We are excited to announce our investment in Ensemble, which is building a platform where artists can sell the artifacts from their creative process and tell the story behind it. Artifacts are often referred to as ephemera — pieces from the creative process of a project. Artifacts are created for a specific purpose and aren't meant to last after their original use.

Ensemble aims to create value from these assets by providing them with digital scarcity and showcasing them in context. Many artists have valuable creations that are left unused, but currently have no means to release them. In the traditional world, these assets are often left in closets and studios. Sometimes they’re sold through outdated auction houses. We believe that utilizing the capabilities of Web3 technology can help establish these assets as valuable commodities for individual artists, and even enable entertainment companies that own large amounts of intellectual property to monetize their previously unreleased digital assets.

Having partnerships with renowned generative artists such as DEAFBEEF and Mitchell F. Chan provides a strong foundation for Ensemble. From this point, Ensemble can expand to incorporate other forms of art in the Web3 space, such as music NFTs and film/content studios.
By establishing a strong presence in this space, we think that big brands and enterprises will become involved — similar to the transition of Art Blocks to Art Blocks Engine, Ensemble can give brands a way to enter the NFT space and convey their stories through art.

SuperRare addresses an NFT sub-vertical by emphasizing the exclusivity of its digital artworks. Any artist who wants to mint NFTs on SuperRare must apply and gain approval from SuperRare Labs. SuperRare also requires artists to submit only one-of-one art NFTs to ensure their pieces are rare.

SuperRare is a good analogy because, similarly, it focuses on a specific art NFTs vertical, that we believe will keep growing as fans will leverage Web3 to get access to previously unreleased assets through stories — the market value of all art is a function of the value of the story or narrative behind it.

With 42 artifacts sold through 6 drops in a few weeks only, we believe that tier-1 artists are very likely to collaborate with the Ensemble team as there are literally no other platforms that are committed to storytelling. For artists, the only real alternative is self-publishing, which is far from being a good option.

It is our belief that the true value of art is established by the authenticity and originality of its stories and concepts. The market value of art may fluctuate rapidly, whereas its cultural value tends to increase steadily, provided that it possesses genuine quality.

We think that Mackenzie is the right crypto native founders to go after this market opportunity.
He is a a theatre artist and video essayist who understands what his fellow creators really need.

If you’re interested in selling your artifacts on Ensemble, reach out and we’ll introduce you to the team.