In a world where AI and digital tools redefine creation, the myth of “pure art” is unraveling. This post explores how attention has always been the true driver of value, not just skill or craft. From Da Vinci to Van Gogh, history shows that exposure and recognition elevate art more than the act of creation itself. As AI and NFTs shift the landscape, we must reckon with the new reality—attention matters more than we’ve ever wanted to admit.

I didn’t set out to work in tech. I just wanted to take an art class. But a detour through computer science led me to something deeper: a path that combined logic, creativity, and human-centered thinking. This essay traces how an unexpected beginning shaped my approach to design, helping me become the kind of leader who thrives in ambiguity and builds bridges between people, ideas, and systems.

As AI automates routine tasks, early-career roles are not disappearing. They are being reshaped. This piece explores how the middle of the job ladder is compressing, pushing junior workers into more complex responsibilities without traditional support structures. Drawing on historical parallels, it argues that AI raises the floor rather than eliminates it, and calls for new systems of training and mentorship to meet the moment.

I’ve been creating since before I knew what “legacy” meant. Art was never a race for me—it was how I stayed grounded. Some of us build from the margins, in connection, not competition. This is where I build from.

The Brutalist Mannequins series began as a way to process four decades of anxiety and depression, but it ended up revealing something deeper—the quiet unraveling of a 12-year relationship. Created during a personal breakdown, these works became a mirror for emotional truths I hadn’t yet faced. This reflection revisits the series five years later and explores what it helped me understand, express, and survive.

A personal reflection on the lasting influence of high school art teachers and the interdisciplinary art program, The Palette Paradigm, developed by Doug DePice. Through archived video lessons and storytelling, Eric explores how early exposure to the connections between art, science, math, and humanities shaped his critical thinking, creativity, and lifelong learning—revealing the deep impact of integrated arts education.

In 2020, I launched $TATR, a social token distributed through a protocol I called Social Liquidity Mining. It rewarded peer-to-peer NFT sharing instead of capital staking. I filed a provisional patent in 2021, then abandoned it in favor of an open-source ethos. Platforms like Farcaster and friend.tech now echo what we tested back then. This wasn’t just an experiment. It was a signal.

As AI tools become more accessible, some fear the loss of skill and craft. But what if the opposite is happening? This piece explores how AI might be raising the baseline, pushing creators to develop deeper expertise, and how widespread access can actually increase appreciation for refined, intentional work. In a world of mass creation, craft, skill, and artistry may not disappear—they may become more valuable than ever.

100 kitschy, design-inspired illustrations exploring emotional symbolism through flowers. Built as a second layer to the Primitives, my on-chain framework encoding emotion via color, form, and structure. Rooted in floriography, Vanitas, and personal memory, these pieces function like sacred symbols—playful on the surface, but deeply intentional. Minted on-chain as part of a living, composable catalog.

In 2020, Trash Art (in its original form) exposed the cracks forming in cryptoart’s ideals as power and influence on SuperRare began to gatekeep artistic expression. And while remix culture eventually became an undeniable cornerstone of Web3, a major win, other key aspects like royalties, resistance to gatekeeping, and independence from financial influence continued to erode its foundation. As Marco Peyfuss (@mpeyfuss), founder and CTO of Transient Labs, recently put it in a post on X, “We lo...