As exciting as the art market is, let's not beeeeee--e-e-e-e-e like Flipper
 
In Ep#7 I speak on the palpable buzz I’m feeling across the NFT art scene and why that collective creative energy can tempt us into flipper behaviour. Drawing from Efdot’s “Do’s and Don’ts” for supporting artists, I unpack practical ways to be a genuine collector: explore full bodies of work, engage thoughtfully, tell your own story of what resonates, connect artists with opportunities and resist the “wen” spam. I share my own missteps with quick-profit flips, how I’ve reframed my approach and why intention matters more than access lists.

Then I spotlight “Pattern Retrieval” by Adam Ilenich (asterism.eth), an ASCII/Hopfield network exploration of memory that unexpectedly resurfaced a personal Blokus family memory, illustrating how art co-creates meaning with its audience. I also circle back to last week’s mint: Cities by Efdot x Diid on Art Blocks, reveal my outputs and play with interactive Glifs, crafting small stories through palette and layout. No mint today, but a timed drop is planned for next week (stay tuned). Use the hype wisely, support artists like a human (not a bot), and keep the culture bright.

Pattern Retrieval: https://patternretrieval.app/
Glifs: https://www.glifs.art/

Timeline:  
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:31) A buzz in the air: Dolphin energy and the NFT art market
(00:03:46) Gatekeeping vs access: Why NFT art feels different
(00:07:31) Efdot’s practical do’s: Engage, collect, share, and be patient
(00:08:46) Don’ts and online culture: Spam, “GM”, and the eternal “when?”
(00:11:06) NFC Summit in Lisbon: Topics, vibes and FOMO from Brisbane
(00:13:48) Discovering Adam Ilenich’s “Pattern Retrieval”
(00:18:29) Art sparking memory: Blokus, patterns and nostalgia
(00:22:02) Family, games, and loss: How art resonates unexpectedly
(00:26:49) Cities by Efdot x Diid on Art Blocks
(00:32:11) Glifs frenzy: Layouts, rarity, and community creations
(00:35:13) Morning routine with Butters
(00:38:52) Looking ahead: Teasing next week’s timed mint
(00:39:29) Closing thoughts: Use the energy wisely, don’t be a flipper 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
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Just tap it in. Give it a little tappy ... tap, tap, taparoo.
 
In Ep#6 I riff on “TAP” (Three Address Protocol) and how I’m applying it to my own wallet hygiene after learning a few lessons the hard way. I break down the roles of vault (cold as ice), transaction (lukewarm) and minting (hot as lava) addresses, plus make the case for a fourth “interactive” address for on-chain games/frequent dapp activity. We then shift to physical security: thinking through your personal risk profile, separating access to vaults from your home, avoiding doxxing and practical travel and event precautions. I wrap with resources from 6529, Andreas Antonopoulos and Jameson Lopp

I then jump into a live mint journey: collecting “Cities” by Efdot x Did on Art Blocks to position for the upcoming “Glifs” mint. I share why Efdot’s Latin American influences grabbed me, how I prepared a fresh minting wallet and what’s next as I await reveal and plan to mint Glyphs on launch day.

6529 TAP: https://6529.io/delegation/wallet-architecture 

Timeline:  
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:39) Introducing TAP: the three‑address wallet protocol
(00:02:55) Address 1: The Vault—cold as ice
(00:04:54) Address 2: The Transaction wallet—lukewarm usage
(00:06:13) Address 3: The Minting wallet—hot as lava
(00:07:31) Proposing a fourth address for interactive use
(00:11:00) Physical security mindset and personal context
(00:13:32) Separating access: making vaults unreachable at home
(00:16:11) Common‑sense hygiene: Wi‑Fi, flaunting wealth, travel
(00:19:01) Discovering Efdot and the Glifs project
(00:24:03) Why collect: aligning with the artist and ethos
(00:27:46) Choosing a path: Cities collaboration with Diid
(00:32:24) Gas, patience and live minting realities
(00:35:23) Wrap‑up: tap into your security and stay safe 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
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I better get in quick before it goes back to the vault!
 
In Ep#5 I dive into the perennial tension between buying art for enjoyment and treating it as an investment. I share my own wins, missteps and shifting mindset after accidently becoming a flipper. I'm redefining my approach so that 90–95% of my decision-making is driven by genuine connection, learning and long-term appreciation. Drawing on Magnus Resch’s 'How to Collect Art' I unpack why chasing returns without deep participation is effectively gambling, how taste and value are subjective and my learnings over time. Practical guardrails I now use: set discretionary limits, sit on cash before buying, avoid negotiations that trigger FOMO and ask whether I’d still love a piece if the resale value went to zero.

I also spotlight one of my favourite interactive works by XCOPY, Right Click Share (RCS), co-created with Deca. I walk through how the 1,024-pixel grid works, why the full image can decay if holders don’t annually attest their pixels and why I love the collective/permissionless/time-bound participation it invites. I attest one of my pixels live, discuss colour scarcity and long-term questions about on-chain persistence. My discretionary hunt is for the remaining colours to complete a personal mini-set without letting investment thinking take the wheel.

Book Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX0pH5cGN8w
Convo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3RTWRDALsE

Timeline:  
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:16) Art as investment vs enjoyment: framing the tension
(00:04:59) Why “art as investment” is like gambling
(00:07:43) Defining value: money vs human emotions
(00:10:01) Value for Value lessons transferred to art
(00:15:20) Entry into collecting
(00:19:31) Mistake #1: letting investment thinking dominate
(00:23:14) Early wins, flipping, and dangerous reinforcement
(00:27:17) Personal rules: FOMO, budgets, and selling plans
(00:33:10) Showcase: Right Click Share (RCS) by XCopy + Deca
(00:36:00) How RCS works: pixels, attestations, and loss
(00:40:10) Participating live: attesting a pixel
(00:45:00) Collecting goals: completing the colour set
(00:47:04) Price discipline and setting bids for pixels
(00:52:17) Wrap-up: lessons on art, value and decisions 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
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Let's discover the perfect mental recipe for the prep of the real recipe!

Ep#4 is where I riff on the “mental recipe” behind doing more of what brings you joy, using my training routine and a fascinating on‑chain art-game-project. From revisiting Think and Grow Rich to dissecting why I stalled on NFT buys, I unpack a simple loop: prepare for the prep, automate the action, then savour the doing. I also take you into Shape Kitchen by Ubinhash: minting ingredients, using hints, discovering dishes and earning ETH through recipe patents. I walk through strategies, combos, “mosaics” vs gold/silver recipes, decay mechanics and my community spreadsheet project to map 2x2 combos and chase unknown dishes. The big takeaway: engineer your environment so you reliably show up for the things that light you up and let the grind become part of the fun. 

Spreadsheet Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJfUnq8Tzcf5xFzuQo8SRGKBYZ1PCxga/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112733543428538371193&rtpof=true&sd=true

Timeline: 
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:39) Why train so much? My fitness routine
(00:03:26) Think and Grow Rich revisited and habit psychology
(00:05:43) Mere Morpheus, Venice and prices rising
(00:08:33) Creating value through live art collecting and streaming
(00:10:58) Introducing Ubinhash and the Shape ecosystem
(00:14:31) What is Shape Kitchen? On‑chain cooking game explained
(00:18:00) Hunting dishes: Peking duck attempts and patents
(00:20:56) Community leaderboard vibes and current events
(00:26:01) Fresh vs decayed ingredients; special golden carrot
(00:31:03) Sharing the spreadsheet: 2x2 matrix and workshop plan
(00:36:36) Full‑pack mint, conserving hints, and careful discovery
(00:37:45) Takeaways: engineer your prep to do what brings joy 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
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Gotta collect them lore, POKEPEPE!

Ep#3 is about why collecting still captivates me, despite my long history of breaking and losing physical things. There are parallels between podcast listeners and art collectors and I've found building relationships, not transactions, creates the real magic. I spotlight Jakarta-based artist loredangoo, whose vibrant kawaii-adjacent style, Shiba-infused characters and cross-chain experimentation have won me over before we finish with a live mint of her Pokepepe Gen 3 series on Shape. 

Timeline: 
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:00:36) From breaking things to valuing digital over physical
(00:04:32) Why digital collecting clicked for me post‑NFT boom
(00:08:56) Relationships over transactions in creative work
(00:11:48) Featured artist: Loredangoo
(00:16:02) Kawaii vibes, Shibas, and personal resonances
(00:19:23) Collecting lore: highlights from my growing set
(00:22:14) Pokepepe series: nostalgia meets generative fun
(00:24:59) Closing thoughts: what kind of collector are you? 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
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Season 2 is shaping up to be fun.

Ep#2 is about the Shape Network, an Ethereum Layer 2 purpose-built for on-chain objects. What hooked me was the OTOM project of chemistry-meets-exploration vibe, the on-chain reputation “Stack” and medal system and the variety of projects to explore. I also walk through Shape’s recent token drop, how Maximals by Macbeth work and do a live lock-and-mint.

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:00:34) Art podcast to broader culture and NFTs
(00:02:08) Shape Network: an Ethereum L2
(00:05:12) OTOM by Kjetil Golid
(00:07:49) The Stack: soulbound medals, seasons, and leaderboard
(00:11:59) Token drop: governance, tokenomics, and what you can do
(00:16:29) The Ecstasy Of Maximals by Macbeth
(00:20:58) Getting started: try OTOM and Shapecook 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
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Welcome to the first episode of the 'mere mARTals' podcast. Each week I'll be going over a topic related to collecting digital art and showcasing someone doing cool things. #1 was about uh!Caribe and her blending of vibrant Venezuelan colours with all sorts of technology mediums. I talk through her AR explorations, interactive pieces and collections like Powerful Mamacita, why her long-term commitment and story resonate and I attempt a real-time mint of her “street plant collector” concept art as a small act of support for the artist behind the work. 

Little side note is that I totally didn't prepare 100% (I was actually inspired to just do it in the moment) and so discovered just afterwards her real name is Tamara Hadeed and that she is actually based in Colombia at the moment. Vamos!

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:14) Background: shy, maths‑minded and the creativity question
(00:04:56) From engineering to investing and many side projects
(00:07:06) Featured artist: uh!Caribe
(00:12:35) Why the colours, characters and vibes resonate
(00:16:26) Street Plant Collector concept and time‑limited mint
(00:20:13) Wrap‑up: schedule, live plans and sign‑off 

Connect with Mere Mortals:
Website: https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/QPxtbhhgRy
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/meremortalspods
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