Dialogue #2 - Carboncell
APT.55 Bubble Bot
Carboncell, multifaceted crypto artist and music enthusiast with incredible experience in different art expressions, has the ability to immerse us in a futuristic odyssey through an infinity of wonderful and oneiric places. This experience can be exponentially more intense when accompanied by the beat of his music.
Just as in his photography, in his digital creations it is possible to feel peace and serenity. As the creator of this timeless and desolate universe, he provides us the opportunity to inhabit it with clear-headedness, but we have to pay attention around us. Because if we are lucky, it is possible to have a third-type encounter with one of his lovely creations: Cats, octopuses, jellyfish, rabbits, bears, lovely robots, and more... Perhaps I need to clarify why I consider this a third-type encounter, and maybe this is just a personal sensation, but from my perspective, it is us doing this interdimensional travel, so we are becoming the beings of "another place".
Once you get in contact with these charming beings they will stay in your subconsciousness, basically, they will stick to your mind, floating and looking at you with their enchanting eyes, melting your heart and luring you to accompany them in that dreamlike dimension.
Maybe it's time to let the artist explain to us better with his words, please find below Carboncell interview.
Is this your real name or you prefer to keep it anonymous?
Carboncell is not my real name, of course. It has been my (internet) pseudonym for about 20 years now - but I've never been a big promoter of my own work, and a huge part of my stuff I just do for myself, so most people have probably never heard of carboncell in all those years. So yeah, I prefer to stay (more or less) anonymous. It's a fun concept, somehow.
You described yourself as a painter and photographer, how do you get in touch with Crypto Art?
Well, actually I do many things - graphics design, photography, beat production, sound design and other stuff. These things change priorities often, so maybe I'm totally into photography for 3 months because I got a shiny new Fuji X100v or I only sit in front of my Moog and don't touch my Wacom at all for weeks. Possible that I won't make any new paintings or NFTs for several months. Although I made my first pixel graphics in the late 1990s, I'm new to digital painting: Inspired by the art of Simon Stålenhag, I bought a Wacom in december 2019, installed Krita and started painting right away. I got involved in Bitcoin in late 2013, so Crypto Art was the next logical step for me now - combining many of my interests. But I'm pretty new to Crypto Art, too - only started one month ago!
Watching your artwork on Rarible we can notice some futuristic and street art influences, how do you define your work?
I have always been fascinated by SciFi stories, movies and art, so this is certainly a huge influence. And street art is another field of interest in which I have been active as a sticker artist some years ago, sticking mostly drawn bunnies on everything I walked by. In my paintings I try to transport a mood, mostly through the use of light and colors and with a SciFi touch. I draw landscapes and outdoor scenes which is also one of my main interests in photography. The characters of my NFT cards, like cats and bunnies, originate from my sticker days. Music is also a big influence, especially Hip Hop, Jungle, Drum&Bass and Dubstep - not only for sound but for street (art) vibes.
What is your creative process and which tools or softwares do you usually use to do your work?
It depends on what I create, but usually I see, hear or remember something inspiring and then can't wait to get to work. I often take one element and build around it. An inspiration like this could be a game, movie, an artwork, a song, a single sound/sample or just a texture on a surface, maybe just a color. Then I start up my software and start creating. I've been in love with Illustrator since I first used it, it's so clean and fresh somehow. I'm also a long time user of FL Studio (Fruity Loops) for my music and sound design things. After Effects is also a great tool I also use a lot in my day job and my own things, and for painting I like Krita and ArtRage. Photoshop has also been an important tool for me over the years, especially for Photo Editing and Image Manipulation. 3D software is on my list to explore next. Many artists tell people that tools don’t matter. This is actually true with some art forms, but try to create an animated AR experience like my recent self portrait ‘Tide’ without a decent computer and the corresponding apps. Tools often matter a lot. Also, a new tool can spark so much enthusiasm and creativity that you don’t get easily otherwise - and it can open completely new possibilities. That’s at least my opinion.
What is a little known fact you would like to share?
Since almost everything about me is a little known fact for most people, here's another one: I like to keep rather unusual pets. So far I had Japanese Pet Shrimps, Vampire Crabs and currently some Giant Prickly Stick Insects (Extatosoma tiaratum).
What do you believe is the key element to highlight your collectibles from others?
This is difficult to answer. I don't really see a red line going through all my creations. I generally love to experiment and combine things - that's also why my creative output has a pretty wide range of media and styles. I often think this range is too wide to ever develop a recognizable style that is easily defined. Too many interests and the urge to try new things are my 'problem' as an artist, I guess. Sporting one look or style is not my thing, at least not yet. I want to do things, and many of them I do just to have a good time while I'm on it, not necessarily to publish or even sell them. "Bassdrive, Becks and Photoshop" has been the recipe for a good time in front of my screen for several years, no matter the outcome :) I can do nothing only for quite a limited time until I feel an unrest and have to create something again. I would go mad on a lonely sunny beach with nothing to create for weeks.
Which are your crypto artist favorites right now, which works make you mind-blowing and wanted to add to your personal collection?
Artists who really blow my mind are not even crypto artists. I mentioned Stålenhag as a big inspiration, Lasse Erkola is awesome, Henri Prestes too and I follow many pixel artists like 6VCR and Octavi Navarro, several concept artists and matte painters. I like Hudson Melo and own his (physical) 'Hip Hop' series (3 paintings). When it comes to crypto artists, I have to at least mention app.rarible.com/spark (we sometimes collaborate), and makersplace.com/alcrego is among the best I've seen so far. In other words: My favourite artists I really look up to are not (yet?) in crypto, but the scene is evolving fast and lets see where we are in a year or two!
What do you think was the key factor to get to the point you are right now in the crypto community? And what could you recommend to new crypto artists?
To be honest, I don't really know where I am in the crypto art community yet because it's still new to me and currently a pretty wild ride with ups and downs. But I certainly would not be here without early knowledge of Bitcoin and Ethereum. I made some kind of surprising jump start into the top 10 sellers on rarible one night with 4 ETH in sales, just a few days after starting about a month ago. I couldn't believe my eyes. Something like that is a huge boost and encouragement, but I also like to experiment, like dropping some free surprise items to other artists and see what happens with them when they find out. Artists, check your wallets! Collaborations are a great thing to connect with other artists and learn from them. For me it's important to do my thing, be myself and be patient, to not give up and to enjoy making what I like. When I don't have fun painting, I take my Camera or plug in my Synth. For new artists I would recommend being active and supportive in social media, otherwise probably nobody will notice you. Don't mint any given thing you create, experiment a lot but focus on your strengths.
Do you consider in your country the NFTArt community is growing and supporting this kind of movement?
I recently introduced 2 of my friends to NFTArt, one of them already had contact with BTC and ETH. I think we're still very early and people first have to get the concept of digital scarcity. Most artists see this whole NFT thing as a funny WTF market where crazies buy a gift with magic internet money. And indeed, the market _is_ pretty crazy and convincing (even digital) artists that it could be a great chance for them is not too easy, especially when buying crypto and managing a wallet is the first big hurdle to take. But other than connections to close friends I really have no clue about the NFTArt community in my country. Especially when doing things online, and this obviously includes my crypto and art activities, I couldn't care less about country borders.
What’s next for you in the future?
3D graphics software (namely blender) is the next thing I feel the urge to dive into more, and maybe applying to other NFT platforms (especially for my paintings) and start collaborations with other artists. I’ve seen a lot of video NFTs lately that clearly lack sound. I also want to create at least 2 or 3 more AR artworks (besides 'Tide') because that's big fun. Oh, and I haven't finished a single song for months now and I'm really looking forward to crafting some old school Hip Hop Beats again.
Carboncell creates this artwork as a part of a collaboration with our collective APT. 55, so here you have “APT.55 Bubble Bot”, limited edition of 25, be quick!
Founded in 2020, APT. 55 is a project created with the main purpose of supporting alternative and emerging crypto and digital artists. Devoting our efforts to provide an emergent space for artists and art precursors in which they can make public their work and also participate and create temporary exhibits and fairs, worldwide.
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