A conversation with Adam Berninger: Heft, physical spaces for the digital community, institutional vs influencer gatekeeping and the culture casino

Jay, Ivan, Jamie and Leyla sit down with Adam Berninger of Tender and Heft Gallery to dive into Heft's opening, the realities of opening a physical space, artist-gallery relationships, the culture casino and institutional vs influencer gatekeeping.  

01:38 - Welcome Adam Berninger 

03:50 - The relationship between Tender and Heft 

07:49 - What inspired the move to a physical gallery model 

12:30 - Connecting in person and object-hood 

16:00 - The power of a digital community 

18:55 - How digital ownership is understood from outside the space 

20:40 - The financial pressures of a physical gallery 

25:45 - Galvanising the New York digital art scene 

27:40 - Artist-gallery relationships 

37:20 - Heft's upcoming program 

39:41 - Keeping a balance of blockchain-based and physical works 

44:20 - Showcasing the digital art community to people outside 

46:30 - The challenges of onboarding and making it sticky 

48:02 - What's in Verse's pipeline, working with different galleries and voices 

54:30 - Heft's site, Verse white labelling and potential opportunities 

59:50 - An expanding gallery presence for digital art in New York 

01:01:39 - Meeting and working with Edward Burtynsky 

01:07:00 - Fx(hash) airdrop announcement 

01:09:51 - Artworks being sold as coins, fractionalisation and editions 

01:17:02 - Turning culture into a casino 

01:22:10 - Everything is a simulacrum 

01:25:41 - Reacting to market conditions and competition 

01:32:20 - The bell curve meme takes on gatekeeping 

01:40:10 - The issue with the lack of institutional knowledge 

01:44:15 - The issue with lack of influencer knowledge 

01:50:56 - Artist Highlights 

01:56:31 - Verse rundown

Adam Berninger: https://x.com/adamberninger 

Heft: https://x.com/heft_gallery

Skomra: https://x.com/skomra 

Pipi universal: https://x.com/pipiuniversel

LEGIO_X: https://x.com/legio_x

YuriJJJJ: https://x.com/yuri_jjjj

Mika Ben Amar: https://x.com/100o111 

Orkhan: https://x.com/orkhan_art