NEW YORK – This June, Nancy Baker Cahill’s multifaceted augmented reality (AR) public art project, Mushroom Cloud NYC / RISE, reimagined for the Hudson River, makes its debut at the 2022 Tribeca Festival’s Immersive Program at Pier 25. Mushroom Cloud NYC / RISE, which will feature an accompanying video NFT minted on the Algorand blockchain, speaks to the environmental concerns specific to New York, expanding the work’s scope and opportunities for public engagement.
“Mushroom Cloud NYC / RISE is a project focused on accountability; one that values sharing and conserving resources, and strengthening networked systems through participation, communication, and advocacy. Leveraging Algorand, the greenest and most sustainable blockchain, allows artists to push creative boundaries while harnessing the equitable nature of the technology’s unique pure Proof-of-Stake model.” – Nancy Baker Cahill
Mushroom Cloud NYC / RISE acknowledges the imminence of the climate crisis while offering hope that through cooperative and constructive action, a vibrant and vital future is still possible. The work engages its viewers to consider the “organic” mushroom cloud, the mycelial network, and how it relates to web3 and an interoperable, interdependent, sustainable future.
For Mushroom Cloud NYC / RISE‘s NYC debut, Nancy Baker Cahill will create an NFT video specific to New York City. This new video, from the artist’s abstract Slipstream series, titled RISE, nods to rising waters, to viewers raising their gaze to witness the sky-covering mycelial network in the Mushroom Cloud AR experience and to collectively rising to the opportunity to combat the climate crisis through distributed support, mutual accountability and environmental stewardship. Mushroom Cloud NYC / RISE will be the first NFT ever created from an XR festival experience.
The project, according to the artist, is focused on accountability; one that values sharing and conserving resources, and strengthening networked systems through participation, communication, and advocacy. With these concepts in mind, Baker Cahill’s new NFT for this project, RISE, will be minted on Algorand, one of the world’s most advanced and sustainable blockchains. Algorand, an original proof-of-stake blockchain, is at the forefront of the global blockchain revolution, built with an energy-efficient design that allows it to operate in a cleaner and more environmentally friendly way. By minting the work on Algorand, Baker Cahill underscores that innovation does not require a compromise on sustainability, but in fact, thrives when we act with mutual accountability and collective environmental stewardship.
Viewers can experience the original AR work via Baker Cahill’s free 4th Wall App, when standing at the end of Pier 25 in New York City. The project will be on view throughout the Tribeca Festival, June 10-19. Collectors interested in acquiring the NFT may reach out via the artist’s website, nancybakercahill.com.
Source: Algorand
