"Great Art can and should be able to cause ripples in peoples' hearts, resonate with any type of feelings from the heart."
"This new technology and ‘canvas’ have provided an opportunity for us to witness and contribute to the history of art and humanities for the future. We should aspire for transcendence."
Curated and directed by Derrick Li (aka “X”) from Triple X, this is a groundbreaking collaboration between one of the most prominent Contemporary Chinese artists, Jia Aili—represented exclusively by Gagosian Gallery - and renowned digital artists in the NFT native space, Raoul Marks, David Ariew, and Ryan Hawthorne. This collaboration aims to shift the attention back to the content, creativity, essence of art, and most importantly, blur the gap between the contemporary art world, the digital one and the NFT space. A result of nine months of preparation, the creations are based on Jia’s paintings, mixed with his visions and art philosophy, with personal inputs, mediums, styles, interpretations and “signatures" from digital artists. This collaboration is a “conversation through art,” a conversation between different.mes diums, different creative worlds, the East and the West; a conversation that connects the past, present and future.
Ryan Hawthorne is a Los Angeles based multidisciplinary digital artist. Mixing between motion graphics & large-scale physical installations Ryan’s portfolio contains a diverse mix of projects including work for the Super Bowl, Coachella and many more. Specializing in 3D, Ryan explores futuristic scenes in his art that focus on technology, light and geometric forms.
Current is a dynamic response to resonate with the painting Untitled created by Jia Aili in 2015.
The work is reminiscent of a vision that goes beyond traditional physics: thermodynamics and entropy increase, to offset the realistic existence, to increase tension and abstraction. The soul and its darkest hour (including both personal and universal) are eternal shadows upon the soul. When we sense the light, the shadows become stronger. The darkest things in our nature, these things not only write history, but also shape the human race. As Nietzsche says: "if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
Score and sound design by Justin Friedman.
The title of my piece is called 'Current'. 'Current' has a double meaning, on one end it's a nod to the t.mes s we’re living in and the rise of digital and digital artists. The title also comes from the key inspiration I drew from Jia Aili's original work, the lightning. I saw this as a unique element to focus on given all digital at its core is driven by electricity, I wanted to lean into this aspect and add a new pulse and sense of energy to the world JAL built years ago.
“I‘m incredibly proud & excited to be a part of this amazing collaboration between Jia Aili & some of the most talented digital artists in the world. I hope this project serves as a bridge between mediums, exploring the relationship between paint and pixels, proving that art is art regardless of the tools used to produce it.”
「偉大的藝術敵得過時間，不朽的經典在不同的時代都能激盪心靈。」
「這項嶄新的技術和『畫布』提供了一個契機和新的範式，這就是這個時代的脈絡，讓我們得以見證藝術人文歷史的全新一章，併為之做出貢獻。我們應當追求卓越，參與到未來的藝術史中去。」
這是一次前所未有的突破性的合作，由來自Triple X的李東昱（別名 "X"）策劃和指導，他策劃了中國最傑出的當代藝術家之一賈藹力（由高古軒畫廊獨家代理）和NFT世界中最著名的幾位數字藝術家的深度跨界合作，他們是：勞爾·馬克斯（Raoul Marks）,大衛·埃魯（ David Ariew）以及 萊恩·豪瑟恩（Ryan Hawthorne）。
這次合作旨在重新聚焦和強調藝術的內容、創意和藝術的本質，尤其重要的是，真正去融合當代藝術世界和數字世界，消弭它們之間的鴻溝。這一系列的創作以賈藹力的繪畫作品爲出發點和創作源泉，揉合了賈藹力的願景和藝術理念，數字藝術家們在作品中注入了各自的深刻理解、獨具個人色彩的媒介與風格和詮釋，以及屬於他們自己的獨特 “簽名”。
這次合作是一次真正的 "藝術間的對話"，在不同的媒介之間、在東方和西方之間。這次突破性的對話連接着過去、現在和未來。
編曲音效由Justin Friedman設計。
「這次是由賈藹力和一眾當今最具傑出的數碼藝術家合作的項目，我能參與其中，實在感到非常驕傲和期待。我希望這個計劃可以成為不同媒介之間的橋樑，探索顏料與像素之間的關係，證明無論任何工具創作的藝術，都同樣是藝術。」