Dialogue #5 - Arke
APT. 55 Sakura Room
Arke is by far one of the most known crypto artists we can have inside of the community and I think we can all agree that he became a reference when we talk about NFT and crypto art. At this point, it is almost impossible to take out of our heads his kinetic and abstract proposal making it imperative to follow his projects.
When we take a look at his work it is possible to perceive how he is conducting a radical pictorial approach in contraposition of the figurative, descriptive, and traditional ones, manifesting that colors and forms are more important in his creative process than the art piece itself. As Kandinsky did, the way Arke uses colors and rhythms have an important role in his work, the relation between expressionism, symbolism, and the multidimensional movement create its own and independent language of shapes, colors, and lines.
Although in Arke's work it is possible to perceive how he uses forms and perspectives as a key element, these are not a copy of reality. He establishes his own rules of what he considers as apparently logical, proposing a free and innovative way of reinterpretation to every spectator. These eagerness to refute the traditional and to grant freedom in an environment full of rules, Arke even proposes a way to acquire and sell art through its new token. But maybe he can explain this better, so lets him introduce himself.
Why this pseudo?
Sincerely, I had thought about it for no more than one minute haha, in my head it was “futuristic view and ark, I can add a “e”, ok cool !”
How did you get involved with Crypto Art?
I discovered it with CryptoMatrix and his first NFT from Petio, I really didn’t know about it before, and I found this so interesting, too many possibilities, so I tested and luckily people started to buy and loved my work :)
What is the intention of your art? Is there any social discourse on it?
My work can be divided in two parts: the cards, which are a bit “funnier” and digital painting/sculptures which are more “arty”. I don’t put messages usually in my work because all take source in and pure “aesthetic approach” and in simple and strong expressions on my paintings. But the fact I publish principally on Rarible can make sense because I really love the chaos there is on it, and the fact absolutely everybody can publish and become relatively famous on it. Personally, I came on the platform with a totally new nickname, I was nobody, and I grow a bit every day. It's people who choose and not a single person who decides if you have the right to be an artist or not, and this point is one of the problems in the traditional art system, for example.
In your creative process, what do you think it would take longer to nail down, finding inspiration to put together an idea or the technical and creative development?
All depend on the work, the technical part can be sometimes quick, sometimes really long, but what is hard and long is principally to find our proper art style and how you want to express yourself.
Which tools or softwares do you usually use to do your work?
Principally Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Procreate for digital paintings on Ipad which is a really interesting tool, and ZBrush when I do sculptures.
Do you consider yourself as a digital abstractionist?
Haha I don’t know, maybe, depending on my works, but I love “abstract figurative” bodies, I’ve learned to draw with really academic bases - and I still think it’s important to have these bases - but I love to express feelings with rough lines and deformations, so all these technical bases are in me and I use it to play a bit with the rules.
What do you think was the key factor to become successfully accepted by the Crypto Art community and make your collectible arts as a reference?
In simple words: I really don’t know! Simply trying to do good stuff, and being fair with the buyers too I think (limited editions, not changing prices every day…). It’s really hard to determine why peoples love an artist's work or not.
We know you are creating a new token, $ARKE! Could you talk about that with us? Why and how this idea came to you?
Yes, it was launched some days ago, the idea is really to create an ecosystem around my work to dynamize the secondary market, and then people can make more money by selling my art pieces. All is thought around this concept, like the fact “if you buy a card or an NFT of me on the secondary market you receive $ARKE rewards too”, so people would be more interested in buying because there will be rewards when they will sell too. Another advantage with this $ARKE money is they can buy exclusive NFTs that can be sold at a higher price on the secondary market against ETH. The second step will be to create a Uniswap pool for it to get a real value. All can evolve but you can find all the information here: http://arke-art.com/arke-money/
Do you support any other projects inside the Blockchain ecosystem?
Yes, RealT is an awesome project, I love so much Cryptovoxels, and I really must take a look on “The Sandbox”.
What’s next for you in the future? What could you advise new Crypto Artists?
For my future, simply making more art. And for new crypto artists: make more art too haha!
Arke creates this artwork as a part of a collaboration with our collective APT. 55, so here you have “APT. 55 Sakura Room”, 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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