We are excited to have Danil Pan, the creator of The Art Gallery Auction House (A.G.A.H) join us as a Unifty Gallery Exhibitor and today for an AMA!
He is a renowned digital artist and avid NFT collector, with visually striking works like SOLACE//, RADIANCE//, and PRISMA-ABSTRACTA//.
Danil was joined by AGAH artist Sempy.
Danil Pan: Hey everyone!
Unifty: Hello Danil and Sempy! Let's start with a short introduction. Can each of you tell us how you discovered NFT technology and what motivated you to start building & creating in this space?
Danil Pan: So i’m Danil, i’m an artist and collector since April 2020 and the Co-Founder of the AGAH (telegram auction house).
I discovered NFTs in Jan 2019 within gaming nfts first! then got interested in Art afterwards.
I fell deeply in love with the possibilities and opportunities of NFTs and it inspired me to build communities.
Sempy: I am a Graphic Designer and Artist. I make digital abstract and surreal art. I love taking people into another world and having feelings/moments expressed through color.
I first heard about NFT's when Etienne Crauss made a couple of pieces as NFT's. I really liked his art but I didn't know much about what NFT's were. That really led me down a rabbit hole and it has interested me ever since.
Question: Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind your SKIES /// collection?
Danil Pan: So SKIES is my approach to the generative PFP craze; I knew I didn’t want to create just another animal— it needed to carry a message and represent myself thru the art. In that way, SKIES perfectly does this by complementing other projects rather than compete. It is a project focused on delivering beauty and harmony to the Generative space:
Unifty: We are also interested in AGAH (Art Gallery Auction House). Can you offer us more details about it and what is the core idea behind it ?
Danil Pan: So the AGAH is my core community. When I started in art in april 2020 I realized that the major NFT platforms lacked any central hub for communities to gather and share/sell art— that's what prompted me to create a live auction house environment.
Through AGAH I was able to create an inclusive community focused on helping emerging artists in an increasingly competitive NFT market
Question: How has your perception of life changed after having created so many beautiful skyscapes?
Danil Pan: Honestly before art I felt like everything was just a lull, it felt like a sleepwalk. But with art I was able to appreciate so much more and I feel truly awake now more than ever.
Question: That's great to hear, and how are you personally looking to integrate NFTs into your design and art collections?
Sempy: I want people to see my journey and evolution as an artist. With the permanence of blockchain technology, this really makes an artist's journey set in stone.
Question: What are some of the challenges that emerging artists face and how do AGAH and Unifty Gallery help to overcome these issues?
Danil Pan: This is a fantastic question (I actually have that as a question for Unifty haha)
But the short answer is opportunity: Emerging artists NEED opportunities to be supported. So AGAH adds to this by providing artists with auctions and a warm community to ask for advice/tips
Unifty: To offer an answer from us also. The Unifty Gallery brings together artists, collectors and art lovers in order to explore and exhibit NFTs whilst getting paid to do so.
So this is a great way to further monetize your work and get further support that is needed from the community itself.
Question: A quick question, how do you see the Unifty Gallery helping AGAH artists to monetize their collections and grow their fanbases?
Danil Pan: This is a great question! Exposure is a necessary and scarce resource these days, and couple that with the lack of incentives it makes for a brutal market.
By using Unifty to curate exhibitions to showcase emerging talents AND to couple these exhibitions and pieces with Unifty tokens as incentives, we can hopefully see a rising support for emerging artists.
Unifty: Question for you both Danil and Sempy. What’s the one thing you wish people knew about you or your art?
Danil Pan: I wish people knew my art is negotiable in price because in the end I care more about who the collector of my art is versus how much is spent. Relationships with my collectors is a high priority for me.
Sempy: I wish people knew that my art is totally open to interpretation. That's why I love to make abstract art. People can look at the same piece but get different feelings/emotions from it! I could make a piece about swimming in the Bahamas but if you get a feeling of something different, that's totally fine with me!
Question: I have a rather general question about the NFT space in general: where do you think NFTs will be going in the future? At the moment it seems to be all about very overpriced OG Punk and Ape collections, and it's going to be very popular in games too. Where do you think the Art is going? Do you think the extremely high prices will soon collapse? Do you see other uses for NFTs outside of Art and gaming? How do you think the Space is going to evolve and what is the direction you wish for?
Danil Pan: Amazing question! I definitely agree in that we are seeing some insanely priced things and I don’t expect this to last. It seems that there is a massive amount of mania and personally i think money will flow back to signature 1/1s, emerging artists, and Innovative NFTs.
Gaming I think will be insanely huge as more games are made— only a matter of time!!
Outside art and gaming i think fashion and music will be the next big thing
Question: what do you guys think about adobe now trying to get into the game?
Sempy: Oh yeah I saw that they were making a feature to verify that this NFT was made by an artist with that specific Adobe software. I think that's a great thing. It gives artists and collectors more trust between each other that they are getting a legit NFT rather than one that was stolen.
Danil Pan: ooooh yess!! Honestly I think we need big companies and interests to jump on board but it's all about HOW they plan to add value versus extract
Question: So what exactly is the benefit for artists to use unifty over other more prominent digital art platforms?
Unifty: To answer it shortly to not take the spotlight from Danil, the unique thing about Unifty Gallery is that it manages to create a DeFi sort of incentive for NFTs, which offer another way for artists (especially emerging ones) to monetize their work.
Danil Pan: That's the way!
At a certain point artists get big enough to not require incentives to sell; their art becomes the only thing needed. But until then a helping hand or advantage is needed.
Unifty: What does it take for one to be an art curator for AGAH (Art Gallery Auction House) ?
Danil Pan: Hi Ali! Thanks for the question! So currently we don't curate, auctions are booked via typeform and is first come first served! Eventually we do plan on curated events and exhibitions as a staple.
Question: You mentioned art and fashion will be big in the future in the NFT market. My question is, when it comes to fashion - how do you see NFTs are used? Also if we talk about physical arts?
Danil Pan: Any physical good can have a digital counterpart and data—think RFID and QR. And I think provenance, which is a big blockchain focus thrives just as well in fashion pieces as it does with art or anything else!
Question: Do you trust tamper proof qr codes?
Danil Pan: I do yeah, but of course there will be eventual issues of counterfeit. However due diligence is the name of the game, and proper education on buying genuine goods can always be improved!
Question: Are you planning to expand your artwork into motion graphics or interactive NFTs ? Maybe even expanding to the NFT Gaming sector ?
Sempy: I use some motion in some of my NFT's. I feel that it gives some of the pieces more life to them. In terms of gaming, I feel like artists will be very important for character customization in the metaverse. Having an artist's specific in-game item used and resold perpetually and have them directly receiving the payment rather than a big gaming company platform will be an awesome thing to see in the future!
Danil Pan: I absolutely wanna get into gaming! Atm though i’m a character in an upcoming blockchain game haha, but i wanna make my art gamified
Question: Is it a short or a long term plan? I assume it's not really easy to find developers nowadays to make P2E games correct? Also, from what I've seen - there are those "must do something" type of games, 99% are like 2017 ICO shitcoins, sorry to say this. Useless games that PFP projects try to do just to make their volume and commissions alive.
Danil Pan:This is a fair criticism and I'd prefer to be a part of games that have longevity planned and built into their DNA. The main issue I see is that games are less focused on making the GAME and fixated on the economics/blockchain. You can't just add NFTs and call it a good game— the GAME needs to be good and utilize NFTs in an engaging way.
I think card games are an easier way to do this. I’m super bullish on Parallel
Unifty: you have a stellar body of work behind you so what can we expect with the Unifty Gallery launch drawing closer?
Danil Pan: Hey thanks so much!! You can expect highlighted artists in my collection that are under the radar and even exclusive pieces for Unifty!
Unifty: Sempy what can we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
Sempy: In the coming weeks, definitely expect to see some more art and maybe a new dark art collection in the works.
Question: Can you name some of your biggest inspirations in the space?
Danil Pan: My biggest inspirations are trash art gods ROBNESS and JayDelay, as well as Fewocious and Karisma.
Question: Are you already planning a big follow up project as S K I E S ? something really different or something with the same idea ?
Danil Pan: I have some thoughts but at the moment I’m fixated on building immense value for SKIES holders. They are gonna be on the ground floor on everything I'm doing for my art, giveaways, and collabs.
Unifty: As we approach the 1h mark, We have one last question from our side.
Can you present what is in your opinion the best piece (or the one that you are attached the most to) that you have created ? Tell us why you view it as special ?
Danil Pan: Ohhhman that's so toughh
Sempy u got one?
Sempy: I'm searching through my art folder rn
Danil Pan: To be honest i'd say my latest pieces! I'm working on a 30 piece collection. it's not minted yet
this piece is called
B R I L L I A N C E / / and focuses on the feeling of waiting for your moment to shine
View here: https://discord.com/invite/5ZBTgnAd9s
Sempy: this is one of my favorite pieces that I made!
View here: https://discord.com/invite/5ZBTgnAd9s
Question: What about it makes it your fav?
Sempy:Well my favorite color is blue but the composition and aura of it makes me
Question: Where do we get SKIES?
Danil Pan: here! http://www.moonwalk.xyz/s-k-i-e-s
Unifty: Everyone I am sure Danil enjoys this, but if there are no more questions let's wrap it out, we had a blast! Let's give them more time to create!
From now this channel will be open to questions about Danil's work and we will post updates regularly.
We thank Danil Pan and Sempy for joining us today for a great AMA!
We are also excited about our collaboration and upcoming Unifty Gallery Exhibition of Danil!
Going forward this channel will be dedicated to Danil's work and his Exhibition. It will be the place where both we and Danil will post updates and answer questions about everything related to Danil's work.
Stay up to date with Danil's work here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pan_danil
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itstheAGAH
Telegram: https://t.me/theAGAH
