This week, we’re releasing three collections that at first glance, might seem not to have much in common. Each project is distinct in its own right. Lost Home Worlds by Sam Hains is a collection of 3D immersive, sculptural works that explores grief, memory, and the invisible architecture of the psyche through simulation. Everyday Odyssey by stupidgiant is a collection of curated image outputs from stupidgiant’s everyday 3D design practice. Flower Sands by Yuma Yanagisawa consists of 100 moving image works that explores vibrant colors and fluid movements inspired by nature, using AI-generated imagery and motion simulation.

But what ties these disparate projects together? While individually unique, they all do one thing with aplomb: they make reference to great artists from the contemporary fine art canon. These collections find common ground in the art of paying homage. 

This week, we reflect on this creative urge to expand on artistic explorations from the past, and what it means to create in the context of referencing or drawing interest from another artist or perspective. Our friends at jpg.space explore this idea at length in their ‘Derivatives’ Canon– and we’re excited to continue the conversation. 

Let’s dive in: 

Lost Home Worlds (2023) by Sam Hains & Kandors (1999-2011) by Mike Kelley 

Lost Home Worlds is a series of new worlds trapped inside bottles, inside rooms, inside landscapes, inside computer simulations. Like distant memories, the miniature worlds are inaccessible yet unmistakably present. Each world is an emblem of loss, hoping to serve as a reflective repository for trauma-processing. Barren, yet openly evocative, each microcosm mirrors a constantly shifting reality–one that invites externalization from the viewer’s mind. At the same time, the work operates on a frequency of meta ontology, become in and of itself another encapsulation of memory that it’s sculptural form yearns to represent.

This work makes direct reference to Kelley’s series Kandors (1999-2011), which investigates the inconsistencies between different representations of Kandor. Kandor is the mythological home city of Superman, which seems to be constantly reconfigured and reflected back upon itself through the comics themselves, media, and in the popular subconscious.. For Hains, Kandors has a deep connection to his own inquiries into the nature of authenticity in our technologically-mediated, man-made world. Expanding inwards from Kelley’s work, which seeks to understand the fragmented nature of collective memory and meaning-making on a macro level, Hains seeks understanding of how these kinds of representations resonate on an individual or personal level. Synthetic generations reveal just how much we each project our psyches on to the simulation; and, in turn, know ourselves and our histories. It’s exciting to see Hains take inspiration from Kelley’s historic multimedia series and continue to develop the conversation that Kelley started through a more personal investigation executed in generative web 3D. 

Everyday Odyssey by stupidgiant & Beeple’s Everydays practice

At the outset of his artistic journey, stupidgiant began creating daily doodles: a regimented, self-imposed challenge that was inspired by NFT legend Beeple’s Everydays. After the completion of a 40-day streak, he couldn’t help but compare his everydays to Beeple’s impressive 13-year everyday art record. Feeling unmotivated, stupidgiant decided to reach out to Beeple directly for advice. In response, Beeple challenged him to create art every day for 100 days.

Undeterred by his initial struggles, stupidgiant completed the 100-day challenge using his phone as a drawing tool, and went on to accept more and more rigorous challenges from Beeple. He has now produced more than 1200 consecutive daily art pieces. Eager to continue, StupidGiant is determined to reach a personal milestone of 10 years of everyday art.

Beeple’s prolific everyday practice has become an iconic creative stream in the world of NFT art His historic practice garnered international attention after a historic sale at Sotheby’s in 2021. While Beeple has become somewhat of a larger-than-life celebrity, it’s exciting to see his commitment to every day art-making extending to the support of emerging artists – an evolving, communal performance art practice and challenge. Stupidgiant, taking up the reigns for a new generation of young artists, understands the value of this kind of rigorous commitment and has followed suit to showcase to his peers the impact of perseverance. 

Flower Sand (2023)  by Yuma Yanagisawa  & Machine Hallucinations by Refik Anadol

Artist Refik Anadol uses data-driven machine-learning algorithms that create abstract, dream-like environments. The artist gained notoriety when his work was exhibited at MoMA in 2022. 

Much like Anadol, Yuma has actualized his work through large-scale projection mapping, touch-interactive interfaces, sculptural video display objects, and even mobile-enabled augmented reality activations. In Flower Sand, Yuma steps into this emerging style, bringing with him his obsessions with nature, and more specifically, floral or pastoral scenes. Yuma was deeply inspired by the fluid beauty that was extrapolated from code dynamics, and created a collection that aims to find the same meaning out of noisy data sets.

Though Machine Hallucinations has received mixed reviews, it has entered the stratosphere through its installation in the mainspace at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. While data processing remains opaque, it’s impossible to ignore the satisfying and mesmerizing nature of the animations, especially when installed on large digital screens and canvases in physical environments. With Wild, Yuma is able to give Flower Sands the same grand treatment, placing these sculptural works in live game environments so that users can experience the scale they deserve. This work carries forth the torch of algorithmic aesthetics, continuing a great line of creative inquiries through code-based experimentation. 

The Wild Residency: A space for collaboration & conversation 

With the Wild Residency, we’re excited to continue to make space for artists to create, engage with their influences, and make their best work yet – and, of course, continue to give credence and credit to those that have paved the way. 

Artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer has described his practice of creative experimentation with technology as being part of a much longer, much wider tradition than what his work represents alone. This is the spirit through which our Residents, who pay homage to the great contemporary artists who came before them, pick up the baton. Internet culture is inherently oriented towards a culture of re-mix, re-use, and re-master. Our Residency is a place where artists can navigate through the trickiness that this kind of work can entail. 

We hope that, by enabling emerging talent to follow their inspiration all the way, we might help to promulgate this grand tradition of creative experimentation.  

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