Justin Aversano - Pioneering NFT Photography with Quantum Art Co-Founder

Welcome back to the Casey Adams Show. I am very excited to announce today's sponsor of the pod because if you don't know, over the past year I have been taking my health very seriously. From running my first marathon in Honolulu to getting an ice bath and plunging every single day to a product that I've been using every day. And that brings me to today's sponsor. Today's episode is brought to you by Athletic greens. I consume AG1 daily, taking it before my morning workout and it gives me the energy to tackle the day. AG1 Simplicity makes it a convenient supplement choice as it only requires one scoop of powder mixed with water daily. Each scoop is loaded with 75 top quality vitamins, minerals and whole food ingredients that provide gut and mood support, increased energy and improved skin, hair and nail health. If you're looking for an easier way to take supplements, Athletic Greens is giving you a free one year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. Go to athleticgreens.com CaseyAdams that's athleticgreens.com CaseyAdams check it out and enjoy today's episode. Welcome back to the Casey Adams Show. Today I am joined by a good friend and someone that I have so much respect for and I incredible artist Justin Aversano. Thank you so much for coming the show, Justin.

Thanks Casey for having me.

Of course. So, first podcast of the year. You've. You've had such an incredible journey since the time that we met back in 2021. Now it's, I think it's just over two years since we initially connected and seeing your journey as an artist and a pioneer in the NFT Web3 space, it's just been quite an honor to see. And, and for those that may not know about what you're building at Quantum Art, Save Art Space and everything you do as an artist, I'd love for you to tell the viewers and the listeners just at a high level what it is that you do.

Okay, thank you for that introduction. Where should I begin? Let's start with Save Art Space. You know, right out of art school, I started a public art organization. I went to art School in 2010-2014. In 2015, I started a public art organization called Save Art Space and we just took over billboards and put up local artists starting in Bushwick, heading to Miami and LA and the world and supporting artists since 2015 every year. Love that, that Save Art Space.

Yep. And you guys have done some really cool stuff like since we met. I know you guys did that cool activation In Miami with the. During Art Basel. And you've done a lot of just really cool things. I'll make sure to show on the screen here.

Cool.

But with quantum art, what are, you know, what are you building with Quantum for those that might not know?

Oh, Quantum art. Okay, let me switch gears here. So quantum art is focused on NFT photography and digital art and to support artists and connect artists with collectors. Quantum art provides opportunities for artists to sell their work and reach a collector base. I love that artists need collectors, and collectors want art.

Yeah, absolutely. And I really want to take it back to just dive into your story. When did you realize that you were an artist and where did this journey begin in your life?

Oh, man. When did I knew I was an artist? I just always felt like an artist. And I've, you know, always considered myself an artist before art school, like in high school. Just always having a camera since I was young and just shooting everything I see and experiencing life and color and through the lens and sharing that with friends and people and growing that into an education and then a career. And now it's an. It's a lifestyle. And it's also like a spiritual quest to create imagery. And photography is the tool. So I would say, like, my whole life.

I mean, and when we met, you were just getting into this space of web3nfts. You were finishing the collection when we initially met of Twin Flames, which has been such an iconic, timeless collection, which I know you saw it at Christie's and just so many epic things.

Well, you've also been a very, like, engaging and also approachable person. And, you know, earlier on, you, like, helped me and wanted to see me succeed and want to connect me to people that you think I should connect to, to create with and like that. You know, at the time, I was just seeing the. The artistic drive and, like, wanting to support. It is rare when you know people. You know, when you ask people for help and you helped me and you got to know me, and now that we're here talking and you collect my art and we're friends and, you know, when you reach out for help or you reach out in respect to people, it's like, you don't never know how that could change your life or open doors or, like, create friendship through just saying, hey, this is cool. You're doing cool things. Like, I want to get involved.

Yeah. And I appreciate that. I remember when we first connected, we would. You would chat on the phone all the time. You were telling me about the art that you're Creating. And when you first told me your story, it just, it really spoke to me. And I don't say that lightly because, you know, I've met a lot of people, but when we first met, just something about your passion and energy for life and what you do as an artist speaks volumes. And I think over the years, seeing the success that has come into your life, it's, you know, I was, I did an interview the other day and I said the quote of, you know, success doesn't change people, it amplifies people. And seeing how your art and your message has been amplified has just been so incredible to see. So congrats on that. When it comes to the projects you're doing today, prior to and if we can't talk about them, no worries. But we shot a piece of your new project today. Can we talk about it?

Sure.

Let's dive in. What project are you currently working on? I got in before the podcast. We went outside and I'll let you explain it, but it was a very unique photo that I'm excited to be part of.

Let me just say where we're sitting is my studio inside of Gaba Gallery. What you're surrounded by is all the silk screens I've been working on in this space for almost two years. And this is Smoke and Mirrors. And we've met during Twin Flames and this project of their project and the new project we just shot for is, you know, currently titled To Be Determined. And it's a project where I shoot Super 8 every single day and make moving portraits of people all over the world and connect humanity through the cinematic expression and, you know, connect people through the lens just like I do with photography and transcend my art, craft and evolve my skills as an artist to learn new mediums and apply that. So this project is like one of the 365 projects. It's me actually learning and mastering the medium and creating, challenging myself every day creatively. Also connecting with people in a creative way. Yeah, just opens, open. Makes the world filled with more joy and love and excitement and creativity and uncertainty, which can be fun.

Yeah. And you know, we were talking about the project. It's a 365 day project. And you know, every day you're talking to different people, you're meeting different people, you're photographing different people. Does that just come naturally to you in terms of your love for wanting to do something like that every single day or why365projects.

So, you know, my first major project ever was the Every day is a gift which is the birthday project. Yep. I started that in art school. It literally came to me and I was like, I create art every day and I've been doing it. And then there was a moment where I understood. I was like, hey, I have a Polaroid. I want to learn how to use the Polaroid and I want to create a project. And then it came to me to do birthdays through some, you know, divine moment of someone coming on their birthday and me putting it all together and coming up with a thesis project. It was just like, I want to do birthdays every day. And then I challenged myself. I ran around the city, New York City, with a sign that says, is your birthday? And I found people every day, and friends at some point connected me to people whose birthday it was. And I was always on a quest to find people and create with them. And, you know, in a way, it was me to just create something every day and learn the medium, like I said just before, and have a theme around how it all connects. Theme is really important. That's like the glue of, of the concept and the process. And, you know, there's like the worst days where you could tell that the photo is bad, and there's the best days where it's like the greatest photo ever. And it's not about always taking the best photo ever. It's about creating something every day. And, like, seeing the wave and, and the differences, the highs and lows of the year, of the day, of the, of the weeks, and seeing it all together is massive, a massive experience. And that was the first project. And then I started a second 365 project called Cognitions, which is mixed media collages. And I did that every day to get better at painting and express myself and heal through just like, death and like, pain and putting yourself back together from loss. And, you know, collages is an art therapy tool. So that was my, like, say, creative every day and just make something new and transcend the art form and do mixed media and do something different than photography.

Yeah.

Because I was learning it for four years. I, you know, I wanted to, like, take a break and then come back to it. And then now it's just like, that's just after doing two other major portrait series, it's like, I want to evolve into film.

Yeah.

And what better way to start than a 365 project of what I've done twice?

Yeah.

And 10 years later, like, I want to go through this endurance project for creativity and creativity and photography, moving photography every day.

And you're one of the subjects and I'm grateful to be part of it. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together when it comes to the projects that you've created over the years. And just to take a step back again, when we met you were just getting into this whole world of NFTs and minting your photography and as I've said previously in my eyes into the market that you are a true pioneer of this space. What was it that led you to NFTs and how do you see the market today? Because you've seen a lot since you got into it. So I would love to hear perspective on why you got into it and then we'll get to where it is today.

I got into it because it just felt naturally what to do on the Internet, like being on Clubhouse, listening to people talk about something to technology. Now you have tech people talking to artists. Is there something interesting happening there? And then you know, understanding how social media works, understanding how putting our work out there looks. It's like you gotta try different tools like Instagram, Twitter, a book, a gallery show, a website. For me it just felt naturally to put and like my work as NFTs because it was available, it was like a minting. And what is this technology? How does this circulate into the Internet? And you just try it out? I just tried it up because you know it's, it was there to be tested with.

Yep. So you tried it out and looking back, I mean you've, you've done so much in this space. I know at one point you were some of the most valuable art collector art collections. You sold the collection to Christie's. Like your impact on the space has impacted so many artists. Where the market is today has shifted a lot over the last 612 months. What is your perspective on where NFTs have come today and where do you see going? Because you know there's a lot that has changed in a very short period of time and you were someone that was in early that made a huge impact and still is making an impact and are here to stay. So I'd love to hear your perspective on that.

Yeah man. I mean it's as simple as you know, all the people who are about their art and like I'm actually getting in collectors hands are still here and you know they believe that in this industry and market and you know, just because one wave just came and like a lot of people came into it to follow the money trail and like see if they could do NFTs. It's like, a lot of people try, but it's like as long as you keep going and reek and commit to what you're doing and find your community and the people who support your work, it's like you go. You go where your community is, you know?

Yeah.

And the market back, I don't know, a year from now. I don't know market, but I think a lot of people are more focused on building relationship with artists and supporting them instead of just gambling and finding the next project. It's like there's all the artists that are there. You just got to believe in them and continue supporting. Yeah, it's like, I think a lot of people are doing additions and a lot of people are collecting grails and focusing on artists, which is a great thing.

And for someone that might be watching that's getting into this space today, you know, this idea of curation is super important, I believe, and you've done such a great job of that at Quantum. Where do. Where can people look nowadays to find the quality artists that are in it for the right reasons? Because I know there's a lot of people that came to the space, they saw a lot of different things, they might have tried different projects and they didn't find always quality artists or quality teams. And now that you've built a platform and you have this community of people that know like and trust you, I'd love to hear your thoughts on, you know, where collectors can find quality artists and people that are actually, you know, caring about their projects.

Yeah, I mean, people could find quality art at galleries on Twitter. If you're present at the right posts, if you're seeing the right artists, like a lot of artists I see are on Twitter. You could totally go to quantum.r and just, just check out the art we have. We just opened studio, which is more artists launching instead of curated once every week or month. We want to onboard a lot more photographers and support them because that's what we built the tools for, is to get this in the artist's hands.

Yeah, very cool. When it comes to Quantum and the business of it, what led you to wanting to launch Quantum? It seems like such a natural evolution of you as an artist and migrating with tech and everything that you've experienced.

It kind of just happened. It kind of was like, hey, I have all the support for my photography. Everyone's asking what the next photography is. And we created the channel. Yeah, you create the channel.

Yep.

And support the people that you believe in.

One thing that I. I've noticed since the day I met you is this idea of community. It's a word that you hear all the time you see everywhere, especially in the web. 3 and just social space. Overall, you've done an incredible job at building community and to the point where the first day we met you put me in these awesome discord chats with quality people that were actually taking the time of day to get to know people and actually care. How have you gone about building your community on social media and why do you believe it's been so successful in terms of the impact and the care for you and your work?

Man, I don't know. A lot of people just want to support. I'm really grateful that people collect my art. There was a long time that I had nobody collecting my work and then suddenly having so many people supporting me is like a. It's a true blessing. And you know them, you know, putting out all my projects that I've worked hard on for over years, like 10 years, and putting them out there in a way where people could understand them and collect them is really good for artists.

When, you know, going back to when you had no supporters for the art to today, like, has it changed the way you think about your art or not at all?

I think you said it best earlier. It amplifies.

Yeah, sure. No 100% looking at the art behind you, the. These scrolls, the terrorist scrolls, Terror scrolls. I was gifted one from you when we first met as well. And I'd love to dive into that because people that are watching this video, you can see them all behind you. What are these terror scrolls? And I'd love to talk about the upcoming show you have here as well.

Oh my God. Yeah. So the Tarot scrolls behind us are the smoke and mirrors Tarot scrolls. They're the mixed media paintings. This is the Knight of Staffs. This is Death. This is three of swords. That's seven of staffs. Those are printed on papyrus paper. That's a 101. Those are one of five edition variants. That's the black and white OG like straight darkroom photograph of the picture you see in the, in the mixed media prints. That's more straight photography. This is more mixed media. And then those are other sample papers, test papers that we were experimenting with here at GABA Gallery. And we're having exhibition here on March 25th with all the gold and silver Tarot scrolls. And we'll be having a book launch as well for the book.

Wow.

Smoke and mirrors. And we'll be also having a show in Berlin April 25th. Another show in LA at another gallery in September. September and New York in October. So this year's big year for smoke and mirrors. Bringing the scrolls all over the world.

Yeah.

Sharing the magic.

How many scrolls are there? So are they all right here?

Those are the silk screen.

Okay.

They're all. We're sitting next to the cameraman.

Wow.

But, you know, right now there's 468 listed. We have another, I would say, like, 300 or so left for the exhibitions that we didn't launch. So those are for the exhibitions and the book launch?

Yep.

Yeah.

That's so cool.

It's a big year for the scrolls and the tarot. A lot of people have been working on the tower, and I've been doing this since 2018, so I'm excited to see the response. Yeah, I feel like it's ripe. The world is ready for astrology and tarot in the mainstream.

Yeah. What led you to doing it on these terror scrolls?

The papyrus.

Yeah, the papyrus.

So, you know, when you look at photography, you get the silver gelatin print on the paper and the photograph on paper. And I wanted to play with the idea because I do a lot of printing, starting with silk screening and cyanotype and other mixed alternative processes. I wanted to play with, like, painting and paint and make a photograph that's painterly and using materials such as papyrus. So it's kind of like bridging the ancient humanity of the paper making. We once came from our past, our ancestors, to a contemporary process of printmaking. And combining the technology of photography and painting and the paper is like, how do you bridge the old and the new? And also having this work live on the blockchain. So it's like analog shot on analog, processed analog, and then minted on the blockchain. So again, that. That element of old and new and where they come together and from the printing process to the exhibition process online, it's like it connects.

Yeah. That's super cool perspective. It's a big year.

So look at them as like, magic art, magic scrolls. Like tarot scrolls. Yeah, they're scrolls. They're magic hieroglyphs. I see them as like, hieroglyphs that exist on the blockchain photographs. What would hieroglyphs look now if we have imagery of life and, you know, this, to me, is like a hieroglyph of today. Yeah, that's photography.

Yeah, yeah. So this year is. You're going all over the world, you're traveling. When you're doing that, going back to the project that you're doing today, you're. You're still doing these everydays of these. You know, filmmaking is. It's just. It comes natural to you. And when you're traveling, does it affect your, you know, you to go find someone, or is it just. How do you think about it when you're traveling?

I'm like, I gotta go find someone this week, and I don't live here and I don't know anyone. So let's see what happens.

Well, start walking.

I find strangers.

I see.

I see the light. I follow the light. And I feel the. The word of the day. And it guides me. The light guides me. The word guides me. So I find context. And when I see it unveiling or if I have a lead, then it's like, it clicks and it's flow. Everything's in flow state when I'm doing this project. And it's. That's the magic of creating it and the magic of art. It's like you don't know what's gonna happen. You have to create. And it is a journey through the day and finding the flow to. To find the person. Some are easier where it's like, hey, I'm coming to talk to you on podcast. And I'm like, great, I'm gonna shoot you for my film. Yeah, that's the day done. Tomorrow I might go find someone down the street in Venice.

Yeah.

Depends on the word and depends on just what's going on. Like, I've had days where I'm meeting someone and I'm carrying the camera and I see someone and I'm like, that's actually the day. This is it right here. And I do it then. And then reschedule.

Okay, that's really cool.

So that's the processes is. Is ongoing.

Yeah. When you, when you talk, you talk about this, you know, energy of finding people. As an artist, do you do anything on a daily basis that keeps your energy high, keeps your mind just sharp in terms of how you do art and how you are so creative? I've always wondered that. You're. You're. You're such a creative goal.

You set a goal and you're like, this is what I need to create. And you literally tell your body to create this, and your mind does it, and you work together and you actualize what your thoughts are. And, you know, I like to go to the gym every day. I like to do duolingo Spanish classes every day. And I like to make videos of people every day.

Yeah, I love that. This year ahead, when it comes to the, the art shows, you're traveling, you're doing these things. When it comes to the tech side, as a, as a entrepreneur, as a founder, as also an artist, how do you manage your time? When you're creating, you're so focused on the actual creation of the art, but you also have this brand, this company, and all these employees. And how do you manage your time?

You know, I'm still learning that part. Not easy. And there's a hundred things and you step by step and each, each, you know, priority. You just start one after the other.

Yeah.

Running safe art space, running quantum, making my own art, cooking food, going to the gym every day, finding someone every day. You know, you make time for the things you care about. And you have really good people on your team, like Chanel behind me.

Yep. I love that. Thinking of the future, I have a couple more questions before we wrap up.

Cool.

Not only NFTs, but your journey as an artist, you think in decades, your art has impact. How do you think about the future of what you're creating and for your community? What can they expect over the next 10, 20 years from Justin?

I have a list of ideas, and the biggest projects come from, like, impactful moments that occur in my life, whether it's bad, mostly bad, or inspiring. But that's like the turning the bad into good and turning that into a connective point where other people could relate. So, you know, I just stay open to ideas and I stay open to projects and they develop. Once I get the seed, it's like it's planted and it grows and it germinates and it literally like, like, like the project I'm starting with this, the Super 8, I've been thinking about since 2018. I haven't had the resources. I didn't have the camera. I was working too, on too many other projects. But now it's like, it's the right time to create it. And after this, I already have new projects I'm ready to create because this is teaching me how to shoot film. And then it will teach me how to be a director and create short films. And like, I go into that field of, of creating movies, but you start from scratch. You start from the beginning and you create and you learn. And so, you know, more photography projects, more paintings, more public art, more videos, more activating other artists to do their art.

Yeah.

Grants and just exhibitions and I love that. Everything art.

Yeah. It's so cool to see when you say movies that your goal is you want to shoot movies in the future.

Want to create Original movies.

Like original kind of movies.

Original storytelling.

Okay.

You work with screenplayer people and you create original stories, things like that you love and everyone knows.

Yeah.

The Matrix is like, how do you create a new original story? Why aren't we thinking about new mythology? How do we create new mythology? Yeah, that's like what I'm thinking about.

Very, very cool. I wanted to bring up something that you talked about earlier, is like, this idea of your artist stemmed from a lot of like, negative moments in your life or. Or death or things that are having massive impact on you. I recently interviewed one of my favorite authors. His name is Robert Greene, author of 48 Laws of Power, Mastery, all these great books. And one of these concepts that he talks about all the time is confronting your mortality, like being very hyper aware of your own death.

That's what Smoke and Mirrors is about.

I would love to dive into there. Like, why? How is it. And also similar to project about confronting your own death.

I just seeing like the life and mortality and, you know, when you see that, you have a sense of just how do you create the best out of your life and how do you know, being grateful and how do you cherish more? How do you cherish your life more?

Yeah.

How do you actively practice that?

Yeah.

You know, we're all sometimes going through the day unconsciously. How do you bring consciousness back? For me, it's through the art. And when you're, you know, each project has a different symbolism of death. You know, from the birthday project is me facing my mom's imminent death and like celebrating life while it's. Still have. While we still have it. And then, you know, cognition comes from losing my mother and like healing from that. So it's like all these different moments of preparing for death and healing from death and these moments, these turning points and then twin flames is like another healing from death moment with a sibling and understanding yourself through. Through that. Yeah. And now it's like smoking mirrors. It's like this project's for my father. And I'm confronting death before it happens because, like, I want to, you know, I don't want to have to heal from death. I want to just understand it and confront it, like you say, through this project. And you know, there's a reason why there's a photo of my dad as the death card.

Wow.

Next to my mom's grave. And it's like very symbolic.

Yeah.

Of the family, the name, you, your death, family's death, you know, how you're affected.

Wow.

And just staring it in the face. And also have elements of the spirit involved through the paint. And it glows in the dark. So it's like. It's really.

That's powerful.

It's a powerful piece.

Yeah.

My dad. Creating a relationship with your family and yourself before it's gone.

Yeah.

And when it's gone, you're sad that you didn't have enough. And I think maybe that's why we're afraid, because we don't have. We don't feel like we had enough time. We don't feel like we have enough of the person and then they're gone. Then you have nothing.

Yeah, that's powerful. So, last question we wrap up is just. I can go on and on and on. But looking back on your journey as an artist and as someone that's pioneered this industry of NFT photography, what would your advice be to your younger self and future artists that want to get involved in this new era?

Just focus on your art and, you know, don't get blinded by everyone else's success and what they're selling and what price for. Just focus on you. Make your first sales, make your first piece and just, like, cultivate your creativity and, you know, try to root for everyone else and don't let. Don't get. Let that get in the way of your own success.

Yeah.

When you don't focus on yourself.

I love that. Well, Justin, I appreciate your time today. I know we've been trying to make this happen for quite some time, and it's first podcast of the year, so thank you so much for. For coming on today.