Up or Down?
Up or Down?
Since discovering, or at least first writing Nifty Digits, I’ve definitely gone all in.
Not in on crypto and flipping and all that shit, but definitely all in on the community, the art, the world soul. I’ve felt welcomed in by artists from every corner of the world. Real friends. Kindred spirits. Human souls.
Its been affirming for me to find an artistic home beyond illustration, beyond animation, beyond all the aspirational careerist demons that have eaten me up for 20 years. Still yet we sort of crave approval, validation, recognition. Even once we have it.
When I first saw Vertical Crypto Art on my twitter feed, it stood in stark relief amongst lurid threads and shill bots, an independent curation programme sharing thought provoking messages, links to free education videos and actual art, was a moment of ok: “here are the grown ups”.
I never imagined I would be accepted for the residency and still can’t quite believe I have been. Often feeling a decade or two older than my cohort and possibly from a distant planet, I dont talk in memes, or acronyms, or twitter spaces, and at times I’m probably a bit Fuddy tbh.
Its been brilliant, we’ve met some legends, had a potted history of the last 4 years of crypto art, been exposed to more processes than I can quite recall. If you are interested in learning about The Space with nuance and integrity, I can’t recommend it enough. Do it.
A persistent theme in this residency and in my work is the push pull of handdrawn and digital. As I admire the clever approaches of procedural art, I often feel work that is handmade. Not in some folksy way, but at a gut level, I seem to respond to evidence of a human hand. Whilst curating the teia twitter this sense seemed to be the case for the art I admire and collect as much as the art I create.
Are our fingers not digital, at root? Is typing code or adjusting numeric values any more or less valid than drawing on electrically charged glass?
As I wrestle with questions such as these, in our final lead-in to deadline day, my wifi failed me. Left with an unfinished shader, no access to either render plugins or software subscription, I needed to use what I had to hand.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone in their right mind, or at least wrist, animates using procreate; but it seems to bring together the right conclusion for my project: a mix of big theme, procedural intention, and frame by frame marathon to finish.
Come join the party tmrw night, see all of our artwork in a virtual environment created bespoke for this exhibition.
https://arium.xyz/events/vca-residency-3c-auction
I’ll even be playing some records. Lets hope they like drug chug in the metaverse ✨
