Art as Emotional and Scientific Process: A Look into Michael Alan Alien’s Multidisciplinary Practice

Art as Emotional and Scientific Process: A Look into Michael Alan Alien’s Multidisciplinary Practice

Jan 14, 2023 Artist Conversations / Artist Profiles

“UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL” by Michael Alan Alien, 2023. 5’’x7’’watercolor, pen and ink, colored pencil, gouache, and marker on paper.

Art as Emotional and Scientific Process: A Look into Michael Alan Alien’s Multidisciplinary Practice

Mika Bar On Nesher
1 year ago

Michael Alan Alien in his studio, New York City. Photo by Mika Bar-On Nesher.

Michael Alan Alien is dropping his genesis on SuperRare this month, but the New York native is no stranger to the crypto art space; his first collection sold out within minutes. Long before entering the NFT space, Alan Alien already had an impressive career in both the traditional art world and the underground street art movement, gaining national attention in media outlets like The New York TImes, Vice, NBC Today, GQ, Hyperallergic, Marie Claire, Huffington Post, and others. SuperRare curator Mika Bar-On Nesher visited Michael’s studio in Soho one afternoon to learn more about the iconic artist and his plans for future drops on SuperRare.

Working closely with his partner and collaborator Jadda Cat, Michael’s art extends beyond the canvas and paper into performance art and sculpture. No matter what medium he works in, Alan Alien’s voice and line shine consistently through. An outsider that never wanted to fit into any system or society, he watches and listens to everything around him, absorbing the information like an open portal–the result is a kind of imprint of the city he grew up in, a mixture of buildings and things overhead on street corners, all mixed in an incredible motion of captured atrophy. 

“LIFE’S RIDE” by Michael Alan Alien, 2019. 11” x 14” watercolor, ink, spray pen, pencil on paper.

 

Mika Bar-On Nesher: Who are your artistic influences?

Michael Alan Alien: My first influence was Dalí. I was isolated from any knowledge of art when I was growing up in NYC. I didn’t visit museums or galleries, or know of any other fine artists, but my father had a Dalí print which I’d study every day. I was inspired by graffiti in New York City, as well as punk and metal record labels covers that my neighbors traded with me for my Star Wars figures. The Iron Maiden covers kick ass. As I got myself into a position where I could educate myself with fine art, some artists that have inspired me are Klimt, Egon Schiele, M.C. Escher, and Crumb. 

It’s very hard for anyone who grew up with nothing in a wealthy city to break into the art world. It’s been very difficult to be accepted in a culture built on classism.

MBON: Does music play an important part of your process?

MAA: I spend my time looking at life, looking into the unknown, looking at breathing, looking at movement, looking at pain, looking for positivity. The way I see life is with sound and music. When I observe my surroundings and people, I hear a soundtrack in the background. I paint to that.

I also make sound collage music here and there as part of The Living Installation theater performances. You can listen to some of the music on Bandcamp.

“TEST SUBJECT” by Michael Alan Alien, 2020. Mixed media, paint marker, stickers, metallic paint, blow pen, marker, colored pencil on black book cover.

MBON: How would you describe the transition from working in the studio to performance? Tell us about your process a little for your different forms of expression. 

MAA: I dedicate hours each day to drawing and painting, whether I work from the studio or go outside to create at different locations in the city. I have a select group of works that I work on outside, letting the streets and nature hit them. I draw from the energy of my surroundings and interactions with people as I work. This outdoor creation is performative and interactive. I often wear a QR code box on my head as a statement about where we are as a society with technology. Passersby can scan, interact and learn more about the work. I walk around the city with my cane and set up my easel to stand and work on medium to large pieces doing action work. I push myself daily to go out and create and bring disability awareness to people I meet. When I work from my studio I lay on the floor since my physical disabilities prevent me from working at a desk. I refine and reflect on the energy from the outdoor work, focused on detail work.

MBON: How do you feel the art scene in the city has changed?

MAA: In the 80’s art was built from the ground up. It was raw, revolutionary, and evolved slowly and organically. Groups of different kinds of people were discovering and sharing their scenes and interacting. It was the birth of downtown New York art. People still travel here from all around the world looking for it.

Now we have overnight success based on Tiktok numbers, quick fads, and an over saturation of art shows that seem to lack authenticity. The New York art scene now seems to be about devouring trends instead of creating a culture. That’s not to say that the direction can’t change.

“TRINITY OF ILLUSION” by Michael Alan Alien, 2021. 11’’x14’’ watercolor, ink, colored pencil on paper.

MBON: Do you have advice for emerging artists? 

MAA: Be careful of a physical gallery that meets you and wants you to have a solo show in a month and doesn’t understand your work. Growth takes development. There are a lot of shifty characters in the art world that just want to make a buck. Google search a gallery to see if they’ve gone to federal prison. Be careful who you work with and don’t give away your soul. Explore, grow, create, practice, and make work that you feel deeply. Make work that you love and we will see the rest.

MBON: What pillars in your impressive career mean the most to you and why? 

MAA: I don’t really look at my art as a career. I look at my art as an emotional and scientific process. I think the most important thing I’ve done is during the pandemic, shifting my practice to creating art publicly in NYC daily, keeping the spirit of old New York going, and connecting with the world outside.

“THE GREAT AMERICAN SQUEEZE” by Michael Alan Alien, 2021. 11’’x14’’ watercolor, cut and repurposed drawings, metallic ink, paint marker, ink on paper.

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Mika Bar On Nesher

Mika is a writer and filmmaker based in NYC. They are a Curator at SuperRare @superraremika  

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Tech

Curators' Choice

Beyond the self: a conversation with Ines Alpha

Beyond the self: a conversation with Ines Alpha

Nov 1, 2022 Art / Artist Profiles

Above: Ines Alpha x Diane Sagnier. Image courtesy of the artist.

Beyond the self: a conversation with Ines Alpha

Benoit Palop
1 year ago

New augmented reality filters are popping up daily, adding a playful note to the social media game. Still, it’s been tricky to determine which creators’ contributions pass through an artistic process and which do not. Indeed, some skeptics are unwilling to consider AR effects a full-fledged art practice, as we would for painting or other mediums accepted by the establishment as art. But norms are changing. In Ines Alpha’s words “Augmented reality is just another tool artists can use. Art doesn’t have to be a painting or a sculpture. It evolves with time and with our society as well. Anything that can help an artist to tell a story, to share a different point of view, can be considered art. It’s not the tool that creates the art piece; it’s the artist’s intention. And that’s how you make the difference between a basic filter and an artistic one. Not the majority of AR creators have a specific and personal vision or message they want to share with the world. Most of them just enjoy experimenting with the software.“

Based in Paris, Ines is an artist whose practice is steeped in internet culture. (She has been an enthusiastic Tamagotchi breeder since forever). While honing her career as an art director, she binge-watched 3D creatives’ online tutorials in her spare time. Her journey to becoming a full-time digital artist began when she teamed up with creative mainstays, such as the music producer Panteros666, to co-produce video clips featuring otherworldly blobs and ethereal shapes. In relatively short order, she was drawn to augmented reality. Using 3D makeup, she has cultivated a signature style that challenges received ideas of what fine art can be. Ines is building up the beauty industry’s future. Nothing less.

Ines Alpha by Nathan Beer

The artist’s home in Paris by Nathan Beer

HyperEmotionalSkin, in collaboration with Adrien Chuttarsing. Image courtesy of the artist.

Cracking the reality dilemma with AR filters

Nowadays, it’s  a cliché to hear creatives talk about blurring the lines between the real and the virtual. The catchphrase more often lends itself to boosterism than a substantive aesthetic statement. Ines’s work however, fully merits such an otherwise careworn description. Her work in 3D and AR deepen an optimistic narrative that fully embraces our hypermediated era.

“When I started experimenting with 3D, it was pretty natural for me to suddenly add 3D elements on a face as makeup,” she explained. “I used post-production software for my first projects, and AR seemed way too complex to learn at that time. But post-production means creating a tailor-made 3D design, so no one can try that 3D makeup look on once the video is done. I knew I would need to use AR at some point to democratize my work. Because how can I call my art ‘makeup’ if no one can wear it?” To make the magic happen, Ines gradually integrated AR into her creative process. Pointing to the medium’s world-building potential, she declared, “You can create things that would be almost impossible or at least a nightmare to reproduce in the physical world.” Apart from its constructive functionality, Ines has found AR to be the perfect medium to deconstruct the beauty and makeup standards.

Because how can I call my art ‘makeup’ if no one can wear it?

— Ines Alpha

ImpulsTanz x CinCin / Filter developed with HongweiTang. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ines Alpha by Nathan Beer

Ines Alpha by Nathan Beer

The artist’s home by Nathan Beer.

“I’ve always been into adding 3D elements in our physical world, using what we can see with our eyes and augmenting it with digital software to make it more magical,” she told me. “I love the effect it has on your brain, the questions that can arise while watching those kinds of work or even making them, tricking the brain into believing everything is real.” 

This mind-luring approach, specific to AR, is also closely aligned with the internet era’s identity fluidity, a core component of her explorations that has been evolving with the rise of social networks and the rate at which the web is shifting. Along these lines, Ines’s filters tackle self-awareness, meta-aesthetics, and beauty. Using the latest in tech to generate futuristic identities, she questions the underlying societal values of facial depictions. The iridescent layers of her creations are meant to empower people, giving them the freedom to play around, create, and embody a new screen-native self. Her hope? To entice people to embark on a mixed reality experience that, over time, may help them temper IRL frustrations and fears.

Ines has been lucky enough to keep her creativity and personality in most of her creations, some of which illustrate her universe with more intensity and trueness, such as projects developed using multiple mediums. Developed in collaboration with creative coder and AI enthusiast Adrien Chuttarsing, her HyperEmotionalSkin connects makeup with users’ feelings and generates designs that depend on the emotions users are willing to show the camera. Meanwhile, her alpha beauty booth–a collaboration with digital artist and engineer Sava–lets you apply your 3D makeup look with your finger. Easy-to-use and inclusive, these digital makeup wearables fill social feeds as they allow users to participate in the creation of art. It’s a smart way to increase the visibility of her creations as algorithms become more and more untamable each day. 

αƖρнα Ɓєαυту Ɓσσтн. Image courtesy of the artist.

From social apps to the crypto space

To a large segment of people, NFT art is synonymous with little more than over-hyped digital status symbols. For others, including me, this revolution has been a significant turning point in art history, digital ownership, community building, and aesthetics.

Ines has been looking for ways to monetize her work. At present, smart contracts offer the most viable means for her to do so. “For now, it’s the only way to sell digital artists’ work with a proper certificate and trace it. That’s great news to make digital art accessible to more people, protect it and value our work more traditionally,” she mentioned, adding that ownership of AR is a slippery slope. “It’s complicated, especially when collaborating with big companies such as Meta. I have no idea what the law is about this, shame on me, but uploading my art to their platform makes it their own?” Still, these apps are the best way to display and share her work, and she hasn’t yet found the right way to link her AR works to NFTs. In particular, the filter-related ones are more of a self-triggered experience than an artwork because of their ephemeral nature. But, she is quite optimistic about the future. “I guess it’s not gonna be a problem soon enough anyways,” she said, as the ever-evolving features of NFT platforms widen the possibilities offered to creators a little more every day.

This new creative economy has been a game-changer for Ines. Web3 has allowed her to broaden the scope of her e-makeup creations which valorize a form of beauty that is more diverse, quirky, and open to imperfection than what is traditionally considered worthy of celebration. “It’s a good thing that art pieces that were not made in a traditional way have value now. That value has been given by people and not by a very selective privileged group. What’s beautiful or not doesn’t belong and doesn’t have to be decided by a niche of people.” Ines’s views on creative freedom and autonomous decision-making are key components to the Web3 ecosystem and its community ethos, and that’s why we are all in here.

From the few experiences she has had so far, the crypto space has been very kind to Ines. “I’ve always felt that people working in the digital space were supportive,” she explained. “Always up to sharing knowledge, resources, and tips. It’s thanks to Nicole Ruggiero that I made my first baby steps in the community.”  

The guardian by Nathan Beer

Ines’s first NFT with Nicole Ruggiero “Tears in the wind.” Image courtesy of the artist.

Ines Alpha by Nathan Beer

The artist’s home by Nathan Beer

When I asked Ines what’s next for her, she told me that in addition to creating new filters and partnering with other collaborators, she has started exploring new ways to merge realities.  One such project is with a company that wants to produce stuffed animals with her 3D designs. “I hope this project will happen! It’s so exciting for me to be able to have physical versions of my work. I’m already thinking of also having accessible (price-wise) and sustainable NFT versions for those who can’t afford the plush toys.” As for the rest, it will mostly depend on what chance may bring. Yet for the time being, Ines remains committed to exploring how makeup will be re-shaped through Web3 and the metaverse. How will this conceptual space affect our standpoint and, more globally, our identity? This may keep her busy and creative for a while.

20

Benoit Palop

Benoit is a French project coordinator, digital content strategist, writer, and curator based in Tokyo. He has been digging into web culture and digital art since the early aughts and sharpened his knowledge with an intensive academic journey, including a Master's degree in research in digital media at Sorbonne University in Paris. He has collaborated with companies, studios, and media such as MUTEK, VICE, i-D, Society for Arts and Technology, Club Media, and The Creators Project (VICE & Intel), to name a few. Through curatorial projects, research, and writing, he likes exploring issues such as networked culture, social media practices, and media archeology. He also enjoys talking about NFTs and ramen.

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Tech

Curators' Choice

Ruby 9100m and the art of breaking reality

Ruby 9100m and the art of breaking reality

Oct 25, 2022 Art / Artist Profiles

Above: Ruby 9100m. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ruby 9100m and the art of breaking reality

Benoit Palop
2 years ago

Unless you’ve been logged off for a while, you’ve noticed that virtual beings have seeped into every corner of the internet. You may not like it; still, you have to accept that they’ve unlocked many new creative possibilities in fields from fashion to art to media. With ever-evolving storytelling, flexible designs, and unique online social experiences, they adjust to the wills of their audiences, followers, and creators. Invented by Hong Kong-born and raised artist Ruby (the IRL one), her avatar, Ruby 9100m, is one of these computer-generated entities, and has become well known through net culture and digital fashion communities over the last few years.

I first came across Ruby’s universe circa 2015. At this time, she was pretty active on Tumblr, sharing a daily dose of Internet gems and a e s t h e t i c visuals, kinky anime captures and slick fashion snaps you could scroll through for hours. She was also leading the Wee Girls Club, a global community of “multidimensional girls with a strong sense of culture, art, music, and design.” At that time, she was already ahead, showing a deep understanding of the web subculture’s ecosystem, aesthetics, philosophy, and community. It was around 2018 when she started embodying her digital self. The vanguard CG girl and transhuman she has been splitting her life with is her way of blurring the lines between what it means to be a physical and virtual being. “Ruby is my virtual extension and a vessel for myself to express my emotions and aesthetics freely. I also see her as my daughter,” she said while introducing her digital self. ” It’s like I built her, and I have to be very responsible and attentive for her as an identity. I take a meticulous approach to her branding and development. Also, she doesn’t have friends like other virtual beings, and I’m her best friend.”

Ruby 9100. Image courtesy of the artist.

Rendered identity as therapy

Some people may have a rough time catching up with the virtual-everything frenzy or may not be very into cyber-girl subculture. Others can still find the overall concept of digital personas a bit blazé and not artsy enough. However, net culture freaks will have a blast digging into the conceptual ideas that form Ruby 9100m’s narrative core: a well-crafted exploration of how the internet has been shaping new existences.

Ruby started away from reality as soon as she intensified her online presence as a fashion influencer while still a student, mainly using Tumblr. For her, understanding herself online is to understand herself in the real world–a metaphysical thought she has struggled with since an early age. “I had trouble valuing myself as a human being. It might be because I grew up in a traditional Asian family and a small city where I never felt I belonged. Plus a lot of unfortunate experiences in childhood that came along,” she confesses. “I was always trying to fit in, but I could not.”  

She started sporting head-turning looks and got internet-breaking attention. “I was always trying to be someone people would like to see!” she said, insisting that other people’s gazes likely kicked off her shift into becoming a transhuman. “I guess the process of being looked at on social media at the age when I was still finding myself gave me extreme anxiety,” she said. “I suddenly thought that as everything we see online is highly calculated and not true, maybe I could create my second identity to replace my existence there so I can separate my real life from online life.”

Unlike most teams that manage these 2.0 muses, the one-woman team Ruby (helped by her feline assistant Lulu the chub) does not hide the Daz Studio and Marvelous Designer software intervention to bring her CGI alter ego to the digital realm. Likewise, she does not hide her emotions. Across the screen spectrum, the genuineness she shares presents a personal vision of the merging point of the real and the virtual: a daily crossroads of realities that are no longer up for discussion in 2022.

This total transparency is one of the catching aspects of her practice. It considerably expands the scope of her work from an artistic and sociological point of view and reduces the gap with her audience. Indeed, contrary to other V-influencers who are nothing more than an amalgam of current trends, Ruby 9100m reflects her IRL creator in all aspects and pertinently questions the relationship we all have with our own virtual self. “I guess the uniqueness of Ruby is that she is not completely virtual,” Ruby answered when asked about the singularity of her creation. “Ruby 9100m might appear to be the most virtual among avatars, but she isn’t plotted to represent any social norms or issues,” she states. “I guess this also somehow makes her ethically neutral. And business wise, her authentic identity and existence are also unique instead of being an industry-made character only for making money.” She definitely keeps a minimum distance from the competition and always favors a critical and creative approach despite her involvement in commercial projects. It’s a slippery slope she’s managed quite well so far.

Ruby 9100m. Image courtesy of the artist.

From the closet to the metaverse

Fashion has always been a central piece of Ruby’s practice. Not only because it helped boost her self-confidence, but also because it is intrinsically related to the work she unfolds with her avatar. Her sharp sense of style and the eye-catching futuristic design of her 3D renders are her signatures, and they’ve captured attention. They brought her to collaborate with some of the industry’s mainstays like Nike, Adidas, Ambush, Bvlgari, Vivienne Westwood, and The Fabricant. In addition to increasing her profile and bringing her into the public sphere, these opportunities have provided an additional way to make her art visible.

Virtual fashion was a mandatory step as she fully embraced the virtual world with Ruby 9100m. Still, she had no educational background in fashion. “Everything I learned about fashion and art is from my experience, tryout, and passion. As a real-life fashion influencer, I liked to style myself when I was younger. And now I still style a lot but all that for Ruby.” Like many creators, she sat down during the pandemic and broadened her tool kit. She self-taught Marvelous Designer and learned how to build digital clothing. “I feel so amazing to be able to create anything I want to wear, but I cannot find it IRL. Digital fashion is a must in the industry. Other than minimizing the cost of production, it gives fashion even more possibilities for creativity.” 

Looking towards the future and how digital clothing may evolve, Ruby supposes it will really depend on the technology and its acceptance to make virtual fashion’s utilities more approachable. “Combining physical and virtual products is also important to be the first step to make people interested in collecting virtual fashion items too!” she added. 

In a more democratic, free-for-all space than the classic catwalks can provide, this year’s Decentraland fashion week allowed fashion NFTs collectors to grab physical versions of their assets. This metaverse-based event perfectly resonated with Ruby’s point of view and demonstrates how non-tangible clothes can accelerate and facilitate the ongoing transition and mass adoption.

Ruby 9100m. Image courtesy of the artist.

A mindful approach to Web3

Aside from being one of the most stylish gals of the Tumblr-era, Ruby has also been at the forefront of web-based art for a while, working through online spaces, challenging realities, and carefully tackling topics in IP. It was foreseeable that she’d be involved in Web3, taking her creations to the next step and monetizing them through smart contracts. “I think NFTs bring a revolution and evolution for digital art,” she said. “With encrypted technology and values added to digital art, it is no longer just ‘internet art’ that is hard to value but also now considered as one of the most important mediums in the art industry.” 

However, she has been very cautious regarding the tokens’ pros and cons, using blockchain with tweezers and keeping her drops only for significant moments. “I usually do collabs with other platforms, companies, and artists for NFTs instead of just minting my work. I believe the creative process and concept are more important than just putting it [out] there.”

Joining the crypto world also contributed to spotlighting her works. It allowed her to reach an ever-growing community, diversify her audience from a niche fan base to the mainstream, and provide a better understanding of her practice. “One interesting fact is that NFTs bring Ruby more male audiences, while before most of my audience and followers were women and genderless people,” she noted.

Although she has not been deeply involved in any Web3-powered metaverses yet, and still has a long way to go and so much to learn about this blooming ecosystem, she is eager to explore its creative potential and add some new layers to her work. “It would be amazing to create a virtual and open space for Ruby with the world she could live in, with everyone’s effort to participate. As I didn’t purposely set any physical space for her to be in, it would be inspiring to see that in the future.”

Next steps: Playing with AI and Algorithms

Regarding how she envisions the coming months (and years) for her other half, she is thirsty for new ways to express herself and push the boudaries of creation and storytelling, whether using tech tools or not. “My ultimate goal is to make her an AI prototype,“ She said before concluding. “It would be astonishing to see the algorithm while Ruby comes to life and to communicate with a person who is supposed to be me, but maybe not! Apart from this, I have been working on transitioning Ruby’s current appearances into fine art. Stay tuned!”

20

Benoit Palop

Benoit is a French project coordinator, digital content strategist, writer, and curator based in Tokyo. He has been digging into web culture and digital art since the early aughts and sharpened his knowledge with an intensive academic journey, including a Master's degree in research in digital media at Sorbonne University in Paris. He has collaborated with companies, studios, and media such as MUTEK, VICE, i-D, Society for Arts and Technology, Club Media, and The Creators Project (VICE & Intel), to name a few. Through curatorial projects, research, and writing, he likes exploring issues such as networked culture, social media practices, and media archeology. He also enjoys talking about NFTs and ramen.

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Tech

Curators' Choice

Pixel chlorophyll: horror, conflict, and harmony in the works of Criptocromo

Pixel chlorophyll: horror, conflict, and harmony in the works of Criptocromo

Jul 5, 2022 Artist Profiles

Above: The meeting (Criptocromo, 2022)

Pixel chlorophyll: horror, conflict, and harmony in the works of Criptocromo

Oliver Scialdone
2 years ago

The Flavoprotein Artist 

Blue light-sensitive flavoproteins called cryptochromes contribute to regulating directional growth in plants, and in some species even have a role in controlling circadian rhythms. It’s an apt moniker for Mexican artist Criptocromo, whose body of work includes imagery inspired by greenery. His pixel art is frequently rendered in bold and contrasting tones, with subject matter veering into the unsettling. “I’ve always been interested in the plant kingdom,” he said when we spoke over video. “It all started, I think, since I was a child. I got carnivorous plants.” Over time, he began to learn more about plant biology and took gardening workshops. In his profile on SuperRare, he even describes himself as a “flavoprotein artist.” But his previous job, creating television graphics for a news channel, was not one that allowed him to explore what he finds fascinating and inspiring. In 2014, he began creating digital art and posting it on Tumblr to satisfy the need to express himself; he first came into contact with NFTs by following XCOPY on the platform, and curiosity took hold. “I sent my animation to SuperRare. I said, ‘let’s see what happens.’ I wasn’t even into cryptocurrencies.” To his surprise, they accepted his art.

Domestication (Criptocromo, 2018)

Criptocromo, a soft-spoken man in his thirties with an inviting smile and thick square glasses, minted his first token on SuperRare about four years ago (the piece, “Domestication,” referencing “The Creation of Adam,” depicts a hand reaching towards the leaves of a plant and includes a text box similar to those found in retro video games); he’s been in the crypto art space ever since, minting not only on SuperRare, but also on platforms ranging from Rarible to Hic et Nunc. And plant life isn’t the only notable feature of his art. Criptocromo’s work is full of very fine pixels where shadow, shading, and color express the horrific and grotesque. Most tokens are not still images, but rather pulsing GIFs that produce disquieting emotions in the observer.

For example, “Lettuce” invites the viewer to a dark scene bathed in eerie neon green light, where a towering plant monster emerges from the shadows. A human victim drops their fork. The subtle wafting of the leaves on the monster’s head as rain pounds down around it makes the scene all the more haunting. When I asked Criptocromo about the relationship between nature and humans present in his work, he paused for a moment and apologized as he dug for the right words to express himself in English. But I suspected based on his demeanor, the way his eyes seemed to flicker after each question, that regardless of what language he found himself communicating in, Criptocromo often spoke thoughtfully. After a few moments, he explained, “we are all living organisms. We come from a living organism.” The domination of humans by plant life and the absorption of humanity into nature are both very present across his body of work, this feeling that the plant kingdom is executing revenge upon humanity for how we have systematically destroyed it. 

Lettuce (Criptocromo, 2021)

Skeletal garden (Criptocromo, 2018)

Xiuhtecuhtli (Criptocromo, 2021)

LuciferChrist (Criptocromo, 2021)

“Skeletal Garden” explores similar concepts but more quietly—the art shows a skeleton awash in golden light over a backdrop of night skies and deep indigo mountains, dark turquoise grass dotted with white and blue flowers. It appears to be growing from the ground and simultaneously sinking into it, at rest but somehow alive. The sentence “Congratulations! You managed to grow a beautiful garden…” floats in a text box. As Criptocromo explained, the piece considers how death can bring life, how a decaying creature can help produce a thriving garden by giving itself back to the earth. “It’s more to see the transcendental part,” he said.

He similarly explores the relationship between life and death in “Xiuhtecuhtli.” In “Xiuhtecuhtli,” the eponymous Aztec god, known as the god of fire but also associated with life after death, rebirth and transformation, crouches low over a flame as if about to lower himself into it, grinning with his arms crossed over his knees. And in “LuciferChrist,” Jesus and Lucifer are depicted as a single being, with red skin, horns, and a flashing blue halo. A text box below quotes John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Criptocromo continuously coaxes harmony from the space between seemingly conflicting forces, be it life and death, people and nature, good and evil. I asked him about the presence of spirituality in his work, but when he suddenly became bashful, I realized that through our language difference and the spotty audio connection of our video chat, he thought I asked him about sexuality in his art instead. I didn’t correct him because I thought that either way, his answer would provide fascinating context. He said it wasn’t a focus of his work, but “I love the symbols,” sharing that he’s become interested in lucid dreaming. “It has more to do with grading your own language and symbols and trying to make sense of your own imagery.” He added that artists should listen to the dark sides of their personalities, as creatively those are “routes where great things are hidden.”

Beyond Sprites

Not all of Criptocromo’s pieces include the text boxes, but many do. Even those that don’t are inspired by vintage gaming, most obviously through the use of pixels, but also through backgrounds, color, and aspects of character design. According to Criptocromo, nostalgia remains a strong factor in the look of his work—he grew up playing vintage games and considers it a “very generational influence.” But he rightfully differentiates his particular style from art that simply reproduces the aesthetics of retro gaming: “I am not so much interested in pixel art formally speaking, like creating sprite animation…I try to give my artwork a more illustrative approach.” And while the impact of classic games is evident (he cited “Donkey Kong Country” for the SNES as a favorite, but shared that he recently played “Undertale,” a contemporary game with classic pixel graphics that subverts traditional dungeon crawler narratives), Criptocromo expressed that he wants to get deeper into “the texture side of the artwork, of the noisy pixels moving.” The chilling “GN” exemplifies this, showing cloaked blue figures whose crimson eyes beat and crackle in time with background pixels, reminiscent of the 1973 René Laloux film “Fantastic Planet.” Criptocromo loves the GIF format for this reason, saying that “It looks more crisp. It’s sharp. It’s more malleable, maybe.”

GN (Criptocromo, 2021)

These qualities are what drew me to his work initially–my tastes in visual art are squarely rooted in pixels, glitches, and noise, references to retro tech, vintage A/V equipment, and old games; he elevates that style. And while there are other crypto artists whose work exists in a similar vein–contemporaries like Neurocolor, Sarah Zucker, and p1exlfool–Criptocromo doesn’t have the sizeable online following many of these artists have, despite the time he’s spent in the scene. Something about his work still feels alternative and underground, I think in part because his art specifically builds upon the aesthetics of video games, conjuring images of small groups of people huddled around early consoles in private living rooms. His use of light, color, and shadow are reminiscent of low budget creature features with terrifying practical effects, but the accessibility of his art also plays a role in fostering this DIY quality–though his pieces on SuperRare and other Ethereum-powered platforms fetch higher prices, Criptocromo still has tokens available on Hic et Nunc for 25 XTZ and under, or, as of writing, less than $100.

Circum[n]utation (Criptocromo, 2021)

And his work goes beyond still images and GIFs. He minted an animated NFT on SuperRare called “Circum[n]utation;” it features Spyder Malamadre, a character frequently featured in Criptocromo’s art, destroying a city—the animation is thirty-two seconds long, inspired by ‘90s video game intros, and has music composed by Adrián Baez. Music is another interest—he’s released a few volumes titled “Music for Plants,” available on SoundCloud and Youtube, but doesn’t exactly consider himself a musician. Inspired by experimental techno, darkwave, IDM, and ambient soundscapes, his music rides the sounds of lo-fi, dungeon crawler scores, and occasionally even gives remnants of Mort Garson’s internet-beloved “Plantasia.”

Now, Criptocromo has built strong bonds with fellow artists and collectors. Of the community, he said, “I think if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I would still be here…there’s a sense of unity and it’s very magical.” His face lit up when he described drawing inspiration and comradery from artists like XCOPY, Ofiicinas TK, and Carlos Marcial, and he’s specifically enthusiastic about the crypto art community in Mexico, his home. In addition to minting art and exploring music composition, he’s excited about participation in a platform focused on comics, an unexplored space for crypto artists in comparison to other mediums. Ultimately, he loves the scene and the place he’s carved out for himself in it. “I didn’t even imagine that we could have all of this community going,” Criptocromo said. “So I dunno. Growing so fast, it has been really a nice experience and I am very thankful.”

20

Oliver Scialdone

Oliver Scialdone is a queer writer and artist based in Brooklyn, NY. They earned a dual-MFA from The New School, and their work can be found in Peach Mag, ImageOut Write, and elsewhere. They used to host the reading series Satellite Lit and they're the Associate Editor at SuperRare Magazine.

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Do electric memes dream of JPEGS?: an interview with Moxarra Gonzalez

Do electric memes dream of JPEGS?: an interview with Moxarra Gonzalez

May 25, 2022 Artist Profiles

“GM JPEGS” by @moxarrarare (2021)

Do electric memes dream of JPEGS?: an interview with Moxarra Gonzalez

Oliver Scialdone
2 years ago

Moxarra Gonzalez by Dave Krugman

What counts as art?  It’s a question with no definitive answer that artists and theorists have wrestled with for centuries, yet somehow, the artistic establishment still claims to know the truth. Distinctions between art and not art, high art and low art, the valuable and the worthless, often reflect the tastes of the ruling class. Over time, as more and more artists embrace styles and subjects that the traditional artworld refuses to engage with, those styles and practices assimilate into the mainstream. Then, once something becomes too popular for the elite to ignore, the cultural canon appropriates it.

“This isn’t art,” is an accusation frequently leveled at crypto artists. And while there is a great variety of art minted as NFTs, from digitally rendered oil paintings to fine photography, Web3 has seen its share of distinct styles and movements completely unique to the digital space (some even predating Web3), from trash art to vaporwave to work that utilizes blockchain itself as part of the medium. Unsurprisingly, some of the most emblematic pieces of crypto art have traditional collectors rolling their eyes, especially those that incorporate memes or reflect the tastes of artists who’ve spent their lives online. Are memes art? Establishment art types might scoff at the idea, but I think a case is easy to make. Writing for Polygon back in 2018, Sam Greszes asserted that “Shitposting is an art, if history is any indication.” Even prior to this, I’ve heard underground artists, friends, acquaintances, myself even, voice the same take since at least 2013: memes are Dada1. Greszes makes astute comparisons, for example likening memes that rely on found imagery to Duchamp’s readymade art. The argument for the inclusion of memes and internet culture in artistic spaces is as old as internet culture itself. But most such artists are still, by all accounts, artworld outsiders.

Moxarra Gonzalez by Oveck

Mexican artist Moxarra Gonzalez studied art at The Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Monterrey, but his introduction to digital art didn’t come until he worked at a newspaper in his hometown, creating infographics and illustrations with rapid turnaround times. Through a Facebook ad in 2015, he found Dada.nyc, the now-emblematic collaborative platform where users communicate via digital drawings made in a simple interface. He quickly became involved in the community. Moxarra’s move into NFTs arrived when the platform began monetizing its digital artwork through the “Creeps and Weirdos” collection, and today he’s regarded as a crypto art OG, with work minted on SuperRare2 , MakersPlace, KnownOrgin, Foundation, and other platforms. “I come from skate MTV culture,” he told me when I spoke to him over a video call. He lit a cigarette as he settled in to speak to me. I noticed he looked like he should’ve had a lanky frame, but in fact appeared rather sturdy. His black tee, glasses, and ponytail wouldn’t be out of place at the Bushwick skate bar I head to for a beer after work when decide I need to doomscroll on a weeknight. “I like to draw a lot…I like music. I like punk. So I think that’s reflected in my work.” And those influences truly are unmistakable–much of his art references the aesthetics and touchstones of the 1980s, but uses that framework to address events of the present, be it global news, the crypto scene, or internet culture. The result is frequently anachronistic, retrofuturist, and fantastically sure of itself. 

Moxarra’s roots in punk and skate culture are evident in series like Non Fungible Tokens–ten cards stylized like Garbage Pail Kids that reference different aspects of the NFT space–and Surprise PFPoops, his take on PFPs. It’s the type of art that reminds me of when Heinz sold green and purple ketchup that my mom wouldn’t buy, no matter how much my brother and I begged3. But that’s the point. To be a little cheeky and juvenile, even gross. Nothing is so serious that there isn’t room for a swirly green piece of shit wearing weed glasses with a tab of acid on its tongue. Or even better, a joint hanging from the corner of the mouth of Hielos, specifically the bust of Hielos that’s become so familiar to fans of vaporwave via the cover of Floral Shoppe by Macintosh Plus. Plenty of Moxarra’s pieces have a vaporwave sensibility to them–even if they aren’t quite so overt as “Vapor Dave”–particularly in his GM series, which utilizes bright neon colors, bold lines, and flashing gifs. Characters featured in these works are mostly (but not always) pulled from 1980s pop culture, and if they’re not, they occupy the same visual niche. Moxarra told me that he usually draws a GM everyday, and likened the practice to when he needed to turn art around quickly for newspaper deadlines.

“GM Assholes” depicts a man whose manner of dress denotes a corporate ladder-climbing yuppie. Not explicitly Patrick Bateman, but not too far off.4 Except then he’s holding a smartphone; a speech bubble blooms from it as he’s about to tilt his glasses down. The bubble contains the Microsoft logo and the phrase Little Capitalist Assholes. “It just came naturally from my collection of ideas because I tend to mix all the pop references that I have immediately in my brain,” Moxarra told me. “So when I see something popping up in crypto culture, I try to connect it with my past references. So yeah, a lot of connections of what I saw when I was young and what I can do right now. And all the eighties, baby boomer, boom of Wall Street and all that stuff. It’s like, I mean right now with the crypto boom. So yeah, a lot of connections of what I saw when I was young and what I can do right now.”

“GM Assholes” by @moxarrarare (2021)

And Moxarra isn’t afraid to comment on the crypto scene, both in regard to insiders and outsiders. In “NFTEvil,” he addresses artists who hate NFTs using the format of the Old Man Yells at Cloud meme (memes really do make for effective communication in the arts), and in “HODL Please” he similarly uses the format of a meme, this time the Everything’s Fine dog, to poke fun at crypto evangelists who place a little too much faith in the coin. 

When we spoke, I asked Moxarra about the NFT space, and what he wanted to see change. He thinks that too many people are trying too hard to be seen. “All these little groups that have been like…they really want to identify with something. So that’s weird because when we started, we were anonymous. Most of the people thought that Moxarra was a girl.” In many ways, part of the point of crypto is anonymity—there’s a reason your public wallet address is a string of characters in lieu of your first and last name. Even when crypto artists have public facing identities, they frequently go by their social handles or nicknames (Moxarra is a nickname, after all). Some OGs do share their real names, and certainly some can be vocal. But on the whole, they’re still quieter than newcomers.

La Lagunilla Market by Dave Krugman

“They start in this world and they want to be famous like Picasso or, I don’t know Modigliani, or they look at the old school days of art, either the big people in crypto art like, I don’t know, XCOPY.” For Moxarra, it doesn’t matter who someone is, where they’re from, or what groups they belong to. The most important thing is the art and how he can connect to it. “Be anonymous, I think,” he said, in regards to crypto artists. He acknowledges his thoughts on the matter could be colored by the fact that when he first entered the space, no one knew who he was. No one knew who anyone was. “We didn’t really care if we got famous. I don’t really give a fuck if someone knows me or recognizes me on the street.” We discussed the positives and the negatives of the crypto art scene going mainstream; on one hand it brings legitimacy to the art and the artists; on the other hand, as when anything goes mainstream, it gets diluted into an afterimage of its former self, taken over by people who don’t understand what it meant in the first place. “Well, maybe the NFT scene will get established in a moment because we are seeing all these Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions with NFTs. So more of the outsiders, they are getting to know NFT culture.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “But as we started this stuff, I don’t want to be mainstream now. I hope it goes mainstream, but I don’t want to be mainstream, you know?” The perspective was very punk of him, I thought.

“SOMNUS” by @moxarrarare (2021)

“It’s a common joke between the Mexican artists,” Moxarra said. “We are just doing silly little drawings that move5.” And the crypto art scene in Mexico is impressive, featuring not only Moxarra’s talent, but contemporaries like Ann Ahoy, Neurocolor, Criptocromo, Hola Lou, and Carlos Marcial. There is incredible community among these artists–Moxarra told me that it’s different to be around other artists, in a good way; he said that it was difficult to talk to his ex-wife about NFTs: “every time I talked to her about my funny little drawings that I was selling for magical internet money, she was like, what the fuck is that?” The thing about people who aren’t involved in the crypto art space? They don’t get it. Not all of Moxarra’s art, but a fair amount of it, requires the viewer to have the correct cultural background to understand it. The work of so many OGs and the people who followed in their wake will be dismissed by those who aren’t in the space, all because they don’t know where it came from. And that’s all too frequently the benchmark for what does and does not count as art; it has nothing to do with the merits of a piece, but the audience’s inability to understand. And it’s not as if the work is inaccessible in the way that bourgeois and aristocratic art is inaccessible to the people. In many ways, artists like Moxarra are more of the people than anyone in the mainstream. Who doesn’t know Pepe the Frog, or the Everything’s Fine Dog? Your boomer parents, maybe6. Even pieces that more specifically reference crypto or Web3 don’t take much research for a noob to understand, as long as that noob has media literacy skills7. A refusal to recognize crypto art as real and true art is, most frequently, willful. Artists like Moxarra are necessary. Artists who create with no concern for the tastes of the mainstream. He’s pushing art towards evolution. Moxarra is out here, making GMs and minting little poops, among those who continue to set a new standard. 
20

Oliver Scialdone

Oliver Scialdone is a queer writer and artist based in Brooklyn, NY. They earned a dual-MFA from The New School, and their work can be found in Peach Mag, ImageOut Write, and elsewhere. They used to host the reading series Satellite Lit and they're the Associate Editor at SuperRare Magazine.

Art

Tech

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