Foodmasku is a performance artist based in NYC. His real name is Antonius and he started his creative performance journey in early 2020 during a video meeting with a friend. He would love to collaborate with Claire Silver and is currently opening his new studio to explore more possibilities of performance art and NFTs. For inspiration he walks around his neighbourhood to find different food items. His neighbours know him by now and are used to it.
NFT Granny: “Dear foodmasku, thank you very much for taking your time. As an elderly lady, I think it is funny to play with food. But I always forbid my grandchildren to play with food. How have you come up with the idea of building masks out of your food?”
Foodmasku: I created the Instagram account Foodmasku in April 2020, during a video meeting when a colleague couldn’t turn off a pickle face filter. I took my dinner and placed it on my face as a mask. I heard laughter for the first time in a month. The project turned into a daily food face-mask selfie and was selected by The New York Times as one of “five art accounts to follow on Instagram now.” I have been minting my work as non-fungible tokens ever since – that was in March of 2021.
Could you tell us more about the story of your work “Chili Dogs” from your Hundred Day Mask Challenge series?
Foodmasku: For a long time, I have had the tradition to celebrate the beginning of summer with chilli dogs. This is how I created this piece. I am very proud that Kevin Abosch bought this piece. It was the first NFT that he collected from me. Since then he has been very supportive – he even collected my genesis on secondary. This means a lot to me.
Open on Opensea.io
Which of your artworks are you most proud of?
Foodmasku: The POAP for KnownOrigin’s 2021 party ‘Digital Natives’ was my biggest triumph because several artists like XCOPY and several British artists I look up to were there and they got it. I previously almost died trying to make a mashed potato mask and I learned how to do it better and how to do it safely and I became a better photographer so I was able to get little droplets of gravy before they fell.
Is there an artist you would like to work with? Like a collaboration?
Foodmasku: I would love to collaborate with Claire Silver. She is an amazing artist who I have had the pleasure of meeting and she has an amazing set of skills I don’t have.
We are curious 🙂 Would you be willing to share any plans for upcoming projects?
Foodmasku: I’m setting up my studio to do more live masks and explore how NFTs can be created in a live setting.
Who or what are your biggest influences or sources of inspiration?
Foodmasku: I love Jan Hakon Erichsen as an artist. For inspiration, I like to walk around my neighbourhood, which has a lot of outdoor grocers, and if a food item looks like it would be fun to mask, I try it on there. My neighbours know me by now and are used to it.
Is there something specific you are trying to express with your art?
Foodmasku: I think in the beginning it was really about anxiety and survival but as the project progressed and people began to literally consume the videos and photos, it became a statement about digital consumption and how weird it is when we bring the digital world to the physical world, but when we translate things from the physical world to the digital world we never think twice about it.
What do you feel when you are creating new art?
Foodmasku: Hungry.
Do you remember the first time you heard about NFT Art?
Foodmasku: I had some of my artwork taken without context reposted by other people so I looked up online ‘How to own digital files’ and that’s how I found out about NFTs.
How do you enjoy the NFT Art you have collected? Do you have a way to display it for example at home?
Foodmasku: I only display physical artwork at home, but the one thing I love about the NFTs I’ve collected is that they live on my watch, they live on my phone and they live on the blockchain so if anything ever happens to one of my devices and one day if anything ever happens to me they will still be there. I get to show off my artwork anywhere I go!
What would be your biggest wish for the NFT Art scene? What is currently missing / not fully developed to reach full potential out of it?
Foodmasku: I think we can do better with inclusivity. I don’t think just about people who are not represented in the art scene yet but rather about people who are not necessarily considered fine artists in the art world. These people might have amazing crafts and amazing stories to tell and are often ignored in the traditional art world. These peope should be welcomed into the NFT scene.
What is the most disturbing thing when it comes to NFTs and cryptoart in your opinion?
Foodmasku: There is a lot of danger in connecting your wallet to different smart contracts. But also, we have to acknowledge that the majority of these happen because of social engineering. So it’s very disconcerting to know that there are people out there who are trying to get your trust just to gain access to your wallet – that is very disturbing to me.
We would really like to know, where do you see the NFT Art scene in the future?
Foodmasku: I hope that in five years’ time we don’t call them NFTs anymore. They just exist and by then we won’t recognize what they are anymore because they have adapted and advanced so much that what we are working on currently looks so primitive compared to it.
Which tools do you use to create your art?
Foodmasku: I use whatever is in my kitchen to create my art – twine, skewers and utensils, and once and while plates. Now that I have an art studio to work in, I use a photo backdrop and I upgraded my camera to a nice digital SLR.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Foodmasku: “It is none of your business what other people think of your art.”
Is there something aside from art or NFTs you collect?
Foodmasku: I collect pins from politicians. But only the ones I would actually vote for.
What do you feel the moment a project you’ve created dropped?
Foodmasku: Anxious and I also feel immense relief because it is no longer in my control.
Random but last question: Where do you like to travel?
Foodmasku: The best part of NFTs so far has been connecting with people all over the world. Recently, I have been invited to exhibit my work because of NFTs and I have been able to visit places like the United Arab Emirates, Austin, Texas, Denver, Colorado, Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Flordia during Art Basel. Meeting the people I have been speaking to online for a year has been the most amazing experience!
- Full Name: Antonius Oki Wiriadjaja
- Current hometown: New York City
- Languages he speaks: Bahasa Indonesia, and English
- What did you want to be when you were a child: An astronaut
- Education: Master’s from NYU Tisch School of the Performing Arts
- First Job: Slide Librarian at the School of Museum of Fine Arts
