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๐Ÿ‰ Discover the Creative Process of NFT Artist William Mapan

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Generative Art

๐Ÿ‰ Discover the Creative Process of NFT Artist William Mapan

Learn more about the mastermind behind Dragons generative collection

Kaloh
Mar 19, 2022
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๐Ÿ‰ Discover the Creative Process of NFT Artist William Mapan

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This article is part of the #30NFTArtists30days series, where I write a daily newsletter edition about a different NFT creator during March 2022. Consider getting a premium or a free subscription to support my writing journey โœŒ๏ธ

Today I have the pleasure to share the story behind William Mapan NFT journey. Originally from Paris, William is the creator of the Dragons generative collection dropped on FxHash. He is a software developer, but his art practice extends to different methods and forms besides code, like 3D, plasticine, and paint, making him an actual multidisciplinary artist.

Dragons #157 by William Mapan

How did you discover NFTs?

I think I first heard about NFT towards the end of 2020 with the crypto art hashtag on Twitter. At that time, I had no idea what it was and didnโ€™t dig in. In 2021, I heard back about NFT via Mario Klingemann, who talked about hicetnunc, so I started to follow closely.

At that time, I was working with Matt DesLauriers on a project called Wayfinder, and one day he explained to me how to create a wallet and so onโ€ฆ The same day I was onboarded on HEN. A reallyโ€ฆ wild platform, if I could say. Sync. Sync Sync :)

I minted my first artwork, and it got sold out. I didnโ€™t understand what it meant, but it certainly was the beginning of my journey in the space!

No name by William Mapan

Can you tell me a bit about your creative process?

My creation process is iterative and veryโ€ฆ. chaotic, I would say? In my artistic practice, I like to wander between multiple media: coding, plasticine, paint, colored pencils, 3dโ€ฆ I have a passion for trying every single art supply, and I like what they can offer. They all have their specificities. Usually, I let my brain and hands gravitate around them, experimenting a lot.

Often, Iโ€™ll have ideas for something while doing something completely unrelatedโ€ฆ Itโ€™s like having multiple distinct doors where each can lead to something interesting. And at the same time, I can build bridges between these doors by combining various concepts from different media. And once in a while, I will close all the doors and focus all my energy on one. Reading back on what Iโ€™ve just saidโ€ฆ maybe ยซย ย ยปorganicย ยป is a more appropriate adjective for my creative process.

Twitter avatar for @williamapan
William Mapan @williamapan
Generative ๐Ÿ–๏ธ #generativeart #javascript
Image
10:14 AM โˆ™ Mar 17, 2022
355Likes34Retweets

After ten years of doing this, I identified I work with the concept of ยซemergenceยป a lot: Tinkering, searching, exploringโ€ฆ until something clicks/speaks to me, and then I just keep digging in that direction. Of course, I often have initial ideas, but I end up somewhere I wasnโ€™t aware it existed most of the time. And I like that feeling. To constantly discover myself and learn every day.

FRMFRM #003 โ€“ Spread the love by William Mapan

Dragons is one of the most successful drops in the FxHash Tezos platform. It has amazed a total volume of 60k Tezos (+200k USD), and the current floor (cheapest piece available in the market) is 333 Tezos (+1k USD). Interestingly, there are only 45 Dragons for sale out of the 512, which means a short supply is available.

Who are your favorite NFT artists?

Naming my favorite ยซNFT artistsยป is toughโ€ฆ Because my inspirations mainly come from artists, not necessarily in the NFT space .. but if I have to name a few in that spaceโ€ฆ They would be Zach Lieberman, Manoloide, and Matt DesLauriers. Of course, there are many more that make beautiful art on a daily basis, but those 3 are the ones that motivate me to continue to make stuff nobody was interested in a while ago.

Also, one awesome thing about NFTs is they allow artists to connect a lot. I met and discovered a good amount of fellow artists. Iโ€™m not a social beast on social media (that thing takes too much time)โ€ฆ but being able to connect with art is truly special.

Boxed entity 04 by William Mapan

What are your most proud creations until now?

As a generative artist, I really like that our discipline constantly evolves, questions, challenges, or pushes further. Now we have ยซlong-formยป generative art. Iโ€™m not aware of anything like that before the NFT era (please someone correct me if Iโ€™m wrong)

Last year, I took up the challenge with " Dragons " series, released on fxhash. It is definitely an exciting and VERY intense exercise. Your algorithm has to display good imagery every. Single. Time. It challenged me a lot and questioned myself on the ยซย whyยป I like an output. It forces you to make a recipe for your own art. Why is it good? How? Iโ€™m happy to have made that last year. It pushed me further. Letโ€™s see where I can go next.

Dragons #172 by William Mapan sold for a collection record of 696 Tezos (2500 USD).

Donโ€™t forget to follow William on his Twitter account to stay up to his next drops. It seems he has been playing around with some AI magicโ€ฆ

Twitter avatar for @williamapan
William Mapan @williamapan
"Plane prototype in Ghibli style" #midjourney
Image
4:40 PM โˆ™ Mar 18, 2022
38Likes5Retweets

Until next time,

- Kaloh


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