Le Random

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/beeple-robot-dogs-and-art-after-the-alien-landing

In this very special episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) about a busy year of institutional shows, studio experiments, and what it means for digital art to edge closer to the canon.

The artist traces how works like Human One, Diffuse Control, and Transient Bloom at institutions like LACMA, The Shed, Mori Art Museum and Toledo Museum of Art have shifted his sense of digital art’s inevitability. They also discuss why he thinks IRL encounters with screens, robots and installations are “higher fidelity” than years of online discourse. They then cover how his Charleston studio has become a public lab by hosting CryptoPunks nights, video game tournaments, and a Synthetic Theater event.

The second part of the conversation mostly covers REGULAR ANIMALS, Beeple's robotic, AI-mediated dog pack for Art Basel’s new Zero 10 digital section. They look at the work as a prototype for long-form generative systems that sense and interpret the world in real time, plus much more!

A written version of the conversation now available on our Editorials: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/beeple-on-robot-dogs-as-canvas

Chapters 📖:

00:00 Introduction and context

01:47 Year in review and institutional milestones

03:11 Embracing digital art as its own medium

06:19 Studio as public outreach platform

10:05 IRL experiences versus online discourse

11:28 Market vibes versus institutional progress

15:37 Conceiving the Art Basel presentation

19:58 Rethinking generative art with new systems

23:16 Running the studio like a gallery

27:37 Robots as living, intelligent sculptures

31:29 Are technologists artists and curators?

33:50 Why we are not prepared for the future

39:30 Nuance of AI within artworks

41:30 Human intention amid AI-assisted processes

45:02 Closing thanks and sign-off

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/anna-ridler-and-sofia-crespo-the-natural-history-of-machine-learning

In this episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with pioneering artist duo Anna Ridler and Sofia Crespo about their long-running collaboration bringing machine learning into dialogue with natural history.

They trace their early encounters with deep learning—from memes, browser histories, and speech-to-text to data visualization, encyclopedias, and NeurIPS Creativity Workshops—and how both arrived at AI through questions of classification and what it means to “understand” the world.

They also discuss fusing natural history and machine learning across their five collaborative projects (including Anna Atkins–inspired cyanotypes, Argentine “artificial memories” and the rain-marked Clematis tiles), working only with their own datasets in the middle of AI copyright debates, rethinking collage and photography in an era of generative models, and what might come next after winning Arab Bank Switzerland’s Artist of the Year prize.

Monday's Editorial:

Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst on Artificial Psychedelia: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-on-artificial-psychedelia

Chapters 📖:

00:00 Introduction and episode overview

02:23 Anna’s path to deep learning

03:32 Sofia’s early AI explorations

07:36 Natural history and machine learning parallels

10:30 Posthuman ideas emerging in practice

12:34 NeurIPS Creativity Workshop beginnings

13:34 Artist versus technologist mindset

15:44 Sofia’s nontraditional art journey

21:01 Speaking to researchers during COVID

22:05 Meeting and first encounters

26:11 First Collaboration: Various and Casual Occursions

34:52 Second project: 83 Seeds from a Vanishing Mountain

38:06 Third project: Snapshots: Orchids

42:46 Fourth project: Long Short Term Memories

47:15 Fifth project: 3.31424e+126 : clematis armandii

52:05 Looking ahead together

53:41 Closing thanks and goodbyes

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/dr-mimi-nguyen-disruptive-innovation-in-contemporary-art

In this episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with one of the most impactful forces in contemporary art, gallerist and curator Dr. Mimi Nguyen.

They discuss Nguyen's path from statistics and design engineering into art and NFTs, opening galleries in London and New York, and a whirlwind year across Paris Photo, Art Basel Miami Beach’s new Zero 10 digital section, and the global fair circuit.

They also cover the gap between crypto prices and on-the-ground energy, liquidity and taste, museums as signals, the technical realities of showing digital art, and what sustainable, future-ready gallery models might look like.

Monday's Editorial with Karl Sims & Alexander Mordvintsev: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/karl-sims-alexander-mordvintsev-on-merging-technology-and-biology

Chapters 📖:

00:00 Introduction and episode context

01:40 Mimi’s background and career pivot question

06:11 Sentiment versus reality in digital art

10:19 Bridging to traditional art; audience and taste[

10:35 Sustainability of the current ecosystem

14:03 Economic realities and institutions’ signaling role

15:11 Big year recap and name pronunciation

16:50 Lessons from a busy year; longer shows

21:30 Plans and selectivity for next year

21:52 Role of the gallery and collector relationships

23:00 Technical realities of presenting digital art

27:30 Adapting to new tech and outreach lessons

30:30 Curating and choosing artists to represent

32:55 Digital energy versus traditional market downturn

33:57 Rethinking gallery models and cost structures

37:14 Closing thanks and farewell

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/maya-man-and-ann-hirsch

In this long-anticipated episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with one of the most exciting duos in contemporary digital culture, Ann Hirsch and Maya Man. They cover their collaborative projects, Ugly Bitches and Little Darlings, which explore online gender performativity.

We discuss the works in relation to the so-called "vibe shift" of the 2020s. The artists also discuss how their work, often using GANs and other AI technologies, counteracts the "girl boss" rhetoric of early 2020s NFT projects by presenting a more flawed, nuanced, and sincere depiction of both femininity and masculinity.

They detail how UB uses intentionally distorted AI dolls to comment on female failure, while LD employs shinier AI imagery to critique the "hustle grind gain success" male influencer culture. Finally, the conversation touches upon their admiration for, and points of departure from, the "Gay NFT" or Avant Schizocollage scene, with the artists expressing an interest in "ironic sincerity" in their work.

Monday's Editorial with Jess Tucker: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/jess-tucker-on-longing-for-a-face

Chapters 📖:

00:00 Intro and episode overview

01:48 How Ann and Maya met

01:57 Ugly Bitches spark and concept

02:43 Overlapping interests and prior work

04:37 Critique of women-centric NFT projects

06:08 Realism over idealization[00:06:56]: Vibe shift and gender extremes online

18:03 Problem with “all women are beautiful”[00:19:32]: Training GANs and diffusion for concepts

25:12 On the Solana “gay NFT” scene[00:30:37]: Code versus curation; hashlips pipelines

31:35 Software choices: canvas, DOM, possibilities[00:33:24]: Sincerity versus irony in online scenes

34:34 Heart: earnest, feminine internet culture

37:27 Annie and ironic sincerity[00:41:17]: Parallels, coming-of-age, and what’s next

42:49 Expanding the Ugly Bitches universe

43:36 Maya’s StarQuest: dance, AI, autobiography

47:06 Hints at darker future work

47:12 Closing thanks and future reunion[00:48:25]: Final goodbye

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/ian-goodfellow-on-inventing-gans

In this extra special episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with prominent AI researcher Ian Goodfellow about the legendary origins of GANs, their unexpected success and indelible impact on both twenty-first-century image making and AI research.

This episode contains Peter and Ian's full conversation and serves as a companion to Monday's written interview, which covered the first half of the discussion only.

Monday's editorial: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/ian-goodfellow-on-inventing-gans

Chapters 📖:

00:00:00 Introduction and cultural impact of GANs

00:03:30 Ian explains GANs and game theory

00:06:12 The Montreal origin story begins

00:10:51 The first GAN and MNIST success

00:19:36 Early reception and longevity surprises

00:21:22 LAPGAN and DCGAN mark takeoff

00:23:54 Is generative modeling deep learning’s culmination?

00:26:11 Can GANs be creative or just mimic?

00:29:30 GANs as tools; human creativity’s role

00:37:14 On autonomous AI artists and personhood

00:41:50 GANs’ role in text-to-image’s emergence

00:42:20 Story from probabilistic graphs to media generation

00:51:30 Key GAN advances: LAPGAN to StyleGAN and beyond

00:57:52 Are engineers artists?

01:02:26 Expected uses, misuse risks, and simulations

01:06:50 Scale’s legacy, spending, and scaling laws

01:11:31 AGI timelines and being wrong both ways

01:19:14 Platonic representations across modalities

01:23:49 Closing thanks and farewells

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/parker-ito-understanding-the-world-through-images

In this episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) talks with Parker Ito about the multidisciplinary artist's path from late net art/post-Internet and “zombie formalism” to Solana’s artist-led avant scene. They dig into painterly, memetic, trait-rich collections, subtle “post-AI” tooling, ETH vs. Solana cultures, blind mints and scale. Plus why this moment rekindles faith in a new avant-garde.

Monday's editorial: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/claudia-hart-on-land-of-the-dead

Friday's bonus editorial: www.lerandom.art/editorial/parker-ito-and-evil-biscuit-on-possessed-spirits

Chapters 📖:

00:00:00 Intro: Le Random, guests, Halloween release, Solana avant scene

00:02:02 Silicon Valley art scene challenges and Node?

00:06:38 Why Parker's internet-native work fits differently

00:09:31 Solana avant versus backward-looking traditions

00:12:23 ETH generative trends versus Solana’s post-AI approach

00:24:50 Market worries, Forbes attention, audience alignment

00:30:54 Iterations, generativity, and NFTs as raw expression

00:39:22 Continuous work rooted in personal viewpoint

00:48:25 Internet ideals, cynicism, and ambiguity

00:50:03 Drilady’s crassness and personal significance

00:56:10 ETH influx, schisms, and scene infighting

00:59:52 Drilady’s place; Cheeto exhibition primacy

01:01:54 Onboarding artists; misconceptions about NFTs

01:03:12 Who knows the scene? Thanks and farewell

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/london-digital-art-guide-writers-roundtable

After releasing our London Digital Art Guide, a curated guide to London's digital art and culture, our editor in chief Peter Bauman is joined by the wonderful contributors who made the piece possible: Hannah Redler-Hawes, ‍Robert Alice, ‍Clara Che Wei Peh & ‍Abigail Miller.

The panel unpacks London’s vibrant, intimate and collaborative digital art scene, from hidden gems and neighborhood walks to institutions, curators, and the city’s evolving role in global digital culture.

See the London Digital Art Guide: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/london-digital-art-guide

See the Art Walk Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1HpxjgPXiYhjJNhkX9wUYxIzFX8ysmM4&usp=sharing

It highlights the must-see galleries, neighborhoods and artists that shape the city’s renowned scene.

Chapters 📖:

00:00 Welcome and panel introductions

01:54 Guide aims and Hannah Redler-Hawes's introduction

07:16 Clara Che Wei Peh's Trip Planning section

14:20 Robert Alice on Galleries, museums, and digital displays

21:07 Abigail Miller on London artists across generations and schools

24:21 Visitor itineraries for digital art lovers

28:18 Unexpected spot: Science Museum games

30:31 Art Date idea: Night ride under Leo Villoreal-lit bridges

32:20 Institutions and on blockchain art

34:12 Structural hurdles: conservation and mindset

37:09 Curatorial realities and institutional capacity

41:43 Closing thoughts and thanks

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/jared-madere-on-yeche-lange-vvv-and-the-solana-avant-scenes-impact

In this episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) and Conrad House (Le Random's Collection Lead) sit down with artist/curator Jared Madere (Yeche Lange, VVV) to trace his early Whitney break and the rise of the Solana avant scene. They unpack on-chain transparency, Drifella’s meme-native collage, and how new online collectors are shifting power and reimagining culture in real time.

Chapters 📖:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:46 On failure, transparency, and NFTs vs trad

00:03:47 Early career, DIY spaces, Bed Stuy Love Affair

00:10:13 Smithson’s influence and Glue Pour revelation

00:14:10 Building immersive digital galleries beyond white cubes

00:17:24 Post-COVID decentralization and culture sophistication

00:19:04 Collage, hyper-politicized media, and online literacy

00:22:50 Censorship, messaging, and bridging two worlds

00:29:35 Daria controversy, hate speech, and context

00:34:52 Gallery sterility vs messy online culture

00:35:58 Why Yeche shows Biscuit and Drifella

00:37:36 Nonfigurative shifts and VVV’s influence

00:40:43 NFTs as portraiture and PFP structures

00:42:15 Solana’s degenerate perversion vs ETH minimalism

00:44:15 Communicating significance of Drifella

00:46:34 Wretched Worm videos and hyper-online lives

00:49:11 Fragmented politics and culture controllers

00:52:22 Galleries closing, collectors shrinking, reshuffling

00:56:16 Explaining avant appeal beyond irony

00:59:45 Hashlips misuse and Drifella’s structural genius[01:05:30]: Galleries’ structural challenges and Yeche’s model

01:11:25 Ambassadors, press, and new audiences

01:12:50 Future collectors

01:13:38 Building cool enough to attract attention

01:15:26 Procedural art parallels in Drifella

01:16:08 Yeche origins with 1/1s[01:22:29]: Miles Peyton collaboration and bespoke builds

01:24:15 VVV’s purpose

01:26:30 Yeche’s curation vs VVV’s permissionless culture (how they support one another)

01:28:46 Crypto spending inversions and cultural demand

01:31:41 Conflict, digital natives, and online-born culture

01:32:43 Silicon Valley palates and palatable crypto art

01:42:32 New political lenses and classed perspectives

01:44:20 Art reflecting seismic cultural-technological shifts

01:45:06 Thanks and closing remarks

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/reviewing-digital-art-in-3q-2025

In this Le Random third quarter round-up, Editor-in-Chief Peter Bauman sits down with thefunnyguys (Le Random co-founder & CEO) and Conrad House (collection lead) to reflect on the biggest shifts in digital art this past quarter.

They discuss how Toledo Museum of Art’s Infinite Images exhibition signaled a new era of institutional support for digital art and how MoMA’s debut of Sasha Stiles’s A Living Poem brought art and emerging technologies into a major museum lobby. They debate the fallout from Christie’s restructuring its digital art department, share insights on the launch of Raster, thefunnyguys' new artist-profile aggregator and marketplace, and dive deep into the rise of the Solana Avant scene on VVV — from Parker Ito’s and Biscuit’s schizocollage aesthetic to the generational shift it represents.

Plus market sentiment, favorites of the quarter and much, much more.

Chapters 📖:

00:00:00 Introduction and agenda for Q3 2025 recap

00:01:38 Toledo Museum’s digital turn and Infinite Images

00:04:15 Sasha Stiles: A Living Poem at MoMA

00:08:56 Christie’s digital restructuring debate

00:15:48 The team on Raster

00:23:02 Solana avant scene spotlight

00:40:31 Market sentiment: Number-go-up but complicated

00:54:18 Le Random Q3 focus and strategy

00:54:35 Commission-led collecting: Juan RG and Copper Giloth

00:56:19 Raster and Le Random

00:59:52 Editorial themes and 100th article milestone

01:01:28 Favorites of the third quarter

01:01:59 Favorite group shows and releases

01:05:42 Favorite solo releases and shows

01:11:12 Favorite artists

01:12:44 Favorite acquisitions: Juan RG commission

01:16:08 Favorite editorials: Jasia's 100th, DEAFBEEF, Minne Atairu interview

01:19:50 Looking ahead: FEMGEN 4 and guides

01:22:58 Closing thoughts and thanks

Episode page and full transcript: https://www.lerandom.art/episodes/infinite-images-in-conversation-erick-calderon-sofia-crespo-and-tyler-hobbs

In this Le Random podcast, special Exhibition Discussion edition, our editor in chief Peter Bauman (Monk Antony) speaks to three exhibiting artists of Infinite Images at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Those artists are Erick Calderon (Snowfro), founder of Art Blocks, Sofia Crespo from Entangled Others and Tyler Hobbs.

Chapters 📖:

00:00 Introduction

01:22 Exhibition Insights

02:26 Artists' Perspectives on Practice and Generativity's Breadth

07:45 Historical Influences

10:41 Communicating with New Audiences

14:13 Collaborative Dynamics and Artistic Processes

17:08 Figuration vs. Abstraction

19:38 Generative Systems and AI Art

27:04 Hows Software and Art Are Evolving

34:44 Institutional Interest and Market Realities

38:25 Navigating Funding Cuts in US

40:28 Engaging New Audiences