xxnft
Nichole Ruggiero
Nicole Ruggiero is a 3D visual artist who makes work based on technology and the communities and culture it creates. She exposes the positives influences that technology imbues on culture and subverts them with existential caution of treading the unknown. Playful yet serious, her work weaves its way through various internet subcultures and acts as a forum of discussion and discovery for people around the world.
Which was your first NFT ever?
​​Hopeful collected by Lindsay Howard was one of the first NFTs on Foundation.
​Which is the last one?
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My most recent NFT collection is How The Internet Changed My Life which is an exhibition that includes mixed reality portraits, VR worlds, an AR face filter, and a retro website, where viewers share life changing moments with a personification of The Internet through active experiences.​​​
​​How did you start your career in crypto art?
​​I was asked to join Foundation before they launched, so it was early 2020 when it started, though I had been watching NFTs for years before that and decided it was the right time to jump in.
How can we increase the involvement of women in crypto?
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I think this is mostly on men in power to shift the dynamic by becoming more inclusive and also becoming more okay with sharing power with women. This can be done by acquiescing some positions that are normally taken by men and giving them to qualified women. This can also be done by reaching out and asking for recommendations for capable women, beyond what is the most obvious, asking friends and friends and really searching rather than just assuming there are no qualified women so the position must go to a man. This also extends to interviews, highlights, exhibitions, etc. It is most important to include women not just in exhibitions and highlights about women but in exhibitions and highlights that are about various themes that have nothing to do with gender.
​​What are the main guiding principles behind your work? Can you step outside yourself for a moment and let us know what you see?
​​Honesty and representation are really important. Connecting with others, developing communities, learning, and pushing the boundaries of technology are other principles that guide my work.
​​Do you get any particular source of inspiration for the visual styles of your works e.g. do they arrive in relation to the place (physical, psychological, or situational) you were located at the time?
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Bedrooms have been a big inspiration to me in the past. Also cities with neon lights and small shops such as Mong Kok, Hong Kong and Nichome, Shinjuku in Tokyo. Video games also inspire my quite a bit. Most of my settings have a techno influence, rather than a natural influence. Even my more environmental work feels at least once removed, commenting on cryptocurrency and the like and taking more inspiration from video games environmental elements than actual forests or nature.
​​Can you dive a bit into the technical aspects of the works? Software or hardware used (in the wide sense; it could be thoughts and bodies), as well as the editing process? What are some of the particular challenges you and your team have faced in realizing the works?
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I’m versed in various 3D software. Some of the most challenging aspects have been technological limitations. Usually me and my collaborators hit a wall when the hardware reaches its limits. For instance, for How The Internet Changed My Life, we ran into an issue where we used a destructible plugin, native to Unreal Engine 4, and quite common. We were disappointed to realize that the plugin did not work natively on the Quest 2 headset while mobile (meaning wireless) and there was no way to create a Windows app because we decided to use hand-tracking. Frequently, I run into hardware limitations as I really like to push boundaries of newly accessible features.
​​Can you tell us about the relationship you want or aim to have with the viewer? What is the underlying approach to this relationship?
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I create most of my work to elicit an emotional response and tell a story. I am usually swimming in very intense feelings that I channel through my work with a playful yet serious demeanour. What is most satisfying for me is if my work starts conversations and provokes thought in the viewer.
​​Tell us a secret about your work. Even a small one.
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My friends influence me a lot. I run a small discord community and a lot of my friends in there and the conversations we have, have a strong impact on my work.