Riddle Me This #1/20

A digital original of Kevin Roose's New York Times column, "Buy This Column on the Blockchain!" Published 3/24/21.

Was it worth it?

Title: Nobody Likes Me - Glitch Original (animated) Artist: iHeart Edition: One of one, unique. Medium: mp4 This unique variation, "Nobody Likes Me - Glitch Original (animated)” is part of an exclusive NFT release on KnowOrigin. in collaboration with Art Rapture. This variation is part of the Genesis NFT Drop of iHeart's iconic work, "Nobody Likes Me." DETAILS: The iconic, "Nobody Likes Me" street art piece by urban legend, iHeart has garnered the hearts, eyes and minds of art fans since 2014. In collaboration with Art Rapture and KnownOrigin., iHeart is dropping his first ever NFT release of several variations of his tour de force image, "Nobody Likes Me." In 2014, this captivating stencil mural, created in Stanley Park, Vancouver, earned iHeart a massive following and ultimately took down the second place price for most popular street art piece in the world (Street Art News article below). To truly understand the scope and reach of this iconic art piece, that symbolizes the impact of social media on our lives every single day, all you need to do is Google, "Nobody Like Me iHeart street art" and see the results. This release of "Nobody Likes Me" NFTs has a variety of 2D still & 2D animated versions ready for collectors to consume all around the world! Happy collecting! iHeart instagram: www.instagram.com/ihatestencils Street Art News article: https://streetartnews.net/2014/12/the-25-most-popular-street-art-pieces.html Huffington Post article: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/sunny-lenarduzzi/vancouver-street-artist-banksy-iheart_b_4953880.html #loveyourcollection #evolveyourcollection

The idea for this piece was borne out of a tweet of mine that caused a bit of a stir. I’d posted a link to a blog article I’d written a number of months previous titled ‘Who is the Creator’ discussing various types of creative collaborations and why I hire people to work on my animations. It generated a lot of debate around creation and attribution with the community split on whether it’s right or wrong for an artist to hire other professionals to help them realize their art projects. I decided to push the boundaries even further and see how the cryptoart community responded. What if I quite literally had nothing to do with the physical or digital elements of the work other than coming up with the concept and coordinating it? I decided there was one artist in the space who could add huge value to this idea on levels that none other could and so I gathered my courage and contacted the great José Delbo to ask him if he’d be interested in a very unique collaboration. I explained to him that to make this piece ‘work’ he couldn't have any say in what I produced and moreover, he wouldn’t even be allowed to see the animation until it was dropped on MakersPlace. To my surprise, Mr Delbo agreed to my proposal. The animation tells the story of the creative process, which includes my roles as writer, director, and producer working with a team and making edits and changes ‘in real time’. The dialogue between myself and my ‘hired guns’ plays out in front of the viewer. The music written for the piece adds to the nostalgia of the comic book superhero theme but other elements such as the snapping and kicking of the pencil and the signing of my signature at the bottom incorporates further layers and challenges the viewer to ask important questions, such as, is the ‘Art’ the final animation (the creation) or is the ‘Art’ the concept/credit for the creation itself?

(Virtual) blondes have more fun, right? #iconic ICONIC (Adj.): of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon. Widely recognized and well-established.

Beware of the CryptoBots.