintings from his series entitled Constructive Molecular Extraction. As the image shows, these paintings are multi-layered, with holes punched through them, allowing viewers to see the canvases below. Not only that, but the canvases can be rearranged in endless variations.

So how do these physical works relate to the digital art of Whole Picture? Well, each NFT purchased represents 1 artwork made up of 4 layers: a ‘stack’ of four digitalised Héctor Falcón canvases. These canvases will be revealed over time to each owner; and, when the four layers are complete, they can be arranged and rearranged in Whole Picture’s digital art viewer. Slide them in different directions, and even automate them so they are seen from ever-changing perspectives. This is bespoke, co-created art that owners can compose as they choose on any device they prefer.

The Project: Beginning and End

Whole Picture will launch based upon a starting block which is set either after the last artwork is purchased or 184000 (~1 month) after the first artwork is purchased: whichever comes first. Once the StartBlock is fixed, the first canvas is immediately revealed to every NFT buyer.

The project unfolds as new blocks are added to the Ethereum blockchain. It will take 88,880 blocks (4,444 blocks x 5 canvases x 4 layers ) for the four layers of each artwork to be completed.

The Artwork: Determined by chance or choice?

But how does the artwork come into being? Is it chance or choice that determines what the four canvases or layers of the NFT will look like? The answer is: both.

Let’s look at chance first. The element of luck is created by five grades of rarity: common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare and ‘singular’ (appearing only once). All canvases are equal, but some are more equal than others…

Then, choice. Participants can choose what to pay for their NFT. There are three pricing tiers: Enthusiast, Collector and Strata. But this is not the usual dash for a rock-bottom price that seasoned investors in this space might expect. The pricing structure of Whole Picture has not been attempted by any previous NFT project. For once, the description ‘innovative’ is deserved.

Three tiers and a bonding curve

A carefully flattened bonding curve, broken into three tiers, reflects the different interests, ambitions and wallets of participants. The balance between chance and choice is delicately calibrated.

Every 4,444 blocks, a new canvas is shown to owners: five in total until the next layer is revealed. Just to remind readers, this process repeats, until all artworks consist of unique arrangements of four stacked canvases. Enthusiasts get only one opportunity to lock or secure a canvas that they like, leaving the artwork they will receive almost completely to chance. Collectors get two chances, meaning two of their four layers can be chosen.

Meanwhile, those in the Strata tier have the greatest choice of all: in all four layers, they are able to lock a canvas. (Any canvas that is locked is taken out of circulation: those that are not are returned to the pool.)

The Reasoning

Why are the NFTs priced in this way? Strata strongly believes in the enduring value of Héctor’s work, and it is committed to actively enhancing that value for the long-term. And Strata cares about building a community. That is why participants can buy in at any tier they choose, whether they are first or five hundredth in line. Strata is a gallery that wants to change how art, artists and audiences interact and collaborate.

Saving the Best for Last: Tokenomics

One more piece of vital information. Strata’s aim is to be a pioneer at the intersection of physical and digital art. The Strata tier invites Whole Picture participants to become early investors in the Strata Gallery Platform. Stay engaged, and more information will follow.

Find out more:

Website: www.strata.gallery
Twitter: www.twitter.com/0x_Strata
Instagram: www.instagram.com/0x_Strata
Telegram: https://t.me/StrataGallery