The Artist: Justin Aversano
Connecting humans together are the three words that speak most clearly when I hear the name Justin Aversano. He travels, spends time with the subjects of his portraits, and when the feeling takes him, snaps the shutter and preserves the proof on the blockchain. Aversano has inspired many photographers since Twin Flames to mint a well rounded, large collection of photographs that say more as a collection than independently. Rowhomes by Hythacg, By Way of Water photographs by Kristopher Shinn, Drifter Shoots Where My Vans Go are a few of many who recognized the power of Aversano’s approach to minting a large body of work with one thematic minted within a single smart contract container. Sounds straight forward until you realise just how few photographs were minted on the blockchain before mid 2021.
"For “Twin Flames” I photographed 100 sets of twins in honor of my fraternal twin, aiming to create body of work focused on the existence of multiple births and the phenomena of twindom through an immersive portrait survey. Twins and multiple siblings provide a lens on the magic and causality of biology."
The Collection: Twin Flames Cyanotype Collection
There are 10 Cyanotypes minted in a separate collection, that reveal another side to ten of the twin subjects in the larger full color collection. These have not changed hands in over two years and are for the most part locked down in vaults for the long term by their collectoors.
"The cyanotypes were 10 mistakes that i accidently put black and white film in the 4x5 film holders on 10 different twin shoots. Then realized I can make alternative prints with cyanotype procesing to make the mistake into something resourceful."
The Collection: Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger is the most accessible collection of the three featured here. With an initial aim of a collection of 1,000, a total of 839 artworks were minted. Each work share some of the unseen outtakes from the Twin Flames collection, with the added glitched mastery of co-conspiratoor Kim Asendorf. Each piece moves and melts acting as a fleeting barrier distancing the viewer from familiarity with the subject.
A Specific Artwork: Doppelgänger 444
Doppelgänger 444 is a glitched out portrait of Stephanie & Angelina Cortazzo photographed in Twin Flames #8 collected by 6529Museum. Unlike the previous collections, Doppelgänger is an expression of digital ownership where the photo is merely raw material to be played with, worked on and transmuted into an entirely new art form free from physical form.
