This casual discussion with GЯIFF was a massively healthy dose of nostalgia, honesty, and humor. I found that we have a shared love and fascination of sci-fi and fantasy, so it felt good to geek out about so many things past to present. Having dived into his body of work pretty deeply already, I kind of already knew this, but lacked the perspective to understand how it all ties together for him. And that’s why I do these podcasts.
Sunday morning cartoons, movies, comics, books, music; you name it, we visited it all. The formative material in his range of influences is quite vast, and shows the power of being exposed to art at a young age for creative spirits. That he was not just focused on the visual and auditory aspects of such things, and his love of escaping into all of these wild worlds explains his love of storytelling.
I also found myself really vibing with Griff’s ability to see the darkness in so much of the art we grew up with, and how he is able to maintain a dark sense of humor about it all. While we are both clearly somewhat sarcastic about a lot of things, I find that there is a productive aspect to this. Cynical angles on things can be powerful tools for exploring the truth about the world, art, and ultimately our selves.
There is a massively wide spectrum of vibrance and conceptual work across his body of work, and it traverses everything from dark to light themes. I think what really makes his work so prolific, is his ability to explore and tell stories that are rich across it all. He does not allow himself to stick to one “style,” which in turn frees him from the inability to explore more worlds and ideas that many artists experience. Most of us spend so much time thinking about our “brand,” and “signature,” while even though he thinks about these things, Griff just blows right the fuck past these in his personal need to create and explore.
And yet, he has a signature in his work. Whether it’s the spacey landscapes, crazy headgear, or just his usage of color, this is a world that is very clearly an extension of his mind. I always think about how unsuccessful most artists feel because their chosen style doesn’t resonate with others. I think it’s more important to explore all the styles one feels drawn to, as much as possible. Our art reflects our personal growth and identity, and that is not something that can stay stagnant throughout our lives.
As a writer, I am personally fascinated with his approach to how he is building an entire universe that his artwork exists in. Furthermore, he is essentially creating what we have all referred to repeatedly in the NFT world in a joking way as, “Story Telling NFTs.” Remove the NFT label from the art, and you have art. Create a world around the art you create, and you have a storyline across your work. Bring it back onto the blockchain, and we’re back to the joke with something that’s pretty fucking substantial. Not a joke anymore, is it?
He brings up what working with NFTs has done for his art more than a few times; it’s clear that this relatively new ecosystem has opened quite a few doors for him as an artist. The logistics of creating art prior to NFTs, and what it means afterwards, is a contrast that highlights potential. It’s wild how financially viable the blockchain has suddenly made the goal of pursuing story development in a more dedicated manner.
As an example, he mentions Leonard - a choose your own adventure styled art project, driven by holders of the pieces that are a part of this game. Invariably, this brings us to the topic of how to build a community with digital collectibles. In this case, a token-gated discord for collectors seems to be the answer. Instead of having hundreds or thousands of voices to sort, he has given significant power to a more intimate group of people that have chosen to support the artist by putting their money into his projects. This is not just an investment of money, but one of time, and shows how an artist can avoid falling into a world of flippers, or non-genuine collectors that are solely focused on monetary value.
And in a way, with the thickness of his storyline - from gods to science, fantasy to sci-fi - Griff is building a rich world, full of diversity. All of his different styles and characters are all part of one unified, larger world, and it is clear that he is in for the long haul. Much respect for his dedication.
Speaking of storylines, his personal story as an artist depicts a very relatable experience, especially for artists. It’s difficult to maintain both physical and mental health, and his mechanism for filling in the between-times of creativity, he engages with what he calls play time. “Just start fucking around,” is the best advice I have heard from artists over the years, for those experiencing an inability to create something new.
We inevitably talk about Dune, as he has made art for the covers for these books that I am not so low-key obsessed with. But it doesn’t stop there of course, and he has made art for so many other amazing projects. Having worked across multiple industries, Griff’s story has a lot to take away for those that are seeking a professional path with their art. See the earlier section in this post about mental health.
What an absolute pleasure this discussion was; I love geeking out with folks on this level of honesty, and genuine enthusiasm. I encourage you to tune into what Griff’s up to, by following him on Twitter, and checking out his art. Sounds like he’s tying a lot of stuff together in 2023, and I am excited to see it all converging. And I don’t just mean NFTs, that Dune boxset is going to be beautiful and would make a great gift!
𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕥 𝕟𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕜
Next up will be my discussion with Margherita Tisato, a very near and dear person to me. She is a multi faceted creator that works across many different disciplines, all primarily concerned with body movement, and mechanisms for self expression and trauma resolution. In addition to being a very close friend, she also has trained under me as a body suspension practitioner, and has been a model and muse for a multitude of my creations, including my genesis NFT on the Ethereum blockchain, “Phasing 01 - Indolence,” owned by CryptoPathic.
A reminder that there is a free claim coming up for folks who hold one of our FRACTALSxCODE pieces, on Wednesday, Feb 1st. Mint yours here if you haven’t already, and want to be a part of this journey I am on with generative art.
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