Up until just this year all forms of poetry were considered really niche and the realm of hobbyists, but since Amanda Gorman rocked the world with her inauguration poem, spoken word has become something more than a local cafe interruption. Gorman’s chap book ”The Hill We Climb” became an Amazon best seller for the first time in the history of contemporary poetry.
Hussain Manawer introduced the BAFTAs, paying homage to every nominated film seamlessly weaving throughout the narrative.
David Bianchi and myself found a new home in NFTs, respectively. Before I go into David’s work more in depth, it’s evident we both offer very different things to the landscape of contemporary, spoken word poetry, and nft performative art. My work has a relationship to the past and a questioning of the classics, my goals is to contemporize the fine art tradition for our time and to hold myself accountable to the same standards that I would with a Shakespeare play or a film. I’ve always had a strong connection to paintings, sculpture and the fine art tradition through my family bonds (my mother the painter Stephanie Fuller and my father the late art critic Peter Fuller), attending art openings was a weekly family outing growing up. I won eight awards and 35 Finalist placements at writing competitions in the last year for my screenplay based on his life, MODERN ART. NFTs have become such a collaborative medium and there it really is hard to think of any other time in art history where this would have been possible to put together so many diverse disciplines much like we do in film. Fine art and poetry have shared a very similar emotional space, in particular with the likes of Baudelaire who regularly wrote poems in response to the art of his time and was also a notorious art critic. But never before was there a medium which allow the blending of these two mediums into one piece, allowing a verbal narrative or soundscape to the visual. NFTs allow us that freedom. David Bianchi and I came up around the same time, both actors and poets in our own right - I minted and sold my first spoke word poetry collaboration with artist Sima Jo “Childish Force Of Nature” on March 20th in my collection Elysium Verto: https://opensea.io/collection/elysium-verto-v2
Parts I-IV all sold on Opensea for 0.333ETH each, Parts V-VII will be revealed at an upcoming group exhibition honoring the Ocean on Kalamint. I’ve been so impressed by their ecological inspirations and of course carbon neutral technology. I’ve partnered up with Charitas Foundation who will be matching any charitbale contribution I make to Ocean conservation through the sale of my NFTs on Kalamint. The exhibition will also feature collaborations with my mother Stephanie Fuller celebrating whales in the fight against commercial whaling.
This NFT is also presently the only way to get ahold of my Novella THE FORTUNE, an allegory for commercial whaling.
A collaboration with GAN artist Doodle Dips called “Winged Urchins” will also be featured alongside a number of new collaborations celebrating the beauty of nature.
Around the same time I got started, David minted “I Can’t Breathe” in honor of George Floyd - David’s work is about social justice and giving a radical contemporary voice to these important issues in society regarding diversity. So I would like to pay respects to my fellow poetic warrior and give him the space to tell his story here:
George Floyd's death sparked an outcry heard around the world.
Actor / Poet David Bianchi’s film, “I Can’t Breathe” (directed by Award Winner Ryan LeMasters) gives an honest and painful portrait of a man of color’s view on America’s new civil rights movement and the pain of black history in America.
The film was broadcast live on KTLA 5 News Award-Winning Series “Breaking Bias” and was covered in the elite Hollywood trade Deadline. The film has roused critical acclaim across the country.
"A gut-wrenching view at the pain of America. A Cinematic poetic force of nature."
- Deadline - Hollywood.
--Poetry Excerpt--
Is it really not enough when the rubber bullets fly
When the world is enraged from watching a black man die?
Gasping for breath and says I can’t breathe
His esophageal tube collapsed under a man’s knee.
Is it really not enough to wake in wake of hate
Perpetuated by a system dating back to negro slaves
Beat that black man make him pick cotton
Shoot that black man he looks like he’s up to something!
Is the American fury not enough for you
Crowds plowed by vans driven by the men in blue?
Who do you call when the cops are the killers?
When the body camera footage shows you murdering my brothers and sisters
Is the execution of man still not enough for you
Jury judge and executioner by the man in blue!
You look down at us for behaving like an angry mob
If every man is created equal what gives you the right to play God?
---
"These times are calling for understanding. The global movement to abolish racism is here," said Bianchi. "I tell the story honestly to offer a hopeful perspective on why the fury runs so deep."
David says, “Spinema is the culmination of all things I am as an artist. I am an actor, a poet, a screenwriter, film producer and film director. Spinema at its roots incorporates the rhythmic poetic word that operates as the script. It uses all the languages of cinema (picture, light and sound) while evoking elements of sometimes subtle, sometimes visceral performances through evocation of the rhythmic deliveries. Spinema requires a specific kind of on-camera-poetic-talent that can affect the nuances of the language, while being modest to the sotto nature of cinema.
There are no limits to how these important stories can be told in both traditional cinema and in the metaverse. The metaverse provides a unique never before utilized platform for Spinema that is yet unknown. This is a new, but not final frontier. However, it promises the deepest possible interaction with audience members like never experienced before.”
David has a library of completed films and his next mint is a film starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner alongside him.
His films will continue to be minted and very auction will donate money to a charity associated with the theme of each film.
Sold for 5ETH to MetaPurse: WATCH - I CAN’T BREATHE - HERE > https://ephimera.com/tokens/i-can-t-breathe-a-spoken-word-film-by-david-bianchi-267