Skateboard #10/104

Was it worth it?

Inspired by and for the 2018 North American Bitcoin conference in Miami, Florida. The palm tree that has a cracked open Bitcoin coconut suggests that by traveling you can enjoy this tropical digital fruit. The peacock nesting in the tree has spread its wings to flaunt other integrated crypto logos as well. The famous Miami skyline at the bottom incorporates the coins, as well as the code that is transforming the banking buildings that made it. The origin of that skyline is in the 80's cocaine craze, so it is all incorporated into the story of foundational transformation, linked to a global movement. The file size is suitable for an 8K TV. Mr. Moe Levin, the founder of the conference is a collector a physical print of the work. Explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0ZfPCJdxY&feature=emb_title Upload resolution 8000x4000 PX at 300DPI

This is a photo i took of my son playing around in one of our cat carriers, redressed to express the concern and damage the continuation of the trump administration could bring to the world in 2020 and beyond. Unlike the majority of my historic work found on opensea, all content was conceived and taken by me, so felt perfect to use as my first piece on Known Origin.

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?

Cosmic Chess is a playable artwork that will evolve in time as the game progresses. This piece utilizes a special Layer Changer tool that lets owners move their pieces just like they would a regular chess game! To see the current state of the board you can view the tool here: https://asyncchess.herokuapp.com/1148

Artist notes: the halving ceremony is the most unusual part of modern bitcoin production in which the owners bet on how efficiently an alpha can inseminate the market.