Sam Spratt's NFT Series 'Luci' Goes Physical in Venice Exhibition

Digital artist Sam Spratt's first in-real-life exhibition, 'The Monument Game,' opened at Dock Cantieri Cucchini in Venice, marking a key evolution for NFTs beyond the hype cycle. The show presents the complete 'Luci' cycle—nine baroque-style digital paintings depicting a hybrid human-ape figure named Luci, symbolizing personal and collective evolution. Spratt, who started the series after a personal crisis at age 30, sold each piece as an NFT on SuperRare. The final chapter, 'The Monument Game,' is an interactive work: Spratt initially sold 209 NFTs as tickets, allowing holders to submit observations on the painting, with the best three rewarded. Visitors in Venice can view these comments on a touch screen and add their own. The exhibition also innovates display: except for 'The Monument Game,' each work is presented as a light box—a wooden frame with metal structure and LED backlighting matching the screen's color temperature, tilted to diffuse light through a transparent layer onto a matte-varnished print, with wiring hidden in the wall. This technique preserves the digital qualities of high definition and bright colors while moving beyond the screen.