As we travelled from one digital art exhibit to another with Vincent’s manager Sam Maydew, his assistant Pamela Torres and friends from web3 art like Aljaparis, Victoria West, Andressa Furletti, Idaherself and KD always in tow ~ we discussed the importance of installations ~ that the physical and sensual experience of a work of art was as important to the viewer as the thing itself. Especially with the ephemeral, intimate and dreamlike pieces such as cinematic art. It’s quite a different experience watching a Stanley Kubrick film on an iMax screen compared to your laptop. The operatic nature of cinematic art comes into play.
Our first stop Sparrow Cube VR Experience by Vincent, Sutu and myself, was neither of those things. A new kind of storytelling for poetics which changes with each experience, as the viewer determines the visual narrative. Soon after I was on a tezos panel, after Operator and Hans Ulrich Obrist from Serpentine Gallery. Ours was moderated by Victoria West and included my fellow speakers Patrick Amadon, Empress Trash and Andressa Furletti. It was timely to give a rebellious take on our position as artists amongst so many competing agendas in the space, we don’t represent any crypto project, we represent ourselves, we represent digital art culture, all its promise and all its human follies.
Vincent discussed with us over dinner that night, what it was like portraying real life characters as Jerry Falwell in “Eyes Of Tammy Faye” ~ an upstanding and powerful man, who compensates for a deep insecurity about his upbringing with a veneer of perfection.
Behaviour prevalent in all societies as it is a universal human desire to find what is lacking from our past in the present ~ as though maybe it will be good enough this time. “I was good enough to receive the love of my parents, my peers, those I looked up to before ~ if only I could be more thus; then I would be loved and feel complete.
Vincent D’Onofrio, Laurence Fuller and Aljaparis visiting the “Birth, Death and Action” triptych at the Sagamore exhibition with MakersPlace and Transient Labs
Much like the second panel of our triptych “Penny” exhibiting with MakersPlace and Transient Labs; making whole a memory that which was incomplete before. A connection that was broken with time and circumstance ~ nostalgia’s broken fragments of imagination. Something attempting a resolve of the subconscious in Vincent’s experience; to fall in love one evening with Penny.
Three panels make up the triptych “Birth, Death and Action” like three stages of life, from coming of age to romance to
This body of work first came about when having coffee with Vincent in New York in April. We’d just finished our third art collaboration “Way In The Deep” which was exhibiting at the Fable exhibition during NFT NYC and we were discussing our next moves. The idea came up to do a complete series about life in New York.
Vincent D’Onofrio and Laurence Fuller visiting the “Birth, Death and Action” triptych at Nolcha Shows
I could tell this concept made Vincent feel a strong sense of ownership of the subject. Like it was a unique and unreplicable experience.
The first drafts he sent me were very long, actually the longest pieces I’ve ever taken on. Quite mammoth in scope. Bear in mind this was back in June, when I started adapting the poetry visually. It was a life in three panels. An alternate version of Vincent’s life. He would talk to me about his early days in the punk scene in New York, how different life was in the 80s. “Welcome To My World” had to feel like the subjective experience of those times, a memory of walking out into the streets covered in rats and surviving mosh pits.
The “Birth, Death and Action” triptych at the Sagamore exhibition with MakersPlace and Transient Labs
Penny was a much more refined affair. A suit and tie with a martini and beautiful girl. This mysterious figure somewhere in our collective pasts, though I have a feeling for Vincent it was something more specific (but I don’t know). I leant into the darkness again at first, I was maybe used to finding darkness in our collaborations and in this case Vincent kept pushing me to find the romance. Until I really started to see the tragic beauty in their unrequited love and the romance swept me away. I went out several times into the streets of LA with my iPhone camera (later reimagined into NYC and Central Park with AI) with different friends, namely Kate Spare who is a brilliant performer. I knew I had it after the last draft, as it made Vincent’s assistant Pamela cry.
Vincent D’Onofrio and Laurence Fuller visiting the “Birth, Death and Action” triptych at Nolcha Shows
The Master stands on stage declaring that art is something to be owned and in possession of the elders. Therefore its decree to be dictated for what is and what is not art, to be heard only from them. Like the domineering father figure, telling the young, that they are not there yet.
It’s about a power struggle between apprentice and guru. There was a lot of me and Vincent in this one. Though our creative dynamics are rarely ever wrought with conflict. I kept swaying away from that but Vincent wanted to push the comparison further. He bought me a drone that would follow me as I walked so that I could film myself experiencing the young artist’s turmoil as the world came crashing down around him. I think it worked beautifully in the end and we see the bird trapped in a cage that he was talking about.
Working through these notes (and channeling the spirit of Allen Ginsberg ~ at the request of VerseVerse) I create the three part poem SOHO, about a young man finding himself in New York ~ wondering Soho and stumbling into the devil’s boudoir. The poem is very much a response to Vincent’s triptych and it was a great pleasure to read it alongside the VerseVerse in Miami before Vincent’s reading of his latest poem about the wicked. This poem is included in the Ginsberg catalogue published by Verse and has a cinematic triptych in the works.
(left to right) Desiree Casoni, Pamela Torres, Laurence Fuller, Victoria West, Vincent D’Onofrio, Sam Maydew and Andressa Furletti
The next day we found ourselves at the residence of digital art collectors Pablo Rodríguez-Fraile and Desiree Casoni, taking a tour of their private collection including Refik Anadol, Beeple and Pak. It was fascinating learning more about their reasons for collecting and the promise they saw in the future of digital art.
During the car ride to our next talk with Gamma about our first Ordinal. Dear friends Victoria West and Andressa Furletti accompanied us discussing the state of web3 art culture ~ and all its punkish rebellions.
Erin, Laurence and Vincent representing their triptych “No Fear, No Greed, No Envy” at Nolcha Shows, Ordinals edition
At the Gamma x Ordinals talk we discussed the historical significance of our first Ordinal piece “No Fear, No Greed, No Envy”, its story of the formation of United Artists and their grappling with the new artistic mediums of cinema and interventions of technology during their time. Bitcoin being the first blockchain and Satoshi’s manifesto defining the ethos of the space, has a lot of intersection with this pivotal time in art and technology.
What AI has enabled someone with a lot of creativity and some basic technical skill can do. Since Modernism this has been the case in fine art. The pure aesthetics of the abstract expressionists favoring feeling over perfection. Not that all paint on canvas was considered in that sense great art.
Coming soon to Gamma…
But the capacity to tell a story within a visual or cultural language has taken precedence over technical execution. When it comes to value, it seems people desire what moves them ~ the human folly.
We’ve been developing the project for some months with Ordinally and some of the core dev team behind Ordinals protocol.
That night I enjoyed catching up with Corporeal Casey, Dave Krugman, Farokh, the Transient Labs team in Chris Ostoich, Daniel Volkov, David Feinstein and the cardboard cut out of Merve Sagyatanlar. KD spoke to us about his operatic project with the estate of Maria Callas.
Our final day we found ourselves admiring the works of Refik Anadol, Zancan and Jenni Pasanen at NFT Now Gateway exhibition in partnership with Christies. We bumped into the maker of our frame installations at Muse Frame and discussed our next installation. We left inspired by the excellent display and experience, that showcased digital art at its best, huge congrats to Medved and the whole NFT Now team behind this experience.
Caitlin Cruickshank (MakersPlace), Simon Hudson (from Botto), Laurence Fuller & Vincent D’Onofrio (Graphite Method)
We ended the trip on a high note with a fascinating discussion with MakersPlace and Transient Labs, moderated by the eloquent Caitlin Cruickshank about how our collaborations at Graphite Method are in many ways an evolution of Method Acting and in the operatic sense a fully immersive art form. As poetry, performance, music, cinematic arts and new technologies are brought together in a symbiosis of the imagination with all the senses.
I want to give special mention to the entire MakersPlace team on this adventure, whose tireless efforts in exhibiting digital art at the highest levels are exceeding all expectations, their attention to detail makes the whole in placement of the art and discussions about the art. Thank you to the team on the ground who helped us pull together “Birth, Death, and Action” ~ Craig L Palmer, Caitlin Cruickshank, Claus Enevoldsen, Kayvan Ghaffari, Aisha Arif, Georgia Louise, Parin and Jarid.
A big thank you also too Vincent’s manager Sam Maydew and Pamela Torres who were along for the ride at every step, finding new adventures and friends minute by minute ~ they helped us pull it all together.
“Through my own experience in show business I have realised that every legitimate artist has been through some form of experiencing having the leading role in a cage. It is an unfortunate cycle that is a part of having success in the entertainment world.” ~ Vincent D’Onofrio
LAURENCE FULLER Q&A WITH MAKERSPLACE
Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Laurence ~ I’m a storyteller, that’s the label I’ve resigned myself to. I write poetry out of my process as a method actor and I create cinematic art out of that poetry. I collaborate with others to bring to life worlds beyond my own, I perform and share those stories with people to take everybody on an adventure.
Tell me about the piece you’re bringing to Miami with MakersPlace & Transient Labs.
This body of work first came about when having coffee with Vincent in New York in April. We’d just finished our third art collaboration “Way In The Deep” which was exhibiting at the Fable exhibition during NFT NYC and we were discussing our next moves. The idea came up to do a complete series about life in New York.
I could tell this concept made Vincent feel a strong sense of ownership of the subject. Like it was a unique and unreplicable experience.
The first drafts he sent me were very long, actually the longest pieces I’ve ever taken on. Quite mammoth in scope. Bear in mind this was back in June, when I started adapting the poetry visually. It was a life in three panels. An alternate version of Vincent’s life. He would talk to me about his early days in the punk scene in New York, how different life was in the 80s. “Welcome To My World” had to feel like the subjective experience of those times, a memory of walking out into the streets covered in rats and surviving mosh pits.
Penny was a much more refined affair. A suit and tie with a martini and beautiful girl. This mysterious figure somewhere in our collective pasts, though I have a feeling for Vincent it was something more specific (but I don’t know). I leant into the darkness again at first, I was maybe used to finding darkness in our collaborations and in this case Vincent kept pushing me to find the romance. Until I really started to see the tragic beauty in their unrequited love and the romance swept me away. I went out several times into the streets of LA with my iPhone camera (later reimagined into NYC and Central Park with AI) with different friends, namely Kate Spare who is a brilliant performer. I knew I had it after the last draft, as it made Vincent’s assistant Pamela cry.
“The Master” was about a power struggle between apprentice and guru. There was a lot of me and Vincent in this one. Though our creative dynamics are rarely ever wrought with conflict. I kept swaying away from that but Vincent wanted to push the comparison further. He bought me a drone that would follow me as I walked so that I could film myself experiencing the young artist’s turmoil as the world came crashing down around him. I think it worked beautifully in the end and we see the bird trapped in a cage that he was talking about.
Three very distinct aesthetics that tell different parts of the same story and yet the panels speak to eachother.
Optional: Is there anything special about this piece in the context of your body of work?
It was important for us to deal with a very pertinent subject where our three art forms intersect (poetry, cinema & fine art). One) the three line composition of a haiku two) the three act structure in film and three) the triptych in painting.
Both literary and visual devices have been central dynamics to stories for hundreds of years. Yet they ran tangential to eachother.
The very first triptychs in religious paintings were these panels that you could open and close and their purpose was to tell a different story with each variation of the three images. Later it took hold with figurative painters, with the likes of Francis Bacon, who redefined what the impact of a triptych could be when the various elements interact with eachother like in the portraits of George Dyer. This series is heavily influenced by Bacon and yet we took those aspects of the static image and gave them time, movement, sound, literature and performance.
Cinematic art is its own experience entirely where a still image taps into a different part of our humanity.
Can you share any specific rituals or practices that help you maintain your creative momentum?
Hubris, as long as I’m doing too much then I’m probably making progress. If I’m talking about art in the morning in spaces, then writing the poetry in the day, then creating visuals at night and planning exhibitions all along the way, falling asleep with my phone on my face, then that’s what progress feels like.
There’s no lack of ideas to take across the finish line, but thankfully I taper myself to not have so many that nothing gets finished either. Once I get going on a piece or a few pieces at once I get very determined to finish them before starting anything else.
How much planning or preliminary thought goes into each cinematic work?
I would say the poetry forms the blueprint of the artworks conceptually. Then I’ll start creating the still images of portraits and landscapes, like a storyboard. Sometimes that can come together quite quickly, but if there’s a lot of ambition behind the works (as there was with this triptych) then it can take many months.
How would you describe how your work is currently evolving?
The artworks are coming closer and closer to my the fragmented memories and dreams of my subconscious. The most frustrating thing and also the most beautiful thing I found about method acting; was how you could spend days preparing for a single moment in a story and it would be over in seconds. Though that second would be completely full, condensed with all you put into the performance. There was still a lot that was lost, a lot of inspiring gems I found along the way that I wanted to create out of and share with the world
What do you hope people feel when they look at your art?
Either; euphoric, in an essential search for beauty ~ or turned on, possessed by some kind of naughty taboo power trip they can’t turn away from.
Who or what else excites you in the art world (web3 or trad) right now?
The more of these exhibitions we have around the world, the more bound and determined we all feel ~ the more the culture is growing its legs and planting its feet. I love watching my peers grow throughout all this. We are becoming the roses that they planted seeds for just a few years ago, soon to be set alight by an everlasting flame.