Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Have you ever held a glass snowball and imagined what a life inside that particular mini world would feel like? Driving that little red car and listening to Christmas songs softly coming from the radio or waiting for a bus and looking at the snowflakes lazily falling on the ground? Or maybe you’d be the one grinning at their friend when a snowball hit them right at their shoulder? Well in that case, make yourself a nice cup of tea, take a moment to relax and welcome to the mesmerizing mini-worlds created by Wit Olszewski.

A quote from Wikipedia to begin Wit’s story with:

The word diorama /ˌdaɪəˈrɑːmə/ can either refer to a 19th-century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle modeling, miniature figure modeling, or aircraft modeling.

The current, popular understanding of the term “diorama” denotes a partially three-dimensional, full-size replica or scale model of a landscape typically showing historical events, nature scenes or cityscapes, for purposes of education or entertainment.

Dioramas have been lately under the spotlight of digital media as well and Wit Olszewski, an artist based in Wroclaw, Poland, is one of the most well-known representatives of this art trend. His latest piece created in this trend and referring to an extremely popular game Among Us has caught the attention of over 14 million TikTokers.

Wit’s unique artistic style derives from his experiences of playing computer games for hours (not only as a kid, he’s still a huge fan!), frequent visits to the miniature parks, or staring at the glass snowballs and wondering how to breathe life into the little characters he saw. That’s why the mini-worlds Wit shares with his audience are so special and detail-oriented – the artist means to mirror his idea in every single aspect bringing his accuracy to a whole new level. It’s no wonder they seem mesmerizing and even a bit magical as you can watch them endlessly. It’s also the reason for perfect looping of the story in each diorama. You won’t see any sharp edges, any cuts, everything flows continuously in an unhurried pace, encouraging you to find another Easter eggs hidden here and there.

‘I hate being repetitive with my pieces. I always want to take the audience on a journey to a different place. I try to avoid any ragged, popular trends, but at the same time if I choose something classic for my diorama work, I always make up with a unique approach and details, which are the most time-consuming parts of the whole creation process’ – Wit explains.

Creating a new diorama takes up to even three weeks. ‘It’s a kind of celebration and a journey for me as an artist, too. I never rush myself. I push really hard to bring out the very core of my ideas.’ – he adds. Recently Wit has started to concentrate not only on an overall scenery or a landscape, but also on the characters that add an individual flavor to the whole story. Watching these little figures living inside a mini-world, carrying out their everyday activities and just minding their own business, adds an incredible depth, making you feel like you’d be observing the world from an Almighty’s perspective.

Wit was always fascinated by miniatures parks, ships and aircrafts models and architectural mockups. Unfortunately he never really felt patient enough to create a physical diorama – made of wood, epoxy resin, paper, you name it. But having more than 12 years of experience in the creative industry, including photography and film background, he finally found a way to make his dreams come true.

Olszewski’s mini-worlds referring to traditional, epoxy resin dioramas are transferred into a digital world with an extra layer of movement and liveliness, such as a boat drifting harmoniously in the water, cars driving carefully on an icy road or crowds of some individuals walking in different directions. Each piece requires an incredible amount of accuracy when balancing lights, sounds, composition and scale. It’s a real 21^st century craftsmanship, it teaches you to be patient.

‘We live in amazing times, I want to explore digital arts even more – I’d like my audience to fully immerse themselves into my works and that’s why I’m thinking of using AR & VR technologies in the future. These amazing times are also ever-changing ones, and I believe we’re the eye-witnesses of this huge milestone change in the creative industry which SuperRare is a part too’ – Wit concludes.  

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Krista Kim’s Mars House is the first NFT digital house in the world, featured in Architectural Digest on March 14, 2021. Upon purchase of Mars House NFT, 3D files will be sent to the new owner by Krista Kim Studio Inc. for file upload to the owner’s Metaverse. Technical support for integration on a Metaverse platform is included.

(Architectural Digest, March 14, 2021) “Kim ventured into NFTs while exploring meditative design during quarantine; her hope was to use the influx of digital life as an opportunity to promote wellbeing. Comprised entirely of light, the visual effects of her crypto-home are meant to omit a zen, healing atmosphere. The artist also partnered with musician Jeff Schroeder of The Smashing Pumpkins to create a calming musical accompaniment. So what makes the file a compelling purchase? Beyond the promise of buying into the lucrative NFT market, the home and all of the furniture in it can be built in real life by glass furniture-makers in Italy, as well as through MicroLED screen technology. Kim also has a strong visions the art being projected, as well. “Everyone should install an LED wall in their house for NFT art.” says the artist. “ This is the future, and Mars House demonstrates the beauty of that possibility.”

Terms and conditions: 

1. The collector agrees to use one copy of Mars House on a single Metaverse platform. The collector must register Mars House ownership with Krista Kim Studio Inc.
2. If/when Mars House is resold, the collector agrees to delete all Mars House 3D file(s) from his/her Metaverse with official verification by Krista Kim Studio Inc. before the files are submitted to the new owner.  
3. The new owner must register Mars House ownership with Krista Kim Studio Inc. Krista Kim Studio will send Mars House 3D files directly and provide support for Metaverse integration.  
4. This system will be placed under trusteeship after 40years under Krista Kim Studio Inc,. or, if it is automated through the @superrare platform.
5. Krista Kim Studio Inc. retains ownership of Mars House copyright. All reproductions both digital and physical, are restricted. 
6. Physical furniture pieces, made of tempered printed glass in Italy, may be commissioned separately as NFT furniture art and physical pieces..

All of the furniture of Mars House is designed with tempered glass and fabrics, using renewable material, with Krista’s artwork integrated in every detail. She wanted this space to showcase her development for Meditative Design, a new definition of avant garde luxury for the digital age. Sustainability, anti-microbial and zen. 

Krista learned the meaning of art at the Ryoanji Temple Zen garden in Kyoto. Art is a mirror of the mind. Her art is an exploration of Digital Zen. Digital environment is relentlessly distracting and addictive. As an attempt to bring new awareness of digital consciousness, her art strips away to the core element of light, color and sound. Her intention is to create a meditative environment on our screen, like a digital Zen garden.  

Kyoto’s architecture was built for Zen consciousness of the community. She was inspired to expand on this tradition for the digital age. LED screens can be used as digital instruments of well-being. Krista predicts that micro LED technology will be used as architectural substrates for ceilings, floors and walls. Her thesis is that one’s home can heal with the power of art and technology. The new luxury is leading edge technology purposed for health and well-being.

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

by Jonathan Winbush

Multi award winning motion graphics artist Jonathan Winbush has released Krip·tō mīnə pronounced “Crypto Mine” now available exclusively on SuperRare. Using a unique combination of Cinema 4D, Epic games Unreal Engine, and Adobe After Effects to make this piece come to life Winbush will give a peak behind the curtain of how this 1 of 1 art was put together.

Starting in Cinema 4d the Ethereum model was created and placed in the direct center of the scene so that everything could be built later on around it since this is the hero piece of the shot. Using the camera target tag so that the camera is always looking at our hero piece the camera is placed near the crystal and then pulled back in one swift movement.

Once the Ethereum and camera moves are saved in Cinema 4D the project file is prepped and ready to be brought over to Unreal Engine where the scene will continue to evolve building a dynamic cave around our hero.

A lot of detail went into every crease of the scene to make it feel as if the cave was alive and has also been mined in by people or other beings. If you look closely you can see oil lamps throughout the cave hinting that someone or something frequents this cave to mine for Ethereum.

The cave is plentiful with Ethereum crystals as the natives only mine what they need and it’s barely been touched or discovered by anyone of the outside world. This is the tone for the animation though short it’s created to feel cinematic and make you ask more questions about where is this located and who knows about its whereabouts.

Once finished with all the attention to details the scene is then rendered out in 3 passes. A detailed lighting pass, an image pass, and a reflection pass. These passes are then brought into Adobe Affect effects where they will received further composting and color correction.

Once inside of After Effects the 3 passes are combined together with a mixture of levels effects until the ideal look is achieved. After that several more effects are added including glows, hue and saturation, Magic Bullet Looks, and gaussian blur. The attributes are dialed in with those effects applied and then real footage of fog is added on top to give it an added sense of depth. Chromatic effects are applied to make the details not as sharp to feel more cinematic and a final color pass is done.

A custom built audio sound track by Ben Eshagpoor aka beMotion was created just for this piece in which he was given complete freedom to compose and he saw fit. Only note of inspiration he was given was to think of a motion picture soundtrack like Tomb Raider or India Jones. Once complete the audio was added to the final animation piece as you see it up on SuperRare.

Jonathan Winbush is a multi-award winning motion graphics artist with over a decade of experience working in a wide arrange of mediums from television, movies, to virtual & augmented reality. Over his career Winbush has done work for Epic Games, Marvel, Warner Bros, & Happy Madison to name a few. Notable works include Iron Man 1, Lego Batman 2, Transformers, NFL on FOX, Power Rangers, Fantastic Four, Deadliest Catch and My Little Pony. He also creates tutorials on YouTube for free.

FOLLOW ME SOCIAL MEDIA:

➜ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanwinbush

➜ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonathanWinbush

➜ ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/jonathanwinbush

➜ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/jonathanwinbush

➜ SuperRare: https://superrare.com/winbush

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

by Allison Harris

Max Schramp’s Bead Chaise exists right at the intersection of childlike whimsy and liminal space. Inspired by nostalgia, liminality, and the waiting room of the doctor’s office, this 3D rendering captures a unique magic found in the most ordinary of places, something on short supply due to the current coronavirus crisis. 

Bead Chaise is the latest release to SuperRare from the 23-year-old architect, designer, and digital craftsman. Previous designs by Schramp, like Love Seat and Froggy Chair, also have a whimsical touch to them. Bead Chaise contains a similar playful feeling, and introduces the element of liminality into the design. 

“I’ve been obsessed with it for a while.” Schramp says, of his interest in liminal space. “In architecture school we designed all of these spaces, for specific people and programs, and liminal spaces are an ignored result of that. We never learned about those in architecture school, but they’re so fantastical. It’s just very, very interesting and a cool tone and feeling to pull from.” 

Liminal space is defined as “an aesthetic that refers to the feeling of being in a transitional space that has been abandoned. This makes it feel frozen and slightly unsettling.” Any viewer might recognize Bead Chaise as a spin on the classic bead-moving maze playsets that occupy waiting rooms at dentist’s or doctor’s offices. The term “transitional” is particularly apt in describing these drab rooms we see once or twice a year, where we wait and wait for time to pass, searching for something to occupy our attention.  

“I think most of my ideas come from the environment around me,” says Schramp.  “So this one specifically is from doctor’s offices, but then other ones, like the Froggy Chair design I did is obviously from Animal Crossing, which like I’ve played for however many years at this point. So it was inspired by that. I wouldn’t say a lot of my artwork is inspired specifically by other artists, but it’s more like things I see and experience.”

During his designing process, Schramp researched the mazes that inspired his creation, and began to narrow his idea down, creating a mockup sketch of the final design. Early on, he had to 

“Try and figure out how to turn that into a chair. Not necessarily that you can sit in, but just something that would look cool.”

“Especially with the wooden base, I found a lot of the bead mazes had those two bars with like the cylinder wood pipes connecting them.” Schramp says. “So that showed up and it became a rocking chair, obviously. After that it was working at the shape of the chair itself. It almost was exactly like what it looked like in the sketches, in the final version. I took the dimensions of a normal lounge chair and adapted the curves to that. I wanted to get a lot of the spirals and stuff, because those are pleasing to the eye.”  

The end result is a cheerful and colorful design that moves and spins on its own, sure to delight any waiting room occupants. Bead Chaise is dynamic and engaging, almost hypnotic, in its ability to capture the viewer with its animated loops. 

“I think awakening that nostalgia in people.” says Schramp, on his hope for the reception of the design. “Usually when you look at 3D rendered stuff on the internet, you don’t really think much of it, or it’s sort of just aesthetically cool. But this might bring back some good or bad memories. Nostalgia is definitely something I want to portray with this one.” 

Bead Chaise is Schramp’s 3rd release to SuperRare. The site’s curation and partnership with creatives was a big draw, he explains. “They’re super helpful towards creators and artists and promoting their work.” says Schramp. “Works that I put a lot of effort into I want to go on SuperRare.” To viewers young and old, Bead Chaise is sure to delight, and fits right in with Schramp’s continuing collection of chair designs. 

Max Schramp’s Bead Chaise is up for auction at this (link.) Keep up with all of Schramp’s projects on Twitter @maxschramp.