Over the past 6 months, I’ve been active within a small community of artists, known as Move It, and we are about to do a collective drop on Foundation! Unified over the medium of animation, we are a pretty diverse group of artists. Over at the MoveIt Cafe, we talk about conceptual work, techniques, the quality of Griff and Glowa’s buttery voices, and the meaning of life.
OK not so much the latter, since we’re all pretty much on the same page that we can’t take ourselves too seriously. But we do discuss topics of mental health quite often, and many of us have been there for each other over the last couple of years, as we have navigated the new culture and art market that is the blockchain.
Recently, the creator and host of this community known primarily for its weekly Twitter Spaces, TheHiena wanted to take the group one step further, by establishing it as an artist collective. Always brilliant, Boxhead suggested that a great way to smash the champagne on the hull would be to inaugurate the collective with a group drop, and so here we are about to do our first ever Move It Foundation World.
The very first collective drop of our group, it reflects a lot of the tenets that bring our group together: animation, mental health, and super dope visual art & audioscapes! Being his co-host on these spaces has been incredibly uplifting for me personally, and seeing this project come together has been very humbling, as everybody’s pieces are absolutely mind blowing.
About Freefall
Titled Freefall, this curated drop represents sudden changes in our lives and our surroundings. It represents the times when we feel that we are in unfamiliar territory. Our collection centers around the notion of artists sticking together during unfamiliar and difficult situations. Each of us have our own unique story to tell, and struggles to overcome.
It is in times of unsureness and uncertainty, where honesty and our place in the world comes to the surface, and becomes apparent more than ever.
Artists
This curated digital art show will feature unique animation pieces from 13 artists in the MoveIt community. With a diverse set of styles and backgrounds, this collection will also be a celebration of different techniques and diversity.
TheHiena
An atmospheric, nostalgic, and evocative artist from Croatia, Hiena tackles deep emotional states and universal human problems through art, while also working in animation, branding, and digital design.
Boxhead
Begoña Toledo (AKA Boxhead) is an internationally grown artist; street art, canvas and digital painting, animation (2D and 3D) and sculpture are her main artistic mediums. All of Toledo’s work depict her character ‘Boxhead’ who, for the artist, represents all of us. The box holds our inner space, fears, dreams, and ideals.
Orbtastic
As a physical and digital artist exploring themes of catharsis and euphoria, my work is primarily centered around juxtapositions between external perceptions, and personal experiences. My body suspension installations, and my digital art are both centered around the paradox of visceral calmness, and the topographies of the human body and mind.
Everfresh
Everfresh, aka Sebastian Pfeifer, is a digital artist, musician, and collector with a passion for fluid animations and smooth beats. His software of choice is Maxon Cinema 4D, and he specializes in cartoon shading and cartoon rigging solutions. He also works within a wide variety of skills ranging from character design and modeling to rendering, product visualisations and character animation, particle simulations, compositing, and really basically everything CG related.
GЯIFF
GЯIFF, aka Matt Griffin, is a multimedia artist from Ireland. Since 2008, he has garnered an international reputation as a commercial illustrator in the publishing & film industries. He is probably best known for his work on the deluxe editions of Frank Herbert's Dune series. Within the MoveIt community, he is embroiled in an intense contest with GŁOWA, for title of #1 Voice in the Space.
GŁOWA
A digital artist from Scotland, GŁOWA is interested in the space created when music and visuals touch. He creates and explores singular moments in time that stretch out and explore the human condition. Often finding dark themes and visuals, he instills hope and humanity in them. Within the MoveIt community, he is embroiled in an intense contest with GЯIFF, for title of #1 Voice in the Space.
Images Sombres
The Alias -images sombres- was created in 2015 as a dedicated space for personal projects; an active exploration into themes of melancholy.
Ckarolit
Combining 2d and 3d aspects, Ckarolit captures in her pieces both the highly visceral feeling of motion alongside deeply cerebral storytelling.
Raphael Erba
Raphaël Erba is a motion designer, illustrator and animator from Lyon, France. Technically, visually or in the narration, he likes to tell stories through animated loops, and tries to create something new with each animation. His subjects of predilections are mainly oriented around origami, Japanese aesthetics and the relationship to time, but also childhood, through small animations inspired by his 6 years old daughter.
Bezmiar
Bezmiar, a master of none. Multidisciplinary artist who puts the idea above anything else. A Psychology Dropout and Fine Arts graduate, he utilizes any media to tell audiovisual stories.
CFW
CFW is a digital artist based in India, whose work explores the boundaries between pop art and psychedelia. With a unique style that combines mixed-media and digital techniques, CFW creates visually striking pieces that capture the imagination.
Callum
Callum (AKA wanderloots) is an artist from Canada specializing in photography. He uses this medium to convey stories of awe from the natural world. Callum merges mindfulness and art by animating time-lapses to be breathing guides for reducing anxiety.
Mission
At the heart of our community is collaboration. Our members come from diverse backgrounds, with diverse skillsets, and we encourage everyone to share their unique perspectives and ideas. By pooling our resources, we can push the boundaries of what's possible in the world of animation.
Education is a key pillar of our community. By sharing knowledge and resources, we help each other grow and develop our skills. In the future we would like to offer workshops, mentorship programs, and other educational resources for a wider community.
The focus on animation as this group’s main artistic medium reflects our passion for this dynamic art form. We believe that animation has the power to tell stories and evoke emotions like no other medium.
In conclusion, our goal is to build sustainable artistic communities within the Web3 space that foster genuine relationships, encourage collaboration, and promote education, with animation at the heart of it all.
Dates
We have a schedule of events for this drop, that involves connecting with our community in addition to the release date. You can stay tuned and keep up with happenings via our Twitter account.
May 16th - Twitter Spaces discussing our projects, and upcoming drop
May 23rd - The drop on our Foundation WORLD activates
May 23rd - We will be hosting a Twitter Spaces during launch
Personal Notes
This collaboration is really important to me for a number of reasons. For one, it represents the importance, relevance, and power of collaboration. As most of you know, I have a heavy lean on topics of community and community building. It’s very difficult for artists to maintain their mental health and subsequent flow without the help of others; whether it’s something heavy like grief, or simply feeling burnt out, none of us should have to go through things alone.
As you also know by now, I strongly believe in the therapeutic qualities of art. The pieces we are all creating (both collaboratively and individually) all represent something deeply meaningful and personal. As creators, we are working through things as we create them, and hope that those viewing our work can also find something to connect with on a personal level.
And a personal Note directly from TheHiena:
I am extremely proud of everyone involved for the support they continually offer to others and the amazing work they create. The safe space for ideas we have managed to create together is definitely something that genuinely inspires me every day. We are cutting out our own corner in web3.
-TheHiena
So stay tuned, and I hope you find some art in this drop that you connect with on a very deep level. See you next week!