Sibelius Monument for the Metaverse
(2022)
Digital artwork for Sibelius Violin Competition & YLE Innovations
Animated, 3-dimensional & interactive NFT with custom smart-contract & data stored on Arweave Permaweb
As an award for Inmo Yang, the winner of the XII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, sculptor Erwin Laiho has created an artwork in the form of a monument for the metaverse. The artwork is 3-dimensional, interactive and can be admired by itself or placed in a digital gallery or metaverse of the owners choice.
The 3D-model has been sculpted to the exact specifications of the violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in Turin dated 1772. The revered violin is loaned as a reward to Yang by Jane Ng through J & A Beare and the Beares International Violin Society. While the loan period for the actual violin is only 1 year, Yang gets to keep this digital version.
Adding his signature ode to the geologic materials that enable technology, Laiho's artwork emulates the red granite underneath the 1967 Sibelius Monument by Eila Hiltunen. Faithful to the tradition of monuments, this work is set in stone to preserve our highest achievements against the test of time.
The 3D-model is made in a voxel-style using Fusion 360, Blender & MagicaVoxel. The .GLB-file measures 368x200x1085 voxels and has a grand total of 1 132 150 voxels. The metadata is stored forever on the Arweave Permaweb.
Lastly the artist would like to thank YLE Innovations for their enthusiasm & support. More of their thoughts in this article here.
Forming a surface model based on photos
Creating the interior and inspecting the wireframe
Finishing touches of the voxel version
ASCII-signature in the smart-contract