Interview with the most famous duo in crypto art Hackatao to discover what lies behind their artworks, which actually go far beyond the world of NFTs.
How was your artistic project born and what are the main inspirations behind your work?
Hackatao was born in 2007 when we combined our two creative worlds into one. A combination of N’s flat and pop style and S’s flux of consciousness in black and white drawings, which we have continued to explore together since then. We love to immerse ourselves in historical inspirations, conducting in-depth research on every theme we tackle in our works and then mixing them with the pop themes of the culture we live in.
Our goal is to continue exploring, we abhor the perpetual repetition of what has already been done, our creative input is to push the boundaries of art towards ever new frontiers.
We started in the world of physical art, with paintings and sculptures, but with an approach immediately oriented towards digital (it’s just that at the time society and the art market were not yet ready). Then, with the arrival of blockchain, we were free to explore a new way of making art, and we are among the OG pioneers in the crypto art space.
Your style is unique and immediately recognizable. How has it evolved over time?
The Tao, in its intrinsic dualism, between chaos and order, expresses our evolution: we are opposites, yet two souls that unite in a single nature. Every new artistic exploration, through different mediums and technologies, allows us to rediscover a part of ourselves, always remaining faithful to our stylistic signature.
Digital is an integral part of your work. How do you integrate technology, and in particular blockchain, into your art?
Technology and blockchain are always present in our art, both through the digital techniques we have used combined with the first physical works, such as AR, and through the exploration of new worlds like VR, the artistic side of PFP, generative algorithms…
Technology has allowed us to realize our dreams in real time. Since before minting our first artwork GirlNextDoor on SuperRare in early 2018, we have been collaborating with developers, platforms, other artists, and our community to create this new realm,
together.
How do you evaluate the evolution of the NFT market and its impact on contemporary art?
The rapid rise of NFTs has disrupted the art landscape, remaining for the moment a parallel world that has not yet intersected 100% with the more traditional one. But despite winters and springs, we are confident that it will have an even greater impact in the future.
Predicting its shape with certainty now would be a bit risky, but we continue to believe in it.
What type of collectors are drawn to your digital and non-digital works? Are they different from those in the traditional art market?
Our collectors come from every corner of the world. The beauty of the Web3 community is that it allows you to reach any continent immediately and communicate with anyone, in a democratic and decentralized way.
Initially, crypto collectors and those from the physical market were very different. Traditional ones buy mainly driven by a feeling of falling in love with the work, with the vision of owning it forever; while crypto ones are much more dynamic collectors.
The buying/selling, the secondary market are concepts at the base of the rise of this world that saw NFT art more as a tradable asset. But we do not like to generalize. And the beauty of our community is precisely their loyalty to our art. Having emerged from the bull years of the crypto world, we notice a more conscious and more phygital collecting in its essence.
Our digital collectors look for auctions to snatch up our first physical sculptures, or they crave the prints of our generative works. We, first and foremost, as collectors of crypto works, are loyal to our collection of great artists and friends from the web3 world, and we are not
interested in selling it.
Have you collaborated with artists or projects from other disciplines? How important are these contaminations for you?
Looking beyond the boundaries of our own creative field is essential for us, and always very stimulating: it allows us to discover, reflect, appreciate, learn, and collaborate with new languages and artistic expressions.
We have collaborated with a multitude of great artists in different fields, such as the music legends Blondie for our project Hack The Borders; we have created extraordinary artworks with the great José Delbo, we challenged ourselves to work on the masterpieces of the great masters of art history, as in the case of Hack of a Bear, a work that gave new digital life to the Testa di Orso di Leonardo da Vinci, as well as with Beyond the Void in dialogue with a canvas seven cuts by Fontana. The list is long, and we are deeply grateful to all those who have enriched us artistically and humanly.
Often your works deal with themes such as sustainability, psychology, and
social issues. What is the message you want to convey?
Our work weaves together multiple reflections, but freedom of expression and decentralization are two fundamental constants in our thinking. They fascinate us and drive us to explore them in a personal way, offering new points of view to reflect on.
Each work encompasses different levels of meaning, touching on social, cultural, and historical aspects that deeply involve us. Only a careful look, capable of immersing itself in the details, can fully grasp the hidden nuances, opening the door to new worlds and stimulating further insights on these themes.
What are your next artistic projects?
We have recently launched a collaboration with the Austrian Post, a limited edition of physical stamps + digital Crypto stamp art. A project that has excited us and allowed us to explore new dynamics, providing educational opportunities to collectors more familiar with the physical world and working with an institution.
Each of our projects is deeply studied and requires months, if not years, of realization. Among our future projects, there are, as always, new explorations of different artistic universes. In this 2025, we should be ready to release: a series of animated short films based on our Queens+Kings, who will come to life as protagonists of the various
episodes. And a new generative art project, also connected to some physical sculptures.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
She is also a marketing teacher at Digital Coach in Milan and she published a book about NFTs for the Italian publishing house Mondadori, while she is also helping artists and company to entering in the sector. As advisor, Amelia is also involved in metaverse-related project such as The Nemesis and OVER.
