Artist Features: Espinosa NFT Culture | Web3 Culture NFTs and Crypto Art | Platforms and projects
Espinosa was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador, and moved to the United States about ten years ago at the age of 20. He is interested in many things, which is both a blessing and a curse. In her art practice she tries to use her many interests to talk about being mestizo, psychedelics and non-ordinary states of consciousness, being a child of the internet, spirituality, remix culture and our collective meaning making process. Also the occasional shitpost…
It’s hard to stay active in the Tejos artist ecosystem without knowing Espinosa. A perpetual observer and thoughtful truth teller, he is passionate about the intersection of spirituality and digital art as it relates to Web3 technology. With a focus on the glitch art aesthetic and remix principles, his work breaks down internal barriers to open the viewer’s mind to new levels of consciousness. I am grateful to follow Espinosa’s crypto art journey closely through which we became friends and which he graciously agreed to interview.
How/why do you do art?
I make art because I can’t help myself. Ever since I was a child I wanted to sing or play an instrument or draw or act or have some aesthetic or mystical experience.
I am deeply inspired by nature, which I see as the ultimate source of everything. I have deep experience with psychedelics, especially when used in religious/ceremonial contexts where there may be mystical aspects. So I look for artists who make work that feels like it’s pulling from that dimension. Or those dimensions. Glitch artists, especially those who tend to represent the hidden, the unseen, the in-between, the strange and the colorful. There are too many to name but I am happy to say that almost all artists are creating cryptoart that inspires me
I use many different tools in my work including but not limited to: digital animation, sound design, music production, music and video sampling, analog video glitch processing, photography, AI/ML models for text-to-image generation, and poetry.
What got you started in crypto and NFTS?
I was studying motion graphics design when I found out about the art of selling beeples using crypto and it peaked my interest because I was already into bitcoin and at the time the description was that it was on the same principle. I know that market forces and dynamics are far from ideal and I actually see many glaring problems with what we’ve come to call “Web3” but I’m here because of the industry and the many people who want something better for creators.
How do you define crypto art?
Digital or digitized industries that use blockchain technology as a medium or a process of distribution/documentation and that refer to the Internet/technological culture in some way.
How does spirituality play a role in your work?
Spirituality is the foundation of my work because I believe the foundation of reality is spiritual. I believe in a metaphysical reality that underpins the cosmos. There is an undercurrent in my work of searching for a way to transcend duality on a personal level. Cultural alchemy, as I call it. Cybermagic. Digital Magic. Numbers are signs.
Favorite NFT story?
Meeting Beeple at SXSW with you and Wondermundo and then sneaking in to see Foodmasku perform was definitely one of the highlights of this entire journey.
3 artists you love in the crypto industry and why and which 3 artists have inspired you
It’s really hard to pick just 3 but here we go:
Skye Goodman, Downia Darkstone aka Let’s Glitcheet and Ellie Pritts
All in cryptoart. All of them are incredibly inspiring. Experimentation, mixing media, narrative-driven, glitchtastic and mesmerizing work. It’s all weird! In the best possible sense.
Where do you see the future of the crypto industry?
It’s a mystery. Many understandably give up. I have wanted to quit more than once. There are a lot of negative things in this place. And I think it’s important to acknowledge that. There are some criticisms of NFTs that are very valid there. But I’m ultimately optimistic that we’ll continue to bring the good out of it, as we already have in many ways. So I’m ultimately optimistic. And maybe one day I can make it my main source of income haha
Notable Exhibitions
///Threshold/// – Tia Community Exhibition during NFT NYC curated by Andreas Furletti in Brooklyn, NY
Analog Video Glitch Trash 3 – Filth Trash Art Exhibition in Los Angeles, California
Techno-feudal chic – a collaboration with the artist/photographer known as Flynn, which is in the permanent collection of the Tejos Foundation.
Links to further explore Espinosa’s work
https://ift.tt/AGMU6LR
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