LVCIDIA: NFT artist FVCKRENDER is building his own Metaverse
You are billions of gigaparsecs away from Earth, floating on a rust-coloured planet. The sky is black and the ground is rumbling. The dream feels vivid and real . . . are you ready to escape the waking world?
This is the entry point into Vancouver NFT artist FVCKRENDER’s own Metaverse – named LVCIDIA – which promises to be a virtual galaxy filled with sculptures expressing the fragility of our existence and beauty of our humanity.
On the surface, building a Metaverse seems like an overly ambitious task. But for an artist whose total produced NFT (non-fungible token) artwork value is worth millions, it’s a natural next step in a rapidly evolving space.
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And besides, FVCKRENDER – whose alias came to life out of frustration seven years ago while doing 3D art with a primitive Macbook Pro, which sometimes took up to an hour to render a single frame – is no stranger to levelling up quickly.
Eight years ago, there was no “FVCKRENDER;” rather, a Montreal pizzeria server who was passionate about cycling. After a gruelling three-day journey from Montreal to Boston, he discovered he had multiple vertebrae displaced, which was causing the entire left side of his body to feel numb.
With cycling no longer an option, the waiter was forced to find a new hobby. He began experimenting with digital and 3D art and quickly became obsessed with the process, spending countless hours per week dedicated to his new craft.
For many years FVCKRENDER’s focus was commercial work, but the discovery of NFT technology opened up a new realm of possibilities.
“I’m very bad at commercial work; I’m not good at executing other people’s vision,” says FVCKRENDER.
“You’ve got to do what you love, and NFTs really opened this up for me: doing my own art.”
FVCKRENDER started like many other early NFT artists: selling images on SuperRare and Nifty Gateway. But quickly, he developed the urge to create something bigger and more significant.
In early 2021, the Vancouver-based artist had many successful NFT sales including a six-figure sale in a Sotehby’s auction and multiple sold-out drops on Nifty Gateway.
He reinvested a significant portion of the money earned from NFT sales to build a team of 30 people who are helping bring the vision of LVCIDIA to life.
“We’re trying to do something that hasn’t really been done.”
LVCIDIA will be an immersive, streamable experience from any computer or phone that has a decent internet connection, FVCKRENDER explains.
According to the LVCIDIA website, those who own a FVCK_CRYSTAL – a generative collection of 4,169 digital precious stones created by FVCKRENDER, with a current floor price just shy of 3 ETH ($11,000 CAD) – will have greater control than anyone else over the narrative of LVCIDIA.
The LVCIDIA roadmap suggests much more development in the first quarter of 2022, including: the release of FVCK_AVATARS, a new token and the ability to stake that token.