The Metaverse Meets New York’s Art Scene
Here are all the reasons why we’re building our metaverse, VERTIKAL, in New York.
We recently introduced VERTIKAL, the pentagon-shaped, purpose-built, community-driven metaverse with 115 floors celebrating digital art culture. We also finally revealed the location: New York City.
VERTIKAL is floating 555 feet above Umpire Rock in Central Park, making it the highest building in the world (and the first to hover in the sky!).
We’re not originally from New York or anywhere nearby, so our admiration for the city is not one of nostalgia or patriotic sentiment. It’s a genuine regard for a town that has done so much for the IRL art world and the virtual one.
It was an easy decision. Here’s why!
In the company of greatness
VERTIKAL is located in Central Park, right by Museum Mile, the largest concentration of culture in the Western Hemisphere.
Where on one fine day in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, The Guggenheim, opened its doors. A critic called it the “finest building in America” and it’s hard to disagree. Where else can you see an 18-karat gold, fully-functioning toilet?
Where you can visit a newly-opened wing at The Met without the weekend crowds, only to walk around in awe at how much there’s still to see.
Where the Guerilla Girls once asked, “Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met?”; thereby giving a massive push to feminism in the arts.
Where the excellent MoMA membership includes free film screenings with a stellar program and community that that just can’t be replicated by a movie streaming service.
The Museum Mile is one of our favorite parts of the city. Yet, our choice isn’t just about that neighborhood on 5th Avenue nor is it a glorification of institutional spaces.
Popular Art
Heading towards the Lower East Side, each block has a cryptic, amusing, scandalous backstory to discover, usually only shared between the initiated.
SoHo and TriBeCa take us on a trip down memory lane where, in the 1960 and 70s, all sorts of artists took on abandoned lofts and factories to create the hippest galleries in town.
Ah, and Chelsea. How convenient to have such a massive saturation of rare artistic opinions to share and see: gallery-hopping between blockbuster and blue-chip galleries or indulging in experiential moments at Dia, best done on a Sunday after a boozy lunch.
Even the noisy Times Square will inspire! Amongst the chaos, catching random, serendipitous moments of public art, like Max Neuhaus’s noisy grafts.
The views from VERTIKAL include a glimpse of one of our other favorite boroughs, Brooklyn, where galleries like CLEARING and Luhring Augustine have set up shop. Those summer days at MoMA PS1’s courtyard are undeniably some of the year’s most memorable. We can’t forget Pioneer Works in Red Hook, a community as solid as they come.
Williamsburg, where courses and workshops for anything and everything are always available. Fancy a slice of vodka pizza or wheel throwing at Choplet Ceramics?
We could easily go on and on and on and on, but we’re trying to keep this article short and sweet. We think you get an idea of our love for the Big Apple!
A new chapter
We’ve learned a fair deal from the IRL art world in New York; all of these movements have taught us so much about engagement, communities, networks, art, and the thrill of the curatorial touch.
There’s a new chapter to be written for the New York art world in the metaverse, and we’re delighted to be heralding it. Cue John Williams’ Starwars theme song, or is it Jay-Z?
Stay tuned and find out more about our roadmap and Vertikal’s development. In the meantime, we’re inviting all to share ideas and join our community where early adopters get invited to the exclusive SkyG club — that’s OG in the Sky!
Contacts
Media Enquiries
Unit Reservation Enquiries
Europe, Middle East & Africa: emea@vertikal.art
North & South America: americas@vertikal.art
Asia Pacific: apac@vertikal.art
About Vertikal
VERTIKAL is a purpose-built, community-driven metaverse with 115 floors celebrating digital art culture — floating 555 feet above Umpire Rock in Central Park, New York. For more information, visit vertikal.art and join the community on Discord.
