Digital Art Deathmatch at Beeple Studios

Our travels recently have been surrounded around artwork. We take day treks based on museums and festivals, but this road trip was for the weekend. And we weren’t just going to see art – we were going to watch it be created.

Beeple Studios was hosting a Digital Art Deathmatch. 

Whoa. What? 

Exactly. 

Mainly I was going to see bananakin‘s art and watch him make cool shit.

 

Most everyone was shuttled into a non-descript building that was quite deceiving from the outside.

Once I fully walked in and blinked, it started soaking in just how GIANT this space filled with Beeple’s (Mike Winkelmann) works is – we’re talking VJ loops, a wildly configured analog setup, the everyday piece the size of a HUMONGOUS wall.

The deathmatch was multiple rounds until there were two left.

I felt the voting situation could have been handled a bit differently. Went in with a few thoughts of how they might do it…but no, I was way off.

In a shocking twist, four of the eight in each semi-final group were pitted against each other and two of those four moved ahead.

Plus there was one hour to vote for each group.
Chaos on top of chaos, which kinda made it feel right.

bananakin and I caught a couple of the artist chats, including Blake Kathryn. She gave such a fun talk and provided great examples of how to group works and contemplate your own style from that.

Once all the 15 minute rounds were over, we went back to the hotel for a bit. We completed our everydays and then I took a nap.

Later that evening, we shuttled back to Beeple Studios for the final rounds, a couple of drinks and I livestreamed for a bit – showed off the gallery and what the atmosphere was like in the space.

When bananakin said we were going I set three goals – talk to Nick Campbell (Greyscalegorilla), Blake Kathryn and Min Shi. 

Figured there might be a moment to get a photo of bananakin and Beeple, alas that was a missed opportunity. Hopefully there will be another chance at that.

Nick was the announcer so finding time when he wasn’t reminding artists how much time they had left was quite the laugh. At one point I joked with bananakin to announce the remaining time in transatlantic, which he did….and then Nick walked by, announcing. I laughed so hard. And I caught it on video.

Later on I thanked him for the past photography tutorials and gear info. Now bananakin uses GSG’s plugins. 

 

It was really nice to catch Blake’s talk and it was even cooler talking with her later. I tried to find a moment to thank her for the inspiration. Her work and humor are fantastic. 

Her parting words were to go home and moisturize before bed. And you know what, it stuck in my brain and I’ve done so each day for the past two weeks. Hopefully next time she’ll tell me to floss my teeth.

At the end of the night we were swooped into where the talks where hosted that day. People were mingling, eating pizza and I looked over and told someone I really liked their dress. It was very colorful and full of pattern. After a few minutes of talking, bananakin said “You guys have done a really great job with this space” and I realized it was Beeple’s wife, who is amazing and runs a book non-profit in Charleston. What a surprise!

While we were waiting on the shuttle drivers to tell us if we’d have to wait 5 minutes or 50 minutes, we began talking to Min Shi. 

I didn’t want to bother her since it was late in the day, but the three of us were on a mission to figure out when the shuttle was leaving. She’s such a delight and creates breathtaking pieces. Her personal works are powerful and moody.

After brunch the next day I stopped to say bye to her before we got back on the road.

Overall it was a fun weekend. We got to visit places we hadn’t seen in years. 

Plus bananankin made cool shit in 15 minutes and got a lot of online support from friends and collectors.

Panama Canal – Life Views

Growing up the majority of our family vacations were cruises, typically to Caribbean locations, so when my husband was set to work on a ship that was headed through the Panama Canal, I knew I wanted to go.

The day we spent traveling through the locks of the old Panama Canal was incredible. We were able to see the crews working on the new set of locks a year before it opened.

 

bring it in
Traveling through the Panama Canal made me feel very tiny and ginormous at the same time. Nearing the walls and scoping out the workers made the half day excursion worth it. [01]

Sharing photos has always kinda felt like a secret and listing these was no different.

Photography has been a way for me to express myself and take in how I see things. I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was little and my first job was in a dark room. 

Minting these was nerve racking, but I’m happy to share my views.


don’t look down
When they said you’re gonna get close to the wall, they meant it. [02]

Traveling through the Panana Canal seemed like a once in a lifetime thing (cause I’m not sure two weeks on water is for me haha)

This trio embarks us into LIFE VIEWS – my 1/1 photography contract. 

Excitedly nervous to share the next ones.


tugging through 
Watching crew assist the ship through the dams was extraordinary. During the passage I ran up and down the stairs to see up-close how they made it work. Train tugs run along tracks nearest the ship. [03]

time coded – Behind the Scenes

While making other pieces I began collecting photos that struck memories. A collage appeared in my mind and since most everything in my career has revolved around screens and color bars, it all came together. To start I sanded down a 10×10 wood canvas. The cat helped pick out colors to mix and I crafted fluffy TV controls.

I worked on it off and on for a couple of weeks – working out photo placement and story timeline. I knew wanted to use fabric that I’d dyed without destroying the feel and look of the actual fabric. [Fun fact: it can be touched.]

Soon after getting started a local art show shared that they were looking for colorful artwork around movement. I fought myself for a while [insert 28 reasons here] and ended up paying the fee to submit two pieces. After waiting an extended period of time to hear back – I was rejected. No other word to use. That’s how I felt. I bet my daily reflected it too.

Both pieces were colorful, involved growth/movement, but…

“…I’d encourage you to take a look at the exhibitions once they go up. I think it will help get a good grasp on what the city may be looking for.”

Thoughts swam. I beat myself up. And then came to the conclusion that my style doesn’t need to fit “what the city may be looking for” – no matter how nice the rest of the letdown email may have been written.

Since then, this piece has sat on a shelf waiting for me to be ready to share it.

I’M READY.

 

tiny hand stitched Tetris, my husband’s chemotherapy, film development prices, hand dyed playback controls

time coded is in the collection of tomato

Celebrating 365 Days with Prints and a Giveaway

[packs are gone and giveaways are closed – thank you to everyone who entered and/or purchased a pack!]

To celebrate 365 days of daily creating, I have limited print packs available! BONUS: I’m giving away two packs – see below for details. 

10 packs available containing 5 prints [3×3″ and 3.5×5″] and a bonus unseen original from my stack of randomness.
$45 USD or .01 ETH. Message me on Twitter or Instagram to purchase. All will be signed.

Giveaways are happening today on Twitter and Instagram and are open until Wednesday, 12/1 at 5pm UTC

Printed on Entrada Rag Bright paper, which provides detail from the original paintings.

Worldwide shipping is included.

yearOneGiveaway1

Giveaway includes
a 5-pack of prints + original + a NFT

PACKS INCLUDE:
day 283 – light leak
day 287 – dream design move
day 295 – observe
day 300 – puff of a choice
day 318 – group chat

Rebirth of the Slothicorn

One of my very first introductions into NFTs [non-fungible tokens] was bananakin showing me female artists that had been in the art space for many years – Stellabelle was quite high on that list and I was instantly impressed and sucked in by all of the uniqueness in her works. I quickly realized art did not have to mean traditional. From that point on, I was digging around and watching little pieces of magic being born.

While I’ve been creating in different outlets my entire life, it was nice to jump into an already established community, feel as a newbie would, but also feel quite welcomed. Stellabelle was one of the first to follow me back from NFT Twitter and it meant a lot to just get a feel for how she seemed to be herself. Keeping people on their toes by saying what she meant and creating art that makes you not only do a second take but take a much closer look and get your focus right on point.

Art That Turns Heads

I truly should not have been surprised when Stella started posting these golden digital frames on Twitter. The art inside them being handmade in a way that will make your mind combust, aka I was hooked.

Stellabelle is an artist, writer, and voxels creator. She’s a big inspiration for me wanting to create in CryptoVoxels and just allowing my thoughts and feelings to find their way onto the page, whether paper or digital. CryptoStellas is an immerse satirical art collection that quite literally says “I hate crappy PFP projects” [profile photos] while teaching lessons in cultural references.

I did mean literally – here’s Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music #53 wearing CryptoStella #32: The Great 10K PFP Plague of 2021 on her shirt!

See what I mean? Art that will make you think, do research [dYoR, aM i RIghT?], or at least lead you to read the freaking descriptions that she’s written for each one of these thought-out pieces. When it comes to who is next, there’s no way to know because she’s coming for everyone. Spock, Veruca Salt, and Oprah included.

Puzzling, Yet Creative Times

The true reason she’s an original in this industry largely has to do with her wanting to help others. Stella built a site and hid random objects so others could find them, inspired by CoinArtist’s NFT puzzles. This led to not quite a sloth, not quite a unicorn popping up from a meme – Slothicorn was born! Stella helped bring it further to life with Creative Commons, as the original creator has never been named.

The Slothicorn community was based on the Steem blockchain. Steem [steemit.com] is where Stella would host contests and the participating artists would submit all of their art, remixes, or envision their kind of Slothicorn. The community members would upvote which pieces they enjoyed. The big difference with these upvotes was the artists were getting paid. For a Creative Commons project, this would seem to be one of the first times this ever happened. Creative Commons can be a little confusing because you have to know what art can and can’t be used for, however, it can greatly bring eyes to projects. Though a lot of [read: most] art is not Creative Commons.

While there is a definite “aww, that’s such an adorable Slothicorn” element to it, those claws leave much to be desired. Stella has mentioned the claws can be a reminder that bad money is out there. She also references them back to the 2008 recession, which hit her hard personally, and that’s something I can relate to as well.

To launch the Creative Commons community, the group hosted a Create Your Own Slothicorn art competition with a giveaway [a Ledger Nano was very smartly included] at the end of 2017. The community also created multiple contests the following year to get even more artists involved in learning about cryptocurrency and art. While looking into the background for Slothicorn, I scrolled through Stella’s Discord channels because I remembered her saying it was from those days. Just as she’s creating history with each CryptoStella, some of the older Discord channels are a piece of Slothicorn’s Creative Commons history. You can see people that were in the community then were learning about cryptocurrency, cryptoart, and they were also willing to help out others who had questions.

Wearing All Hats (And Wearables)

Stella puts so much time and energy into each piece she creates and that flows into her CryptoVoxels galleries. I’ve been fortunate to visit a couple and seeing the current CryptoStellas hanging around in one place was a really cool experience. [As of this writing, the gallery is still up.] Not only did she host three giveaways during the launch party, but Stellabelle also mints other artists’ CryptoVoxel wearables because that’s what she can do to help out. [If you don’t own land, you can’t mint.] Plus there was a Twitter Spaces chat during the party where so much insight was given into the current CryptoStellas project.

In true Stellabelle fashion, the Slothicorn CryptoStella has gems hidden in there – the creation year, unicorn earrings, “educating artists” swirled within the hair, actual Slothicorn artwork as the outfit, a unibrow, plus the teal mask Stellabelle has been using for project updates on the main character and also on the Mona Lisa. I mean, I know I’m late to finding out about and loving the Slothicorn, but I am in! There’s a rainbow on the stomach of one – what’s not to love?

It’s been a journey for me to watch her artwork come together over the past year, plus to now find out so much more while learning about the Slothicorn community and what she’s done for the cryptocurrency/art world in general. From educating others to doing what she could to provide income for Creative Commons artists, that speaks a lot about the type of person she is, all while having a mess of fun laughing at some really, really crappy 10K PFP projects, “influencers”, and the world as a whole.

During the CryptoStellas launch, it was announced that they were under Creative Commons as well! Another level of fun to the innovative project.

Major thanks to Stellabelle for having another amazing giveaway. You better believe I have all my claws crossed in hopes to earn the elusive Slothicorn CryptoStella.

—–

Sources:
https://medium.com/hackernoon/could-slothicorn-become-the-ultimate-funding-solution-for-creative-commons-crypto-artists-6ff7dbd6d44e
https://thelatestblock.com/down-the-nft-rabbit-hole-part-2