Chaos Paintings Proposal

Full Proposal: https://songcamp.notion.site/Chaos-Paintings-22df6f79fea945f38585d62b2e76654c

Background

It is currently unclear how original, non-digital artwork created for Chaos, e.g. the paintings created by Kevin, can be used. The physical paintings are currently stored in Kevin’s studio in Oakland, California; they are not framed or exhibited. Where should the paintings be stored? Can they be exhibited? Can they be sold? If sold, what is the value flow and to whom can they be sold?

There’s also been expressed interest from Chaos to experiment with merch/apparel and not yet a push to experiment here.  Other open questions: How can we experiment with new projects to help sell more packs?  How do we operationalize new projects?  How can the Chaos common pool be utilized to support new experiments?

There is no current infrastructure (systems, process, knowledge) for Chaos visual artists to experiment with exhibiting and selling work within Chaos.  The intention is that the experiments described below can help build some infrastructure and establish best practices to create more opportunity for Chaos visual artists and other experiments.

Description

This project proposes using the Chaos Paintings created by Kevin to run two experiments:

Experiment 1 – Chaos Alchemy Painting Originals: selling 1-of-1 NFTs of eight of the nine Alchemy paintings, which would unlock access to the original physical painting (framed, 10” x 8”).  Reserving one of the nine Alchemy paintings for a raffle.*

• Round 1 – 3 day purchase window; option to purchase open only to Alchemy NFT holders; if after 3 days there are still paintings remaining, then move to Round 2
• Round 2 – 3 day purchase window; option to purchase open only to Chaos NFT holders
• *Raffle – open to all Alchemy NFT holders with the one reserved Alchemy painting going to the raffle winner

This experiment would hopefully breathe life into pack sales and the Chaos NFT collection.  It may motivate people to open packs to see if they have an Alchemy NFT, granting them access to purchase in Round 1.

Pricing: based on secondary sales of Alchemy NFTs, we’ve received guidance to price at a minimum of 1 ETH given that the 1-of-1 pieces reflect the raw art in Alchemy cover artwork as well as the unlocking of the physical painting (framed, 10” x 8”).  Decision point: fixed pricing or auction?  Would love feedback on auction design and auction vs. fixed pricing strategy.

The strategy above is targeting Chaos NFT holders (and specifically Alchemy holders); however, several campers have expressed interest in acquiring a painting.  Kevin is honored by this and we propose two options for campers interested in a painting:

• There are 6 additional paintings Kevin created (some used for promotion of Chaos) that he’d like to offer to campers at cost, i.e. just paying for shipping/framing for anyone interested. Priority would be given first to the people who have already inquired about wanting a painting. First come, first serve.
• Participate in the auction along with other Chaos NFT holders

Experiment 2 – Chaos Alchemy Painting Shirts: selling limited edition shirts with underlying NFT using NFC chip technology through collaboration with IYK. There’s also experimentation opportunity to unlock gated content, e.g. Verite’s IYK crewneck unlocks advance access to her new album and video content. Shirts would be “high-end” i.e. full color CMYK printing, sewn-in tags, sweatshop free fabric. They would feature a design inspired by one of the nine Alchemy paintings.  Minimum batch order for shirts is 30. if possible from a dev perspective, would also tether packs to the shirts (e.g. a pack included in the sale of the shirt).

We propose opening this sale to any Chaos NFT holders and experiment with a small batch. The objectives are to both experiment with merch sales as well as regenerating attention to and boosting NFT pack sales. If the limited run of 30 sells out, we recommend doing a production run of a second painting design.  If possible mechanically, would ideally offer discounts to Chaos Campers for those interested.

chaos.build

The current plan is to use chaos.build to host these experiments.  It could be an opportunity to map the visual layers to the NFTs themselves, i.e. we could have a page (for example, Chaos Alchemy Painting #1) with the auction mechanics to collect that NFT, but also a description of what that painting is used for in the collection; then a link out to an Opensea page that filters for all the Chaos NFTs with that painting as a layer.  This could become a longstanding platform for other physical drops.  That said, we need a way to capture buyer information in order to ship physical items – we need to scope out whether this is feasible on chaos.build or whether we would need to do this with a separate entity (e.g. Seed Club / Shopify integration; or simple old school form entry; or Pirateship).

We will be submitting a second proposal through the October governance cycle to scope the dev work for chaos.build. The project team is meeting with Neesh and Daniel on 9/23 to begin the scoping process and will be able to share v1 in #proposal-workshop the first week of October.

Project Objectives

Part of the original intention of the project was to find ways to leverage the physical paintings to support Kevin’s other creative project (mexyu); however, that is no longer a primary objective.  Primary objectives include:

• Optimize for learning with reasonably scoped pilots, using the paintings as an example, to build infrastructure and best practices for other visual artists to launch projects of their own with work they create during Chaos
• Experiment with how the Chaos Common Pool can be utilized, with an eye towards long-term sustainability of the pool
• Breathe new life into Chaos and sell more packs
• Experiment with how a small group can work on complementary projects that support Chaos
• Generate revenue to replenish the Chaos Common Pool, generate value flow to Chaos Headless Band, visual artists involved, and the project team

Value Flow, Project Team Compensation, Chaos Common Pool

Budget

Key assumptions include:

• This proposal is asking for $4,600 from the Common Pool to cover the cost of goods sold for the painting experiment (9 alchemy paintings + 6 additional paintings offered to Chaos campers at cost) and merch experiment (minimum batch size of 30) including partnership with IYK on NFC chip technology.
• The first tranche of project revenues would be used to fully replenish the investment from the Common Pool.
• This proposal does not include costs associated with the dev work, which will be scoped in a separate proposal going through the October governance cycle.

Decisions to make

• Pricing of paintings: open auction with reserve price or fixed price. Guidance has been a minimum of 1 ETH based on Alchemy NFT secondary sales
• If auction, how many days to hold Round 1 and Round 2
• Pricing of shirt – things to consider:
  • We want to experiment with a small batch to keep costs low and with uncertainty of demand; however, small batch sizes of higher per unit costs
  • Uncertainty around demand and willingness to pay.
• #of shirts to make in the first batch. Minimum order is 30.
• Project scoping of what’s possible on chaos.build from a build perspective
• Mechanics of the interaction between NFT and merch; see above

Participants

Proposal I

• Kevin / Mexyu (project lead and visual artist)
• Erica / Privatewoman (project manager and visual artist)
• Sarmad / Greydient (operations support)

Proposal II (dev work for chaos.build coming in the October cycle)

• Proposal I project team (Kevin, Erica, Sarmad)
• Neesh
• Daniel

Advisors

• Chaos campers
• Matthew, Mark, Peace

Timeline

What do we need in order to move forward with this proposal in terms of resources and approval?

• Chaos buy-in and approval
• Project scoping for Proposal II (coming in the October governance cycle for dev work on chaos.build)
• $4,600 in funding to cover materials costs, not including dev work. Dev work compensation would be included in the dev proposal to be submitted through the October cycle (see below).

non-dev project timeline

• 9/12: ****add Chaos Paintings proposal to temp-check
• 9/19-9/23: ****Chaos Paintings proposal voting period
• 9/19-9/23: Kevin secure framing vendor and work quote
• 9/19-9/26: Erica create shirt mockups & tag design
• 9/19-9/23: Erica secure shirt vendor and work quote
• 9/26-9/30: Erica secure printing/design vendor and work quote
• 9/26-9/30: Erica secure shirt shipping vendor and work quote
• 9/26-9/30: Kevin secure painting shipping vendor and work quote
• 10/1: if proposal passes, FC1 payment issued
• 10/3-10/7: Kevin deliver paintings to get framed
• 10/3-10/5: Erica/Kevin finalize shirt design with input from Chaos
• 10/6: Erica places shirt order before she leaves for tour
• 11/1-11/10: Erica prints shirts and adds IYK chips/tags
• [date TBD] ship shirts and paintings; contingent upon dev project timeline below

dev project timeline

• 9/23: Kevin, Sarmad, Erica meet with Neesh and Daniel to draft dev scoping doc
• 10/3: add dev proposal to #proposal-workshop
• 10/10: add dev proposal to temp-check
• 10/17: vote on dev proposal
• [dev milestones]
• [date TBD for launch]

Risks

• If we don’t hit revenue projections, then we risk not being able to replenish the common pool.
• There is some risk associated with separating the project into two proposals – one: the non-dev work, and two: the dev work. We’re working to mitigate this risk by meeting with Neesh and Daniel on 9/23 and doing a thoughtful proposal specific to the dev work that will go through the October governance cycle to make sure we have a plan that will responsibly support the project.
• The proposal assumes the project team receives no direct compensation tied to # hours worked for this first proposal, though a % of generated revenue is assumed to go towards the project team; a risk might be setting precedent that undervalues project team members’ time and contribution. Project team compensation would certainly be a topic covered in the retrospective.

Optimal Outcome

• How will we know if it was beneficial? What stories do we expect to hear?
  • Bridging the gap between physical + digital art
  • New opportunities for Chaos and Alchemy holders
  • Chaos incubator of new projects with support from Common Pool
  • Highlighting the visual art in Chaos
• What are the learning metrics that can be applied to measure success?
  • number of paintings sold
  • number of shirts sold
  • ETH raised
  • number of packs sold during marketing period of these experiments
  • % of Common Pool replenished
  • % distribution of funds to Chaos Network, visual artists, project team, etc.
  • possibly a vote measuring Chaos Network satisfaction post-auction
• number of paintings sold
• number of shirts sold
• ETH raised
• number of packs sold during marketing period of these experiments
• % of Common Pool replenished
• % distribution of funds to Chaos Network, visual artists, project team, etc.
• could do a vote measuring Chaos Network satisfaction post-auction
• How does this impact the community?
  • Build infrastructure for future experiments with visual art as well as physical objects (merch, paintings, etc.)
  • New revenue streams for for members of Chaos
  • New opportunities to boost pack sales
  • Add to the lore behind the visual art
  • Experimentation experience with how the common pool can be used, including replenishment

Should we implement this proposal?