Are you ready for the unfathomable mystery that is the Blacksquare?

A simple black square (herein inscribed as Blacksquare), one of the first geometric objects we learn to categorize as children. A square is as ubiquitous as it gets, and a Blacksquare is as unassuming an object as one can imagine. Reflecting no light, the Blacksquare is merely a quadrilateral void set against any backdrop. It could be a door, or a window to something else – somewhere else. Nevertheless, what is behind, or within, the Blacksquare is unknown to the viewer. This may result in anxiety, or unease, when in the presence of a Blacksquare, but one should not be so alarmed.

There are many interesting NFT projects out there, but perhaps none so enigmatic as the inscrutable Blacksquare. Membership is limited and opaque in nature with members' names obscured by a series of numbers linked to a particular Blacksquare within the project. In my quest to understand these deep mysteries I found myself entangled in something that I did not wholly understand, but drew me in, nonetheless.

With minimal effort I was able to understand the Blacksquare through the limited online information and the connection of this modern work with the work of artist Kazimir Malevich (Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич). The concept of the Blacksquare is elevated in a sort of Banksy-esque way similar to shredding a painting the Blacksquares were created through an irreversible destructive process by which the original work can only be viewed by participating in an illumination event. To put this in terms that a layperson might feel sufficiently empowered to decode I provide the nutshell overview below clipped from the project’s gitbook.

• Blacksquares are the Genesis NFTs of this project
• Each Blacksquare is a video fragment
• Randomly generated & IPFS stored
• 25 video fragments form one edition
• There are a total of 52+3 editions, i.e. 1,375 Blacksquares
• Each edition depicts a motif, but is hidden underneath blackness
• The community votes for each individual motif to be revealed or not
• If voted in favour, the respective edition will be assigned a random play date (Illumination) within the next 30 days
• When the play date occurs, the 25 Blacksquares of the respective edition are played shortly and the underlying motif is briefly revealed
• Should the community decide against it, no new play date will be assigned to the respective edition and the underlying motif will be hidden forever, as a result no voting token of the respective edition will be distributed
• The community has decided against a Dutch Auction and in favour of a #Free Mint
• To avoid unnecessary gas costs, all Blacksquares are preminted
• Blacksquare owners receive $OBY which can first be used for voting

Using no longer commercially available photographic paper the artist has painstakingly created an destroyed 1375 Blacksquares. This represents an enormous investment of time and effort by the creator and in itself seems to emphasize the passion and intent behind the project. Whilst I would relish the opportunity to delve into every detail contained within the project’s gitbook, I will have to limit this article to a teaser of what is to come.

If you’d like to learn more about the project. Please check out the gitbook: https://blacksquare-1.gitbook.io/blacksquare/inception-one/illumination and website: https://www.blacksquare.art/, or join us in the Discord server: https://discord.gg/SQwgv4rF .

I hope you will take advantage of a unique opportunity to be part of an excellent community of NFT and art enthusiasts as we are part of, and indeed co-create, the experience that this project promises.