Main_Matter is Void - Water
Pace Verso

teamLab

Matter is Void

NFT Details

teamLab
Matter is Void
Release date: Thursday, Oct 20, 2022
11 PM CET / 5 PM ET

Times Square Activation

Oct 12 – Oct 18, 2022
47th Street & Broadway
New York

How to Purchase

(opens in a new window) Purchase on verso.pacegallery.com
For assistance in purchasing NFTs, please contact us at verso@pacegallery.com.

Download the Artwork

(opens in a new window) Click Here to Download

Modify the Words

(opens in a new window) Click Here to Modify

Press

Press Release

Connect

(opens in a new window) Matter is Void
(opens in a new window) @teamlab
(opens in a new window) @pacegallery

Pace Verso, the web3 hub of Pace Gallery, presents Matter is Void, the first NFT by the interdisciplinary art collective teamLab.

The project, which will be released on Pace Verso’s platform on October 20, comprises seven unique NFTs bearing the words “Matter is Void,” a reference to the Japanese-Buddhist expression Shikisoku Zekuu, which meditates on the meanings of emptiness.

To explore ideas of authorship and ownership, teamLab has adopted a radical format for Matter is Void that enables the NFT purchasers to change the words displayed in the work via a website that teamLab has created. Once the NFTs’ content has been altered by their purchasers, the artworks will never again display their original “Matter is Void” state.

While only seven Matter is Void NFTs will be available for purchase, ownership of the artwork is not exclusive to NFT purchasers. The artwork will be available for individuals around the world to download, own, and display at any time. All those downloaded works will reflect purchasing collectors’ real-time modifications to the words displayed in the NFTs. While the NFT provides collectors with the right to change the text, all works downloaded by NFT purchasers as well as individuals who do not own the NFTs are equally authentic.

From October 12, Matter is Void will be made available to download via a website teamLab has designed, accessible at (opens in a new window) https://www.teamlab.art/matter-is-void-owner/download/.

Coinciding with the launch of this online platform, Matter is Void will be the subject of a public presentation in New York’s Times Square beginning on October 12 at 12 AM EDT. One of the NFTs will have its initial “Matter is Void” text modified into a new phrase authored by musician and lyricist Grimes, known for her role in shaping contemporary culture. Grimes’s activation of Matter is Void will be revealed for the first time on large-scale screens in Times Square on October 13 at 12 PM EDT and remain on view through October 18. The presentation in New York is realized in partnership with Artsy, the leading global online art marketplace, and is sponsored by OUTFRONT Media. The wide reach of this event will give people an opportunity to contemplate teamLab’s interest in continuity and human connectivity.

The seven NFTs—six in their original “Matter is Void” format and one activated by Grimes—will be available to purchase on Pace Verso, accessible at (opens in a new window) verso.pacegallery.com, starting October 20. Grimes will also participate in an AMA discussion on Pace Verso’s Discord server on Friday, October 14 at 5 PM EDT.

Matter is Void will also be presented in Pace’s booth during the inaugural edition of Paris+ par Art Basel, which is open to the public from October 20 to 23.

On a formal level, the project reflects teamLab’s long-standing investigations of Spatial Calligraphy—or calligraphy drawn in space. With many of its digital works, teamLab has explored the ways that calligraphic forms might shapeshift across two- and three-dimensional spaces. In Matter is Void, brushstrokes appear on the screen, continuously floating and rotating in space. These brushstrokes periodically coalesce to form the phrase “Matter is Void,” or a different phrase selected by the NFT purchaser. These fleeting moments of legibility are interrupted when the brushstrokes take on abstract choreographies once more. Each Matter is Void artwork has a different color variation: black in white, black in black, white in white, gold light, fire, water, and fog.

This new NFT project also reflects the collective’s explorations of the relationships between individuals and the external world. As such, these artworks bring questions of being and ephemerality to the fore.

The release of Matter is Void will coincide with the launch of Pace Verso’s new, Ethereum-backed sales platform built by Mojito. Offering custodial wallets and payments via crypto, credit cards, or wire transfer, this platform update will serve Pace Verso’s efforts to make purchasing NFTs as easy as possible. Varied customization tools will also support Pace Verso’s mission to support a wide range of artists’ practices in the web3 space.

Featured Works

Main_Matter is Void - Black in Black

teamLab, Matter is Void - Black in Black, 2022, Digital Work, Endless © teamLab

Main_Matter is Void - White in White

teamLab, Matter is Void - White in White, 2022, Digital Work, Endless © teamLab

Main_Matter is Void - Gold Light

teamLab, Matter is Void - Gold Light, 2022, Digital Work, Endless © teamLab

Main_Matter is Void - Water

teamLab, Matter is Void - Water, 2022, Digital Work, Endless © teamLab

Matter is Void - Black in White

teamLab Logo.png

About the Artist

teamLab (f. 2001) is an international art collective. Their collaborative practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, and the natural world. Through art, the interdisciplinary group of specialists, including artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects, aims to explore the relationship between the self and the world, and new forms of perception.

Learn More

  • Pace Verso — teamLab: Matter is Void, Sep 27, 2022