Ben Haley on Queer Crypto Art, Parasocial Relationships, and True Value of Craft Arts

The Outer Realm NFT Podcast

Ben Haley is a unique crypto artist that combines sculpture, performance, and digital art to create really charming creations.

Ben was born in Sunderland and their upbringing mainly focused on finding traditional employment, despite their artistic nature. You can see a lot of their early life in their work today. Especially in performances, which analyze economics and entrepreneurship.

They’ve performed at institutions such as Cobalt Studios and Bowes Museum as Miss Penny Press. Recently, Ben’s been using the Ethereum Blockchain to produce provably-rare crypto art. Their art has been exhibited at the Nifty Pride Foundation.

If you know anything about Ben, you probably know that you’ll never get a linear conversation out of them. But that’s a part of their charm.

Ben’s talking about the Craft & Crypto Art initiative they’ve been working on alongside Jen’s a Little Loopy and Noviol that encourages craft artists to get into crypto art.

Find out all about it and a lot more in our hour-and-a-half-long interview.

Key points discussed

• Introduction (00:00)
  
• What was Ben Haley like when he was 8 years old (02:35)
  
• Being a natural introvert and high school years (05:35)
  
• Ben’s early online problems, parasocial interactions, and Toby Fox story (09:26)
  
• How did Ben became interested in parasocial relationships and doing research (15:59)
  
• Play-to-Earn, Robert Hoogendoorn, and the NFT space feeling cult-ish (20:42)
  
• Three things Ben desperately wants to talk about (25:45)
  
• Craft & Crypto Art and what CreateBase is (27:06)
  
• Ben’s art process, how he sculpts his pieces, and Anish Kapoor vs. Stuart Semple (32:15)
  
• The influence minority cultures in the United States (40:25)
  
• Accessibility on the Internet and how the crypto world isn’t accessible enough (44:10)
  
• Protecting the vulnerable in the crypto community, trigger warnings, and cancel culture (54:12)
  
• Sex workers in the NFT space and why their art doesn’t sell (01:00:37)
  
• The state of the crypto art market in terms of collectors and platforms (01:06:35)
  
• Craft & Crypto Art, true value of craft arts, and disrespect of fiber art (01:15:09)
  
• RuPaul’s Drag Race, Stonewall riots, and learning about Queer history (01:21:03)
  
• Our responsibilities, how the government handles epidemics, and Eric’s uncle (01:27:02)
  

Additional Resources

You can contact Ben Haley directly via email. If you want to stay updated on their work, you can follow them on Twitter. And make sure to check out their art on Open Sea.

If you want to stay in the loop and learn about exciting NFT artists, make sure to follow The Outer Realm on your favorite podcast app. Do you like our talks? Leave a rating and a review!

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