In this very special episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) about a busy year of institutional shows, studio experiments, and what it means for digital art to edge closer to the canon.

The artist traces how works like Human One, Diffuse Control, and Transient Bloom at institutions like LACMA, The Shed, Mori Art Museum and Toledo Museum of Art have shifted his sense of digital art’s inevitability. They also discuss why he thinks IRL encounters with screens, robots and installations are “higher fidelity” than years of online discourse. They then cover how his Charleston studio has become a public lab by hosting CryptoPunks nights, video game tournaments, and a Synthetic Theater event.

The second part of the conversation mostly covers REGULAR ANIMALS, Beeple's robotic, AI-mediated dog pack for Art Basel’s new Zero 10 digital section. They look at the work as a prototype for long-form generative systems that sense and interpret the world in real time, plus much more!

A written version of the conversation now available on our Editorials: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/beeple-on-robot-dogs-as-canvas

Chapters 📖:

[00:00:04]: Introduction and context

[00:01:47]: Year in review and institutional milestones

[00:03:11]: Embracing digital art as its own medium

[00:06:19]: Studio as public outreach platform

[00:10:05]: IRL experiences versus online discourse

[00:11:28]: Market vibes versus institutional progress

[00:15:37]: Conceiving the Art Basel presentation

[00:19:58]: Rethinking generative art with new systems

[00:23:16]: Running the studio like a gallery

[00:27:37]: Robots as living, intelligent sculptures

[00:31:29]: Are technologists artists and curators?

[00:33:50]: Why we are not prepared for the future

[00:39:30]: Nuance of AI within artworks

[00:41:30]: Human intention amid AI-assisted processes

[00:45:02]: Closing thanks and sign-off