The original J48BAFORMS collection is easy to sleep on because it doesn’t fit neatly into any one box.
Is it a PFP collection? Yes. But it doesn’t look like one, especially if your primary PFP orientation is cartoon animals, anime badasses, pixelated dickbutts, etc.
Is it generative art? Yes. But it can take a little time to grasp the nuance of how the team fed whimsical, degenerate illustrations into a generative adversarial network (GAN) to curate a stunningly original 4,848-piece collection composed of both the original inputs and machine-learned outputs.
Is it fine art? Yes. It’s a product of its time and it should age well on walls and in museums as a novel first generation use case of human x machine co-creation. The collection is a fusion of the organic and synthetic, the ratio – and internal friction – of which varies greatly from piece to piece.
tl;dr J48BAFORMS is a big brain project that’s never gotten the recognition it deserves for innovation, largely because it manages to be too many different awesome things all at once
But the team behind J48BAFORMS aren’t fairweather creatives, nor are they crypto/NFT tourists. The public face of the project, HybridGAN, is a degen native of the space who’s remained true to his inspirations and signature aesthetic over the past two years. After releasing the OG forms collection in April 2021 (and quietly doing almost 550 ETH in secondary volume since), the team has continued to release form-adjacent collections (like J48BATRINKETS, Goblinis, and Turbolinis) that build out the Grotto Labs constellation.
As this productivity confirms: the J48BAFORMS team are builders – compulsively and prolifically, and ones truly “of” the crypto/NFT space that birthed them. They may not have the profile of other creators who NFT collectors rightfully venerate as our artists, whose work both reflects and defines our scene (think OSF, Ratwell, Sartoshi, etc.). However, that’s the trajectory the J48BAFORMS team is on, or at least deserves.
The team has been steady building – not chasing the newest meta, not trying to be anything other than what they are – for years now, exploring and developing a distinctive artistic style and ethos in the process. And, like crypto itself, it’s a style full of mind-bending details and contradictions. The original J48BAFORMS collection manages to be simple and grimy, cute and whimsical, dark and grotesque, complex and high-tech all at once, depending on the piece and the beholder.
While exploring and cultivating this style, the team has also managed to build a small but fantastic Discord community of friendly, chill, and knowledgeable collectors. Whereas most NFT project Discord’s tend to be shilly, cultish, tribal, petty, and/or just plain fucking annoying and useless, the J48BAFORMS Discord is a haven for a different breed of collectooooor.
Looking for some quick gm positivity and good vibes? Stop on by! HybridGAN is an ever-present, hyper-positive participant and tour guide. You wanna talk HTF macro crypto trends, or LTF degen shitcoin plays? The community has opinions (generally learned ones), and you’ll hear/learn interesting things about the market.
What about food and beverages… are you a connoisseur, anon?? The J48BAFORMS Discord is hands-down the best crypto/NFT community destination to casually chat out the sumptuous and delectable in this regard. I’ve learned more about haute cuisine, industrial marijuana production, contemporary art news, and many other things in the J48BAFORMS Discord than anywhere else in the space. It’s a great resource anchored by an eclectic, welcoming group of collectors and connoisseurs who are in it for the art.
Being consistent and authentic doesn’t always translate into recognition and acclaim. It can be lonely to persevere and tempting to adapt to market trends. But the J48BAFORMS team has built something by sticking to their guns and seeking to create the most organic and truthful NFTs possible, ones that can be considered as fine art and not just a speculative asset.