Kate Vass

Culture has no owner. Only structure, care, & code| Apollo 40 u/40 in Art & Tech| Pioneer in web3 | Curator| Founder @KateVassgalerie & THE BOOK

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

Culture has no owner.

Only structure, care, and code.

[Jediwolf @Jediwolf]

My early AI art journey and the UnderTheGAN collection wouldn’t have been possible without the knowledge, archives, collections and generosity of @artnome @zaphodok @keyvass @SNOWCASH432 @WangXiang

Grateful for the foundations they helped make visible🙏

[Protagonist Foundation @protagonist_fnd]

It starts with one truthful record.

That is what it means to build culture, not content.

We are losing something that no one is talking about loudly enough.

Not the work itself - that lasts forever. It’s the context around it that remains ephemeral.

The sketch before the masterpiece. The decision behind the edit. The conversation that changed the direction.

When platforms are disconnected or go offline, the human story is at risk. This is not a future problem. It's happening now, quietly, at scale.

Digital works travel the globe in seconds, but leave almost no trace of how they were made, why they mattered, or when they evolved.

Culture now moves faster than our ability to remember it.

Human context is the scarcest resource of the digital age.

The artists, collectors, and institutions creating the cultural record of this era are still here. Their process is still recoverable. Their memory is still intact.

But give it five years and most of it won't be. This is a closing window.

Protagonist Foundation is a decentralized protocol that keeps the window open.

The protocol connects the actors holding cultural memory together: the artists, collectors, and institutions. Each contributes records that stay verifiable, contextualized, and durable over time.

One shared permanent record.

We believe archival standards shouldn't be imposed, but co-authored.

And this isn't really about blockchain either.

It's about the version that never shipped. The influence that was never credited. The story behind the work everyone knows.

It’s about preserving everything, from an artist’s initial thoughts to what a collector said to them at 2am that flipped their entire perspective.

This human aspect is what keeps disappearing.

Algorithms reward reach, not depth. Platforms optimize for now, not later. Markets remember price, but not much else.

We're building the infrastructure for everything history needs.

This is a collective act of witness:

ISEA2026 - the institutional highlight
@KateVassGalerie - the project interim
@shape - the home of the preservation layer

Together we all shape the standards future archives rely on.

This is the kind of effort that doesn't trend. It's the kind that lasts.

We will canonize work to preserve truth and build the cultural infrastructure this era deserves - together.

You show up. We build it. To witness is to preserve.

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

Absolutely loved this interview with @SamSpratt!
Kudos to @jediwolf for a great line of questions to reveal how one's life can transform into art—filled with depth, passion, & wisdom. Whether you're an artist or a collector, this is a must-read. Trust me, it can inspire! 🧵❤️

[Jediwolf @Jediwolf]

1/15 The conversation with @SamSpratt showed me how someone’s very existence can become a piece of art. The depth, the passion, the prudence… read it carefully if you’re an artist and read it carefully if you’re a collector. Bookmark it because you’ll likely come back to it🧵❤️

[Sean Bonner🔥 @seanbonner]

A few panel pics from various Marfa panels…

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

Got familiar with local fashion and got myself a ride to Marfa 📍😂

Looking forward to meet everyone

@artblocks_io Marfa Weekend starts tomorrow 😉

[Sasha Stiles | AI alter ego Technelegy ✍️🤖 @sashastiles]

neon poem sculpture, 2024 - in private collection via @KateVassGalerie

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

Here is how the AI bubble is being created, per Bloomberg:

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

@artblocks_io @larvalabs Looking forward 🔥

[Art Blocks @artblocks_io]

Quine by @larvalabs

The final Art Blocks Curated release · Oct 9

Code Generates Art <> Art Generates Code

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

!!!!!

This is just around the corner! Huge props to the core team working tirelessly on making this another memorable desert experience plus the dozens of artists, participants, sponsors (extra s/o to @opensea for being our lead sponsor) and everyone traveling to Marfa to celebrate our 5 year anniversary with us. 🍻

[AC @ACthecollector]

I think he used a voice modulator to sound younger, but other than that bats did pretty good.

If you haven’t always seen it:

[Bryan Brinkman @bryanbrinkman]

The list of “blue chips” was written by ~7 collectors w big wallets in 2021. That list will expand when new collectors with bigger wallets enter with their own points of view. Don’t get caught chasing the past and ignoring the future. Collect art you love, not what others tell you to love.

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

That’s a fun project, was happy to contribute and collect my LIFT 🏄‍♀️
@ArtOnBlockchain @glitchmarfa

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

@jeffgdavis thank you 🙏
#180 On-Chain Memory Token

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

@redbeardnft @ditacrypto 😂

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

"A video game is a fidget spinner with a story".

-- @mitchellfchan via @matto__matto

I started tinkering with making a Gameboy game with my kiddo and in the process started to wonder if something like this could be put fully on chain. Gameboy games are compiled C code and you can't compile C in a browser environment (without some trickery) which is a deal breaker for putting something like a generative ROM based game fully on chain in a way that's compatible with @artblocks_io.

But then I started digging deeper into how this all works, had to teach myself a ton of things (did you know Gameboys don't have an operating system and games are essentially "bare metal" programs that write directly to memory registers? I didn't lol) and figured out a workaround that I started experimenting with more meaningfully and it turns out it works!

Learning curve was insanely steep and this is hands down the most ambitious project I've ever worked on, but I set out to build a fully on chain generative (every copy is unique) Gameboy Advance game (with downloadable ROM playable on an emulator or loaded on a cartridge on a physical Gameboy Advance (or Gameboy Advance SP)) using the "Pixel Man" self portrait as a protagonist, commenting on the journey I and many of us have been on over the years.

Shared the concept in an Uber early this year with Mitch as he was wrapping up Zantar and as he told me more about his ambition with his trilogy I became increasingly inspired to bring my little experiment to reality. Then a combo of @derekedws offering me the @glitchmarfa residency and @redbeardnft always pushing me to be my best self got me across the line and here we are today. Seriously hardest thing I've ever done, but it's been a wonderful experience working with Derek and @magey_mage and also the @generativegoods team.

Side note: Mitch's three part project Zantar (part story part video game) debuted via @nguyenwahed is one of the greatest and most ambitious projects ever and I strongly encourage you to check it out. The first act, an interactive story called Overture, is a sensory experience leveraging the absolute best of the digital medium. Check it out here:

https://t.co/aP3rYzdKuz

I'm eternally inspired by Mitch and his work and think y'all will enjoy the project if you take a moment and dive into it.

🍻

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

Read his full Post AI essay here — it’s essential reading for anyone shaping what comes next:

https://t.co/8nEzeiXnDl

#PostAI #FutureOfArt #DavidYoung

[Kate Vass @keyvass]

Reposting David Young’s Post-AI Manifesto — a timely reminder that creativity isn’t a product of algorithms trained on the past.

The future of art lies beyond pattern recognition, beyond AI’s remix culture.

Creativity must reclaim the unpredictable, the human, the untrainable.