Episodes

  • Episode #13 - Value
    Oct 24 2022

    Noah and Vivian discuss value. How is value ascribed? What are different types of value? Monetary value?  Cultural value? Artists can't pay the bills with exposure, but is there value to exposure? How is value created? Is this all artificial? Do Noah and Vivian answer any of these questions? 

    This episode of J2k is sponsored by Dirt, a daily(ish) newsletter about digital pop culture and entertainment. 

    JPEG2000 is still brought to you by Context.app, the best way to keep up with what's happening in web3. Context is also behind mint.fun, a product that allows you to mint new NFT projects safely from one interface. 

    Thank you to photographer Molly Matalon for the episode idea.

    JPEG2000 is edited and engineered by Paul O'Mara. The JPEG2000 music is by Yuri Beats. 

    Do you have thoughts about value? NFTs? art? Call the J2k hotline and tell us all about it. Call us at 845-377-3484. 

     

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    46 mins
  • Episode #12 - Artificial Intelligence, Smplverse, and Ethics
    Sep 28 2022

    After a short break, Noah and Vivian return with another episode of JPEG2000 and it is another episode on artificial intelligence. 

    This episode of J2k is sponsored by Dirt, a daily(ish) newsletter about digital pop culture and entertainment. 

    JPEG2000 is still brought to you by Context.app, the best way to keep up with what's happening in web3. Context is also behind mint.fun, a product that allows you to mint new NFT projects safely from one interface.

    Since their previous episode about AI (episode 2), the conversation around AI has exploded and gone viral. Dall-e mini memes proliferated everywhere utilizing Dall-E mini now known as Craiyon, a text prompt AI image generator. An artist utilizing AI won first place in an art context, and the New York Times wrote about it. With that has also come skepticism, criticism, and fear regarding AI. 

    Noah recalls an episode of his previous podcast All Consuming, he co-hosted with Adam Lisagor where he tests and discusses an AI tool called Parlo. Noah discusses his consistent discomfort about AI. 

    William Wiebe is an artist and researcher whose work deals with machine perception, and created a project called SMPLVERSE which utilizes a synthetic data set created by Microsoft to train face tracking algorithms to translate facial expressions into the VR experiences. When connecting your wallet, you are prompted to take an image of yourself which is matched to one of the images in the data set. Vivian's Smpl can be seen here. Noah's is here. 

    Noah calls Vivian in the middle of recording because he thinks the episode is too dense and needs a break. They collect a piece from Maya Man's project Fake It Till You Make it. 

    Vivian revisits unused audio from David Young, artist and guest in JPEG2000's first episode on AI. David shares his concerns about bias issues with machine learning. 

    This leads to a conversation where Noah discusses his thoughts about the ethics of AI and references an article by waxy.org. Noah and Vivian have a back and forth on the subject. 

    During the Rose and Thorn portion of the show, Noah complains about Adobe and Vivian complains about COVID. 

    JPEG2000 is edited and engineered by Paul O'Mara. The JPEG2000 music is by piano extraordinaire Yuri Beats. Noah and Vivian love attention so give them a call and leave a message on the JPEG2000 hotline by calling 845-377-3484. 

     

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    54 mins
  • Episode #11 - Glitch Art + Messages from Elsewhere
    Sep 1 2022

    After a short summer break, Noah and Vivian return with a new episode of JPEG2000 discussing glitch art projects God Observer by Godmin and Myfi by Aimee Rubensteen AKA Cookie Tree and Dr. Josh Eisenberg AKA  Dr. Slurp. 

    After discussing God Observer in Episode 5, Vivian and Noah have Godmin on this episode to discuss her work more in depth. The piece JPEG2000 collected is titled  ∧⨆∃⨏⊷⋭⋌∉≃⋀≰⨑⨗◯ #1000356 which is part of the God Observer collection, which is a part of the larger Heaven Computer art project. God Observer posits "if we could look into an telescope, what if we could observe God, and what would it look like?" The work is made via video glitching, where the video is turned into audio, and turned back into video through a process called data sonification. On the Heaven Computer website, there is a section called God Remixer, where your God Observer piece can be edited. The God Remixer was inspired by FITS Liberator, a software program for processing and editing astronomical science data to reproduce images of the universe. 

    The conversation is interrupted by a call from Noah in the future on a walk, where he sees amanitas mushrooms, reminding him of a piece titled Amanitas & The Sublime by artist Madeline Cass. Noah and Vivian collect the work and hear from the artist, who creates the works by scanning objects and digitally collaging things 

    Noah and Vivian pivot and discuss a project called Myfi Studio, who sent a piece to the JPEG2000 wallet. Myfi is a project that is comprised of 106 hours of glitch video art with combinatorially arranged music about mycelium network that has a message for you. The piece JPEG2000 received a piece titled Bumping Tock in the Woods. 

    To explain mycelium communication networks, Vivian has friend Sam Shoemaker on to explain. Sam is an artist and mycologist, who utilizes mushrooms in his art practice. 

    Myfi posits that there is conceptually similarity between the mycelium network and the ethereum blockchain network. 

    Noah and Vivian complain about various things during the Rose and Thorn portion of the episode. Vivian's rose was recently meeting Noah for the first time while traveling to New York earlier this month. Noah gave Vivian $2 bills as a birthday present. Noah's rose is that the first season of the chicken camera is closed. 

    JPEG2000 is brought to you by Context.app, the best way to keep up with what's happening in web3. Context recently created mint.fun, a way to see what NFTs are currently minting and what projects are trending. This episode of JPEG2000 is sponsored by Dirt.fyi, a daily(ish) free newsletter about digital pop culture and entertainment. Subscribe today ;) 

    JPEG2000 is hosted by gorgeous genius, Vivian Fu and Marcel's father, Noah Kalina. The podcast is edited and engineered by international playboy Paul O'Mara. The music for JPEG2000 is by podcast bff Yuri. 

    Don't forget to check out context.app!!!!!! It's very fun and cool!!!!! 

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    50 mins
  • Episode #10 - Questions and Answers
    Aug 10 2022

    In this episode, Noah and Vivian answer questions they received on the JPEG2000 hotline voicemail. If you have questions or comments, you can always leave a message too at 845-377-3484. 

    To kick off the episode, Noah and Vivian collect from a project called Dropicall, created by artist GOODNEWSFORBADGUYS through Mezannotte, a curated platform for NFT projects. The Dropicalls look like little phones, which is on theme for a show centered around phone call voicemails. The piece JPEG2000 collected looks like this. 

    After collecting, Matt from Mezannotte left a voicemail on the hotline, quickly to talk about Dropicall and Mezannotte's upcoming project White Hearts. 

    The first call Noah and Vivian respond to comes from Jonathan Mann, the song a day man and Digitally Rare podcast host, who calls to share his thoughts about how language that begins in cryptocurrency influences the language of NFT art. This leads to a random conversation about visiting the US Mint and $2 bills. 

    Kristen Cabrera , Web Developer extraordinaire at Foundation calls in to ask about why it is common to deploy contracts from burner wallets. Noah and Vivian do not know they answer, and have Malone, developer at Context.app, explain the answer. This leads to a conversation about chickens for some reason. 

    The conversation is interrupted by a call from JPEG2000 podcast editor, Paul O'Mara, with a question about how to mint nfts. Vivian goes to Paul's house to help him. They discuss many things, including what is a smart contract. Sam Mason de Caires, previously at Foundation but now at Rainbow, to explain smart contracts. 

    Paul creates his own smart contract, and mints a photograph titled Nitehawks, which Noah and Vivian problematically collect. When Vivian returns back to recording the episode, Noah has aged from the amount of time Vivian was gone. 

    Photographer Aleck Venegas calls in from the streets of Manhattan to ask a question about NFT editions and re-editioning. Noah and Vivian talk again about Sam King's project ICE64. 

    Writer Emily Sundberg calls in to ask about JPEG2000's vision for shopping in the metaverse, and what are ways brands can participate without being corny. Noah and Vivian do not really answer the question, but talk about Charmin toilet paper nfts. They also discuss David Rudnick's project Tombs, which Noah and Vivian both minted. 

    A final question came in from photographer David Fitt on the Desire Path discord server, about if it's possible to mint NFTs from your phone. Vivian was able to deploy a smart contract on Foundation from her phone. She later minted nfts from her phone onto the smart contract, called PHONE.  

    Noah forgot Vivian's birthday :( 
     

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    55 mins
  • Bonus Episode - JPEG2000 x Digitally Rare
    Jul 27 2022

    In a podcast crossover episode, Noah and Vivian are guests on the Digitally Rare podcast, and speak with host Jonathan Mann. 

    There is an intro from Noah and Vivian, and the episode leads into the conversation Noah and Vivian had with Jonathan. Noah and Vivian discuss ancient JPEG2000 lore, including how the podcast came to be, how JPEG2000 got it's name, and their thoughts regarding NFTs and web3. They also discuss Noah's project Chicken.Photos, which everybody continues to be obsessed with.

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    1 hr and 20 mins
  • Episode #8 - Crypto Lingo
    Jul 13 2022

    In this episode, Noah and Vivian discuss their thoughts and feelings about web3 lingo. GM. WAGMI. Diamond Hands. Rekt. So many words, so little time, so many feelings. 

    Noah and Vivian receive a voicemail from their friend Sam, inquiring about what to do about a web3 wedding he has been hired to produce. Vivian suggests the guests should be dressed in DressX. As always....you can call and leave us a message on our hotline at: 845-377-3484. 

    Vivian comes across a project called GM On Chain while browsing Context.app (thank you to our sponsors!). Unfortunately the project sold out, so Noah and Vivian had to collect a piece on secondary. The piece collected can be found on JPEG2000's context page.  

    Noah recalls work from photographer Aaron Ferguson, who had a collection of photographs of GM spray painted around his city. Aaron discusses his thoughts behind the photographs, his general feelings about web3 lingo, toxic positivity, NFT community, and favorite web3 term. 

    A few more voicemails come into the hotline, with the callers discussing terms they do not like, including GM, GN, Ser, and LFG. This leads to a rapid fire discussion with Noah asking Vivian her thoughts on many popular terms in the web3 space. This leads to a larger discussion around words (lol???)

    During Rose and Thorn portion of the episode, Noah says his rose is a birthday present from Vivian. The present was a book titled One Star and a Dark Voyage by photographer Barbara Bosworth, who also happens to make NFTs. Noah and Vivian impulsively purchase a piece titled One Star #24, an image that appears in the book Noah received for his birthday. 

    JPEG2000 is sponsored by Context.app, the best way to keep up with what's happening in web3, as well as for spying on wallets. They also recently launched a product called Mint.fun, which aggregates all the popular projects that are minting.

    The podcast is edited and engineered by Paul O'Mara, and music is by Yuri Beats. 

     

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    51 mins
  • Episode #7 - Privacy in Web3
    Jun 29 2022
    In this episode, Noah and Vivian discuss privacy in the world of NFTs and web3, a space that is inherently transparent. Is it uncomfortable to be publicly yourself online all the time? What if you could escape yourself? How do artists create work that speaks to privacy or invert the transparency of the blockchain? Noah and Vivian receive a voicemail from Jesse, who leads design at Context, to share information about a new product from Context called Mint.fun. Mint.fun aggregates trending projects that are currently minting, as well as trending projects that are free to mint. Noah and Vivian peruse Mint.fun and mint a project called My Fucking Egg, because Noah loves chickens and by proxy he loves eggs. Anyway, don't forget to call the JPEG2000 Hotline at 845-377-3484. CALL NOW!A feature of web3 and crypto is that your actions are visible and documented on chain. If you buy something that doesn't fit your aesthetic and vibe, are you embarrassed that it's publicly visible to everybody? In essence, you can always spy on people's wallets. Do we already live in a world where privacy is low-key dead? Content creators on Youtube, Tiktok, and Instagram share content of mundane elements of their lives ranging from their skincare routines, what they eat in a week, and "haul videos" showcasing things they bought during shopping sprees. Vivian recalls a piece by conceptual artist Barbara Kruger, which has text that says I Shop Therefore I Am. During Collection Time™️ Noah and Vivian collect "Point-And-Shoot Camera" from artist Stardrop's project called Everything I Own. Stardrop photographs all 1026 items that they own (including love letters, vaccination card, tax returns, drivers license), and the project is intended as an "exploration of ownership, consumerism, privacy, and identity in the world of crypto." Stardrop is an anonymous person who uses a pseudonym online, but simultaneously shares everything they own, including things that would be considered sensitive and private. Through seeing all of a person's belongings, can we paint a picture of who they are? You can view a feed of the project activity on Context on the project's collection page, and see all of the items that Stardrop owns.This leads to a conversation about the flattening of identity on social media, and how audiences think of new art made by artists is often influenced by their previous artworks and personal histories. Is being anonymous online a solution and a way to break away from that cycle? Next, Noah and Vivian collect a piece titled 2022-06-20 from Mars Maiers, a year-long daily art project created by Allan Yu and Jacob Bijani. In the first iteration of Mars Maiers, artist Allan Yu donned the pseudonym Mars Maiers to maintain his privacy (and protect his ego) and started doing an art piece a day, inspired by Taiwanese artist Tehching Hsieh (an artist that both Noah and episode 4 guest Robert Gallardo are inspired by). In the current iteration of Mars Maiers, daily artworks created by Allan are sold as NFTs in a blind auction format, introducing privacy and secrecy to the NFT space, inverting the inherent openness and transparency of the ethereum blockchain. Do you want to know how Allan and Jacob do this? Sorry, you will have to listen to the episode to get that info <3333 Noah asks Vivian about her time working at a photo lab in San Francisco. This is semi relevant to the subject of privacy. Insert reference to the 2002 film "One Hour Photo" starring Robin Williams, a movie that Vivian has never seen. JPEG2000 is hosted by Vivian Fu and Noah Kalina. It is sponsored by Context.app, which is the best way to keep up with what's happening in web3 (or for "spying on wallets", as Noah and Vivian like to describe it). The podcast is edited and engineered by Paul O'Mara. The music for JPEG2000 was created by musician Yuri Beats, who has his own podcast called Pirate Radio, which you can tune into on twitter spaces. 
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    53 mins
  • Episode #6 - Editions
    Jun 15 2022

    In this episode Noah and Vivian discuss editions within the NFT space and beyond. Is everything falsely scarce? 

    Noah and Vivian listen to some voicemails left on the JPEG2000 answering machine. Somebody confesses their love for Noah, another person asks if NFT shill culture is the new New York Subway guy selling his mix tape, and a nice caller who likes Paul's editing. Do you have things you want to ask or talk about? Call the hotline at 845-377-3484. 

    During Collection Time™, Noah and Vivian collect a Simpsons™ inspired piece titled "Sideshow" that is an edition of 15 from Connecticut based artist Chris Piascik, who is inspired by pop culture and punk rock music. Noah off handedly mentions that his Everyday video was spoofed by The Simpsons™. Vivian is jealous :( 

    Chris Piascik discusses his thoughts around editions. You won't learn about it by reading the episode notes, and will instead have to listen to the episode. 

    The episode is interrupted by Louis The Roofer, because Noah is getting his roof re-done, a process which Noah says is "a nightmare". 

    Iain Nash, an engineer at Zora who works on API and platform engineering projects (including Zora's edition NFT tool) to discuss NFT editions from a technical perspective. 

    Noah's chickens tell him to stfu. 

    The episode is interrupted again by Vivian, who calls to play a voicemail left by photographer Sam King (a friend Noah and Vivian know via their Discord community called Desire Path). Sam calls to discuss his new photo project ICE64, a project which has original full res photos, but each photo also has an edition of 64 photos that are tiny 64x64 pixel versions of the original photos. These tiny photos are stored and rendered on chain, and will live on for as long as the ethereum network exists. This leads to a discussion about digital permanence and also the right to wipe yourself off the internet/curate your online identity by scrubbing your internet history. 

    Previously in art history, photographers might burn their negatives and printmakers would score their printmaking surfaces to assure that the editions were truly limited. This leads to a discussion about artist proofs.

    In this episode's Rose and Thorn section, Noah and Vivian add a "bud" as suggested by Episode 5 artist Zak Krevitt, Vivian says her bud is that the podcast was featured by Spotify in their Business and Technology section. hint hint apple podcasts. Noah's bud is that his podcast with Paul (JPEG2000 editor extraordinaire) called Do You Hear That is in production. Noah's project Chicken Photos has gone live. Noah set up a camera which is trigged by his chickens. The photos are automatically tweeted to the @chickens twitter account, with select photos becoming available as NFTs. 

     

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    56 mins