The Pot of Gratitude #17/20

Part of a series of three artworks entitled "The Rulers". Inspired by the rulers of the animal kingdom, african mandalas & diamonds. A very complex digital illustration, each lion consists of hundreds of custom diamond shapes. Each background is an intricate custom mandala that compliments the lions facial features.

The third piece is the Really Remote Working series, white sands and turquoise waters make this is a desk space like no other. Created during the lockdown period whilst being confined to the same place every day, this piece is part of a series of imaginary places that I dreamed of being able to work from.

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Young Vitalik takes on the role of Picasso’s son Paulo dressed as Harlequin in this artwork but the octahedron Ethereum logo replaces the chequered pattern of the original jester outfit. Leaning against a large chair, the boy genius fiddles with his fingers in a somewhat nervous manner; nevertheless, he stares directly at the viewer with what appears to be a confident, ‘Mona Lisa-like’ smile. Vitalik has no idea what the future has in store for him, but he’s prepared to face any obstacle ahead as he begins life's adventure.

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?