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Image courtesy of Matt Furie from the full-page scan of Boys Club #2, a comic originally published in 2008

CHAIN/SAW NFT Gallerys inaugural exhibition, Iconography & The Internet, has added an extremely culturally-noteworthy NFT to its opening roster and forthcoming auction, the original Pepe the Frog, Feels Good Man panel from 2006 by Matt Furie, from which the viral meme was derived. Pepe is arguably the most ubiquitous meme of the internet age and his inclusion sits nicely alongside Michael Lavines images of Kurt Cobain, Ryder Ripps Oprah gifs and Michael Dotsons sketches for paintings of Disney sweethearts, all icons in their own right. The Iconography & The Internet auction begins on Friday, April 2nd at 8pm EST on CHAIN/SAW NFTs website: chainsaw.fun

Bringing notions of legacy, timelessness and transcendence into the conversations surrounding NFTs that are normally plagued by accelerated bro-talk and a quick cash-out, CHAIN/SAW NFT is more than a gallery, it is a platform for nuanced conversations. By engaging its accoladed artist roster in dialogue, CHAIN/SAW NFT seeks to provide personal guidance and context to them as the world collectively nurtures NFTs in their experimental infancy. These engagements live online as interviews that give artists an opportunity to demystify and humanize the digital art world. CHAIN/SAW NFT believes that artists should be the ones shaping the conversation as a new paradigm has emerged that yields alternative models for viewing, collecting, and experiencing art as we know it.

So, what does Matt Furie have to say about NFTs? Are they functional? Are they an opportunistic cash grab? Do they represent a sincere shift in appreciation of digital artwork? We hear from him below.

We just spent a lot of time on the computers these days, and were creating a lot of digital content or creating digital images and digital music and spending a lot of time with this digital stuff. So I think NFTs are a way to take that time and energy thats put into that and give it some value. And also give people some ownership of something that would otherwise just pop up on an image search. Its interesting, and conceptually, it feels pretty new. And different and controversial. So well see where it goes.

Iconography & The Internet presents a dissection of iconography, disemboweling notions of celebrity through appropriation while remixing our current definitions of pop culture with a sorely missed sense of humanity. The group exhibit features the works of modern visionaries including Matt Furie, Michael Lavine, Michael Dotson, Ryder Ripps, AKLO91 + Loyal Duce, Lisa Ramsey and ABSRDST, facilitating a new context for NFTs to coexist in that invites postulations of legacy, curation and timelessness into the fold.

The word icon has become a part of our quotidian vocabularies as we leave digital fingerprints on glass ceilings shattering the pixelated remains of creative ecosystems past. We arent just living in the future, were shaping it at every second as we build immaterial bridges between a skeletal experience economy and humanized algorithms for our digitized selves to cross. Identity is now an amalgamation of references, original and appropriated, speculatively collaged in the image of validation, thirsty for hyperstition and the iconography that now comes with the blue-checkmark of a verified account. Culture goes pop! and the art world itself has entered a discourse that is more fragmented than ever as its thoughts oscillate around populism, exploitation and ownership. NFTs have arisen as both the antithesis and the answer, shrouded in an air of accelerated bro-talk and restless optimism.

CHAIN/SAW NFT is a curated NFT gallery that provides artists with more personal guidance and context. Art has always had the power to shift the ways in which we experience and interact with the world. A new paradigm has emerged that provides alternative models for viewing, collecting, and experiencing digital media. This space has been quickly flooded with marketplaces and galleries, though, none seem to take a high quality, curated, artist-first approach. Chain/Saw recognizes that NFTs are the new paradigm and believes that artists should be the ones shaping it.

@chainsaw_nft, chainsaw.fun, twitter.com/chainsawnft

Mark Westall

Mark Westall is the Founder and Editor of FAD magazine Founder and co-publisher of Art of Conversation and founder of the platform @worldoffad

We managed to catch a virtual chat (arent they all nowadays) with one of the most important players in the digital /NFT world An Rong Director of Art & Cultural program at SuperRare ahead of their exhibition Invisible Cities which opens today April 2nd on SuperRare, Decentraland and Hook Art.

SuperRare present Invisible Cities, a groundbreaking exhibition of NFT art presented in a virtual gallery, curated by An Rong and Elisabeth Johs. Inspired by the pioneering text by Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities presents a digital exploration of the relationship between the visible and the invisible of our real and imagined cities from a distance and under close observation.

$69.3 million is a lot of money to spend on something you cannot touch, that does not occupy space and that cannot even be seen without flicking a switch. Now the dust has settled on Beeples epic auction debut, it is time to soberly consider whether it is worth it. Spoiler it probably is! We are, after all, living in the future.

According to a report in The Art Newspaper Damien Hirsts artwork, The Currency is to launch on a new NFT platform Palm.

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New NFT curated gallery CHAIN/SAW launches with original Pepe the Frog, Feels Good Man panel by Matt Furie - FAD magazine

Politico got it hands on a 16-page guide shared internally by the Pentagon in an effort to identify potential extremist infiltrators in the military. The guide tells employees to look out for extremist group iconology, like Proud Boys insignia and Pepe the Frog, the cartoon frog misappropriated on racist online message boards. There are members of the [Department of Defense] who belong to extremist groups or actively participate in efforts to further extremist ideologies, the document reads. Be aware of symbols of far right, far left, Islamist or single issue ideologies.

The document includes guidelines for differentiating religion and violent extremism. Christian extremism is often conflated with white supremacy for a joint ideology focused on racial and religious purity which they believe to be God's intention, one paragraph reads. Several military members were arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and four Marines were recently booted for extremist behaviorbut the true number of potential infiltrators is unknown because many extremist groups liaise secretly.

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Pentagon's Extremist Handbook Tells Military to Be on Lookout for Pepe the Frog - The Daily Beast

When streamer Chonkikage first joined Twitch, she knew already that Pepe The Frog was a hate symbol used by the alt-right.

Yet the prevalence of the little green frog across the platform made her question whether it had been reclaimed.

When I first started streaming on Twitch and I saw Pepe emotes everywhere I was like, this is very weird, she says. But I noticed people were using it in friendly ways from my experience, so I was like oh maybe its reclaimed, maybe its been adopted, its part of the culture.

Pepe The Frog emotes are among the most popular on the platform. Theyre not included as standard, but through third-party plugins like Better TTV and are used by viewers through the chat function as shorthand reactions to streamers.

The meme blew up in the 2010s but was adopted by alt-right groups on messageboard sites like 4chan, as outlined in last years documentary Feels Good, Man. The image has since been listed as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) but it remains in use across the internet, including Twitch.

Since then, LGBT+ Twitch streamers are fighting back by banning Pepe The Frog emotes from their streams.

There are viewers who use the emote innocently enough, while others have specifically attempted to reclaim the image for good.

Reclaiming is a complicated process if its happening at all, says Chonkikage. It would take time for a symbol to be fully reclaimed anyway by the communities that its harmed.

Even if I havent been attacked by it or I havent seen people use it in a negative way, its making [marginalised] people uncomfortable and if theyre saying that they dont want to be in a space where they see that symbol because its hate speech to them, its traumatising, just remove it.

She continues: But continuing to have Pepewhen you hear them say that its harmful to them and they dont feel comfortable in that space and then youre like oh well, I like Pepe, what does that say?

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Thats why Chonkikage, a full-time non-binary streamer and graphic designer, decided to create some alternative emotes. Named Froogy, the new emotes are available for anyone to use for free using the Better TTV plugin.

Im going to draw my own version and let people use it and itll be cute and different and just replace those other ones, she says. Thats how I saw it. I chose a frog because were going to get a better frog!

There are multiple Froogy emotes available that act as direct analogues to the most popular Pepe The Frog emotes. Froogy is a cute and innocent alternative, which viewers can use without the implied (though often unintentional) undertones of white supremacy.

Froogy emotes. (Chonkikage)

So far the emotes have been downloaded and used by hundreds of streamers since their creation back in January.

Seeing Pepe being replaced by them is wonderful, says Chonkikage. I live my values on my stream and I put my whole heart into these emotes. I feel like everyone who uses them is the same way so its great.

Chonkikage is keen to point out that streamers dont have to only use Froogy instead of Pepe The Frog. Her emote is simply one alternative, there for streamers and viewers to use if they like. After all, there are an infinite number of emotes that can be used for reactions that arent hate symbols, unlike Pepe.

Seeing the emotes being used by others is just a small way to spread positivity on the Twitch platform.

It makes me feel great because I know theyre taking the conscious effort to be more inclusive and understanding of people, says Chonkikage.

Its subtle, I know its just an emote, but people that are actively choosing to replace [Pepe] with Froogy have this in mind and it makes those spaces feel safe.

You can download the Froogy emotes on Better TTV.

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Meet the non-binary Twitch streamer whos creating alternative emotes to combat white supremacists - Yahoo News UK

The past year has been a tough one for the movie business. But despite the widespread closure of theaters and delays in releases,an impressive bunch of films related to the arts have come out.

From dueling documentaries on the infamous Knoedler forgery scandal to biopics on artists M.C. Escher to DavidWojnarowicz, here are 19 new art movies and where to stream them.

Undoubtably one of the biggest art scandals of the 21st century, the Knoedler forgery ring saw the eminent U.S. gallery sell some $80 million in forged mid-century masterpieces. Those involved said they did so unknowingly, despite an unverifiable provenances, wildly anachronistic materials, and, most damningly, a misspelled signature. Daria Price covers it all in this documentary. (Bonus: The film features expert commentary from Artnet Newss senior market editor Eileen Kinsella.)

Knoedler forgery scandal, take two. This documentary interviews Ann Freedman, the gallerys president, and a central figure in the forgery ring. She presents herself as the scams biggest victimbut was she actually its mastermind?

Chris McKim draws on the audio journals of the late artistDavid Wojnarowiczplus commentary from the likes of Fran Lebowitz, art dealer Gracie Mansion, and art critic Carlo McCormickto paint a full picture of the queer painter, photographer, writer, and activist, who died in 1992 of AIDS. The obscene title comes from a graffiti message that Wojnarowicz found scrawled on the street and appropriated for his art.

Artist Matthew Taylor directs a love letter toMarcel Duchamp, who changed the course of art history not once, but twice. First with his Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2,which ignited controversyat the 1913 Armory Show in New Yorkeven as it ushered the Modernist movement into the mainstream, and then withThe Fountain, his urinal readymade that became a legendary Dada masterpiece.

Jennifer Trainer, who spent decades as the head of public relations at MASS MoCAin North Adams, Massachusetts (and is married to Joseph C. Thompson, its former director), directs a film celebrating the institution and the way it revitalized a rural town after local factories shut down. Meryl Streep offers some star power as the documentarys narrator.

Artist Ursula von Rydingsvard, known for her monumental wooden sculptures, shaped from towering cedar trunks, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the studio machinations that make her large-scale public artworks possible.

Novelist and filmmaker Veronica Gonzalez Pea spent two years interviewing the painterPat Steirin this intimate portrait of the groundbreaking feminist artist and her beloved waterfall paintings, made by dripping, splashing, and pouring paint.

For this documentary, director Dennis Scholl gained access to the personal life of Abstract Expressionist Clyfford Stillin the form of 34 hours of audio recordings of the artist, as well as interviews with his daughters, Diane Still Knox and Sandra Still Campbell.

Carlos Almarazwas a Los Angeles artist and Chicano art activist who died of AIDS in 1989. His widow, artist Elsa Flores Almaraz, along with actor Richard J. Montoya, co-direct this Netflix documentary about his life and legacy, including his struggles to come to terms with his identity as a Chicano and his bisexuality. Watch to find out why David Hockney, Richard Diebenkorn, Jack Nicholson, and Cheech Marin have all been fans ofAlmarazs work.

This HBO documentary is largely narrated by artist and curator David Driskell, who died last year. The film explains the influence of his seminal 1976 group show Two Centuries of Black American Art, and features prominent Black artists working today, includingTheaster Gates,Kehinde Wiley,andJordan Casteel,

After decades of supporting institutions behind the scenesincluding more than a decade heading the board at the Museum of Modern ArtNew York City art philanthropist Agnes Gund gets her moment in the sun with this documentary directed by her daughter Catherine Gund.

Illustrator Matt Furie never could have predicted the afterlife of Pepe the Frog, a character from his comic book seriesBoys Club. This documentary from Arthur Jones unravels the mystery of how the slacker frog morphed first into an internet mascot and a symbol of hate for the alt-rightand how Furie attempted to reclaim his most famous creation.

Martha Cooper, who in the 1970s became the first female staff photographer at the New York Post, has made a name for herself as the foremost documenter of graffiti art in New York City. Now, her unlikely career is itself the subject of a documentary film, directed by Selina Miles.

Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Ree found a pair of unlikely documentary subjects in Barbora Kysilkova, a Czech painter, and Karl-Bertil Nordland, a thief that stole two of her paintings. The movie tracks their unlikely relationship as Kysilkova attempts to paint a portrait of the heavily tattooed criminal who committed the robbery because, she says, they were beautiful.

You might not know the name Gustav Stickley, but the late designer was a key figure in the American Arts and Crafts movement, which rebelled against industrialization. Director Herb Stratford provides a full picture of Stickleys life and career, and whats behind his lasting significance.

The mind-bending work of M.C. Escher, known for his optical illusions, was an exploration of both art and mathematics. Director Robin Lutz explores the evolution of the Dutch printmakers increasingly intricate work, animating his illustrations to stunning effect, with voiceovers from actor Stephen Fry.

This documentary from Aurlia Rouvier and Seamus Haley explores the various theories as to the identity of anonymous British street artist Banksy and praises his high-profile stunts, likeLove Is in the Bin, the shredding of aBalloon Girl print after it sold at auction. Its likely to be enjoyed most by diehard Banksy fans (one talking head apparently claims that Banksy is the Picasso of the 21st century).

In this indie film, directed by Michael Walker, three art school grads are determined to navigate the New York art world, even if they that means resorting to blackmail, betraying their friends, andperhaps worst of allpainting their own mothers in the nude. (Full disclosure: a group of real-life art-world professionals were called in as extras in the penultimate scene at a gallery opening, so keep an eye out for the writer.)

Director Halina Dyrschk continues the important work of restoring the legacy of pioneering Swedish painter Hilma af Klint, who began experimenting with abstraction five years before it was invented by Wassily Kandinsky. The film recounts Klints life and career, her descent into obscurity, and ultimate rediscovery, including theblockbuster 2019 exhibitionof her work at the Guggenheim Museum New York.

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Here Are 19 Great New Art Movies You Can Stream Now, From a Philosophical Ode to Banksy to Dueling Exposs on the Knoedler Scandal - artnet News

A meme: an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations.

Alt right: a right-wing ideological movement characterized by a rejection of mainstream politics(usually conservative politics) and by the use of online media to disseminate provocative content, often expressing opposition to racial, religious, or gender equality.

4chan: an online anonymous message board

Doxed: someone is to publicly identify or publish private information about that person

/pol/(short for politically incorrect): a forum on 4chan where people talk about politics, commonly associated with neo nazis and the alt-right.up to 30% of messages contain hate speech on the forum.

Everyone loves memes right? Well that Everyone includes the alt-right and over the last 5-6 years the alt-right have used memes and internet culture and gamingto recruit people into, sometimes neo-Nazi, organizations. This all reached a worrying crescendo at the capitol insurrection of January the 6th.

How did this happen?

A Report from the Media and manipulation project at the data society, an independent nonprofit research organization, credits the rise of the alt right to gamergate. gamergate started in 2014 when a few women, most notably Zoe Quinn, in the industry started calling out casual sexism withing videogames. These article where then used by a small group of people on the 4chan website to effectively wind up the gamer community and prove how in there eyes all feminists are evil. This small group used the the Gamer identity of a geeky, uneducated, unemployed male who may have trouble finding a romantic relationship, to perpetuate this anger at feminists in general. Quinn and other feminists were doxed and threatened. Although gamer gate finished in 2015, the seeds had been sown and internet culture had its first taste of being politicised. It also was a key moment for alt right leaders, who saw the power of gamer and meme culture to infiltrate communities and divide, in this case by gender.From gamergate communities such as mens rights activists and Incels(involuntary celibates) grew hugely in popularity.

The common feeling between gamers and the alt right, is that of oppression. During gamer-gate gamers were made to feel like they were oppressed as Journalists were attacking there games for sexism. This is the same feeling of Neo-nazis and white supremacists. The alt right used this feeling to radicalize gamers and those in the online world.

A key problem is the blurring of the line between a joke and something serious. At first someone may say I really like adolf Hitler this seems so ridiculous so is therefore taken as a joke, but once many others start to spew neo nazi and racist hate it becomes serious. The alt right infiltrate these servers and start posting things.

Another common tactic is hijacking memes such as pepe the frog, for many this is where the lines blur. The pepe the frog meme was once a harmless joke, but a white supremacist campaign which started on 4chan. The joke is used by both the alt right and the average internet user, so it is very hard to tell who is who. Therefore you cannot tell who is alt right and who isnt.

Real world impacts

Just a few years ago we saw the devastating impacts of radicalization during the Charlottesville unite the right rally, we saw a huge gathering of alt right members some of which dressed as.the pepe the frog meme and also the based stick man meme. There was 1 dead at the Charlottesville rally, the perpetrator was a known gamer. He had a prior criminal record involving violence towards his mother, when she asked him to stop playing games.

With the rise of Qanon, they are also targeting young people on social media, but they are using aesthetic to lure them in with the hashtag #savethechildren both president trumps campaigns have been shrouded with alt right activity for example the proud boys.

Conclusion

Like all young internet users I look at memes and enjoy them, just because they are used by the alt-right should not mean a full on ban of memes, that would be absurd. But legislation on the internet is outdated and has to be updated.

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How Gamers and memes prompted a new wave of Neo-nazism by Felix Von der Geest Hampton school - This is Local London