Anna Leven

Wrote an essay on Surrealism vs avant gay. Avant gay won (I’m forgetDali — what did you expect?). The link’s below — read, share, subscribe, and tell me what we should actually call those “gay” works.

Over the course of several months, @briandroitcour developed an argument around two defining tendencies within digital art—or at least within its web3 branch. I’d like to propose a third (Brian asked for a new topic to get obsessed with anyway). My first Thursday column went out, mentions include Strange Rules, New Bad Image, RJ, and Jerry Saltz. The link is below if you missed it. And please subscribe (thank you to everyone who already has ❤️).

@m_blehaut It’s out — the first issue went out this Thursday 🙃

@ForgetDali Can't wait to read it dear Anna ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I meant I’d launch the magazine the day after securing funding — not literally tomorrow. But then I thought: to hell with it. It wasn’t a typo, it was my destiny: I’ll launch something 😂 So: Every Thursday, I’ll send out a Substack newsletter, my column. I’ll share my published pieces — I’m focused writing for media — alongside articles, essays and projects I think are worth your time. In top of that, I can commit to one substantial interview or artist write-up per week — similar to what I do for Objkt. Now, a small favour: please subscribe to the Substack en masse. Force-subscribe your partners, children and dogs. Tell them it’s for culture. Or tell them nothing, if you favour less democratic methods. If I want sponsorship or advertisers (I do, I do), the first thing anyone asks for is numbers. The link is below. DM me with suggestions, commissions, collaborations, or existential concerns. Let’s rock this joint 🖤

@Orkhan @macbethAI I don’t hold your work but Jackal chat sounds way too good not to try to get into

@macbethAI i would say Jackal chat 😄

If you hold my work, and want to join my x group chat? where I share TOP SECRET updates. just let me know.

@DDO__xyz @rivoca_gallery Hm, rivoca gallery?

Me rn Working for @rivoca_gallery 🖤

@lm_netwebs Oh wow I had no idea she works with ceramics

I didn't know how much I needed to see it until I saw it.

@ArtMonochrome2 A lot of love, dear! 🖤

@ForgetDali ❤️🌺

@rociomiobosque @kikanicolela 🫂♥️🖤🫂

@ForgetDali @kikanicolela This and more.

@postanika Oh hi Willy (wanted to mention him in the first newsletter)

@ForgetDali i promise that also my dog will subscribe. willy says hi!

@ForgetDali Love it! Let’s gooooo, darling ⚡️

@shavonnewong_ Tell me you are a bit impulsive without telling you are a bit impulsive 😂😂😂

@ForgetDali "It wasn’t a typo, it was my destiny" love it😂

@trippycollector Yes sent out! Subscribe to the Substack pleeeeeeease 🙏🏻 open.substack.com/pub/annaleven/…

@ForgetDali Hey dearest Anna! Did this get posted?!? I’m back lookin for it

I’m happy to launch a magazine tomorrow — to document emerging artists in the space, write about trends, exhibitions, and cover what’s happening in media art beyond web3. What has stopped me so far is the question of sustainability. Ironically, there seem to be too many writers for oh so few readers. Many influential collectors openly claim critics are unnecessary, which makes me sceptical that a collector-supported publication model could work. Right Click Save went through a difficult period, Outland stepped away from the magazine format, platforms are sunsetting, galleries are cutting costs and simply trying to survive. Right now, it feels like there is nobody reliable to build upon — neither paid subscribers nor advertising. I was researching grants, but since I live in Barcelona, most public support goes to media in Catalan. A Catalan-language magazine about digital art, anyone? Realistically, a niche magazine only needs a small number of committed supporters to exist. So. Are there any?

@grebenshi 🙏🏻

as @ForgetDali commanded, reporting that her debut thursday column is out (even before she did – that's commitment), and that 'anyone still convinced digital art begins and ends with apes' shall know it open.substack.com/pub/annaleven/…

@RaquelGaudard @jamesbloom_ @objktone 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 yay, can’t wait!!!

My next interview on objktor is coming: @jamesbloom_, on the occasion of his upcoming release on @objktone. Stay tuned! 👀

@Greekdx @NFCsummit @ArtBasel @DesteFoundation First time I hear about Deste, bookmarked to check properly

Resuming travelling for art in June after 6 months and couldn't be more excited. Early June: @NFCsummit in Lisbon Mid June: @ArtBasel in Basel Mid to late June: @DesteFoundation in Hydra Then will go into eurosummer mode until September, so hopefully can see some of you soon.

@no_faith_left One thing only

better being good (enough) at a lot of things or a master of one thing only? let me know your opinion!

@celstialbody 🖤

Still some detailing work to be done and probably a few splatters of texture here and there. But at a glance it’s complete.

@NaughtalieStone @bygrida There was also quite much written on Brian Eno’s generative film in a way that showed people at least tried to engage with it and understand it Nathalie, can you dm me please? I can’t send you a message

It has been both strange and wonderful to watch Radiohead’s Motion Picture House receive the kind of press that treats digital-based work as serious art worth evaluating. ARTnews calls it “entrancing and trippy, hypnotic and at times hokey in an endearing way,” reaching for Tarkovsky’s “Zone” as a reference point. Artnet describes it as a “wild and unsettling immersive experience,” a “haunting” installation. This the normal language of criticism, applied with care. Having worked with CryptoPunks and on-chain artists and institutions like NODE, we often couldn’t break through with “mainstream” media. When the press came, it was often scathing, or openly angry or wary. Mostly though, they looked past clear successes and value as though it was not there or meaningful to consider. And yet here we are: Motion Picture House is a project that breaks down format in much the same way…digital, audio-visual, presented on screens, reliant on technology to expand the storytelling potential beyond the material. The project is being received with open arms. Obviously, it’s Radiohead. But what is being revealed is a bias, and the bias is not the medium. It is not the format. It is not even cross-disciplinary suspicion, ie musicians offering their visual worlds, their visual economies. It is simply that some makers are granted the willingness to be seriously engaged with, and others are not, even when the work plainly merits it 🤷🏻‍♀️