EXIT PLAN #MeetMeOnTheBlockchain Curator's Statement

EXIT PLAN is a cross-chain exhibition that asks creators to devise ways of using Web3 technologies such as blockchains, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, digital assets, artificial intelligence, metaverse, and DAOs to reimagine, replace, and restore the harmful practices of the Web 2.0 internet such as social media, advertisement, data sales, surveillance, addiction, user manipulation, and the exploitation of human behavior.

Through EXIT PLAN, mowna alongside its artists, enters into an experiment to reimagine the internet, along with its applications in the field of art. With the move to Web3, we expect much of the infrastructure and concepts of the internet to change dramatically, with the future looking nothing like its Web 2.0 predecessor.

EXIT PLAN was curated using a multi-faceted approach; an invitation to a select group of longtime mowna artists to create and mint work on either the Tezos or Ethereum blockchains, a free call for submissions and exhibition partnership with Joyn which works on Ethereum, a fine combing of objkt.com for work that addressed the EXIT PLAN agenda, and the purchasing of artist, organization, and art tokens on the Tezos blockchain. In a newly formed partnership with Loop Art Critique we've created a Loop mowna room and had the invited mowna artists participate in a private conversation on Dec 15th, 2023 to discuss EXIT PLAN prompts and questions for the exhibition.

While many artists in the Web3 space have a dependence upon social media platforms to market their artworks and network with people in the community, they will have to face the fate of the failing platforms and explore or create new ways of marketing and connecting. As Legacy Russell states in Glitch Feminism,

"The paradox of using platforms that grossly co-opt, sensationalize, and capitalize on POC, female-identifying, and queer bodies (and our pain) as a means of advancing urgent political or cultural dialogue about our struggle (in addition to our joys and our journeys) is one that remains impossible to ignore. At these fault lines surface questions of consent—yours, mine, ours—as we continue to 'opt-in,' feeding our 'selves' (e.g., our bodies as represented or performed online) into these channels. To quote poet Nikki Giovanni: 'Isn't this counter-revolutionary[?]'"

As part of EXIT PLAN mowna is sunsetting its dependencies on Web 2.0 platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Discord, and Linkedin as a radical action to focus our efforts on building Web3 technologies that we see having lasting positive impact, including the continued use of our Loop mowna room, posting call for submissions via Joyn, and the launch of a mowna email newsletter.

In the process of building EXIT PLAN we witnessed many artists launching their own art tokens. This revolutionary concept allows one to invest into an artist without buying artwork, is not based on the production of a product, rather it supports the life of an artist and the blockchain(s) they are working on. We have purchased many of these tokens for EXIT PLAN as a nod to this innovative way to invest in blockchains, artists, organizations, abstract concepts such memes, and will exhibit the art tokens $$Mek, $PEPE, $$POLE, $PUMPD, $TEIA, $TRASH, $TRRIA, $UCZ, $UGO, and $VEND as part of the EXIT PLAN exhibition.

As this all percolates perfectly with EXIT PLAN, we have chosen to launch our own $mowna token as a way to invest in the Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art, the artists of mowna, and to support the Tezos blockchain. This token can be acquired via the swap feature in the Temple wallet, larger amounts of the $mowna token are available by contacting the museum, and liquidity for the token can be added via SpicySwap.

EXIT PLAN marks mowna's 10th exhibition and fourth year and we're elated with the outcome of this exhibition and where we find ourselves in this moment. Artists have reached beyond their comfort zones, experimented, and forged new ways for us all as we venture into our future with Web3. We are happy to share the EXIT PLAN exhibition, the new Loop mowna room, and the launch of $mowna.

🎉 #MeetMeOnTheBlockchain cari ann shim sham* & joey zaza mowna co-founders & curators

Artists:
Ariel Baron-Robbins, Barbara Bezina, Béatrice Coron, Dabeatnik, Dr Kim Hamilton, Empress Trash, Feixue Mei, imfinenft (Helene & Sylvia), Kalen Iwamoto and Julien Silvano (Wen New Atelier), Kuchill-0, Legogio7, Linda Loh, Lineadeluz, LUREX, Marzipan Physics, Nite Owl, Renata Janiszewska, Rodell Warner, Sabato Visconti & Sky Goodman, Theodore Lee Jones, treeskulltown, Violet Bond, Wioulet, Woman