Hackatao

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How did you first become interested in art, and how did you get started with it yourself?

Hackatao: An interest in art has always been a part of our lives since childhood. Creativity has always been in our nature, which was then poured into making art. 

We started with sculpture, our Podmork, first in resin and then in ceramic. Totemic creatures covered in graphite drawings and flat colors. We then continued with experiments with the digital medium, drawing and painting on canvas and then finally, thanks to NFTs, we went back to digital.

Could you tell us more about the story of your project “Queens + Kings”?

Hackatao: Queens+Kings has been developed together with NFT Studios and supported by Sotheby’s. We wished to explore the now oversaturated world of PFP projects, experiment with innovative technology and focus on the artistic components of creating/generating a collection of avatars. Queens+Kings allows collectors to compose and customize their own Q+K royals (avatars), creatively and freely expressing themselves. 

Q+K is a project born within our discord community, highly requested and desired by the members. As collectors of PFP projects ourselves, we thought that randomly, algorithmically generated avatars only sometimes suited us. The avatars of the NFT world have, in fact, almost become an alter ego for the user. Thus it is essential that they best represent the collector. Q+K has the ability to vary and evolve as we humans evolve and shapeshift over time. It is an exploration of the concept of identity, of how we as individuals choose to show ourselves to others. All traits of the Queens+Kings avatars are individual NFTs, interchangeable. 

Which of your artworks are you most proud of? 

Hackatao: Each work requires study and dedication, and the enjoyment of the creative process makes each work a unique experience. And still, one should never ask parents which of their children is their favorite 🙂 

Is there an artist you would like to work with? Like a collaboration?

Hackatao: We collaborated with great web3 artists and the legendary rock band Blondie, and we also realized an unusual Post-Mortem collaboration with Leonardo da Vinci. We admire many contemporary artists and artists who made art history. A collab with Banksy would be a nice challenge, and we share the themes they address. 

We are curious 🙂 Would you be willing to share any plans of upcoming projects?

Hackatao: We recently announced our project with Bang & Olufsen (Drop Date: 30th November), involving six of our Queens+Kings collectors in the creative process: @punk6529, @WhaleSharkETH, @33NFT, @thrashleystyles, @0xikaros and @Lorenerl1. A collaboration at the intersection between design, music and art.

As for future projects, we cannot reveal much yet, but our community can surely expect cinema and gaming collaborations in the following months. We have joined forces with creators whose works we cherish and admire for years now, and we are honored to have been researching and making art alongside them. To receive appreciation from one of our favorite artists makes us realize how the crypto art world has brought us into a world of realized dreams.

Who or what are your biggest influences or sources of inspiration? 

Hackatao: One of our most significant sources of inspiration is the natural world all around us and our inner worlds. We’ve chosen to live in nature, away from cosmopolitan cities. The decentralized sphere allows us to remain in contact with the organic and virtual spaces to find a balance between the two.

We admire the works of Bosch, Leonardo, Escher, Picasso, Goya and Giger as we grew as artists while researching their practices and studying their works. 

Do you remember the first time you heard about NFT Art? 

Hackatao: Our journey started in 2018. Initially, it was not referred to as NFT art but as crypto art. It may make more sense to continue calling it crypto art.

At the beginning of 2018, we read an article in the “Sciences” magazine about the blockchain and its application in the art field. Immediately, they saw the potential for our work to live in the crypto world, fully embracing its digital DNA. This new technology was revolutionary. 

We then came across curator Jason Bailey’s blog on crypto art. We saw ourselves in the values and ideas the article brought forward as “digitally-native” and “geographically-agnostic” artists who seek freedom of expression more than anything. So we began conversations with Bailey, the curator who defined Crypto art, and we immersed ourselves into this new, experimental scene. The curator put us in contact with SuperRare just before the launch of the platform, where we minted our first-ever NFT.

How do you enjoy the NFT Art you have collected? Do you have a way to display it for example at home?

Hackatao: We continue to collect Crypto art, but for now, it remains hidden in the depths of OpenSea or SuperRare. To sort things in order and display the works in the physical world and the Metaverse is one of our goals, but it conflicts with our need to create. So there remains little time to devote to that. 

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?

Hackatao: In the early years of our involvement in the space, we participated in the construction of the cryptoverse and the NFT scene, contributing to the debate, together with other pioneer crypto artists, curators and collectors, with regards to the implementation of royalties for artists on the secondary market. That the rights and royalties of the artists and for the laid our principles to be preserved and defended. We hope and wish for these values of the decentralized scene to remain unyielding.

Without a doubt, there is a lot of archiving, documentation, and educational work to be done on cryptoart. It needs the education to preserve and narrate all of what’s happening in an NFT sphere evolving at the speed of light.  

We believe that crypto art will be recorded as a dynamic change of paradigm, as a movement of artists taking on multiple roles and dictating their own fates within the sphere of contemporary art, also thanks to inclusive, welcoming communities. As we’ve stated before, this is the dawn of a thrilling experimental period for contemporary art, the discovery of a new, fluid tool. This is a space for innovation in art.

What is the most disturbing thing when it comes to NFTs and cryptoart in your opinion?

Hackatao: Traditional audiences tend to accuse the NFT movement of being merely a speculative market, which is untrue. Also, the proliferation of experts who have never minted or collected an NFT.

We would really like to know, where do you see the NFT Art scene in the future?

Hackatao: We think crypto art will be commonly accepted as art. And historically, it will be seen as a paradigm shift that will also affect physical art. The two worlds, physical and digital, will travel together. NFTs will be used in so many areas of everyday life.

What do you feel when you are creating new art?

Hackatao: Creating is like being in a continuous orgasmic trance state that is self-feeding. It gives excitement, fulfilment, inner peace, and leaps into the unknown. The world would be better if everyone made art.

Is there something specific you are trying to express with your art?

Hackatao: To make art is a way we have to understand ourselves and the world around us. We seek to express our emotions and visions.

What do you feel the moment a project you’ve created dropped?

Hackatao: It is a moment of climax and a feeling that your art is moving away from you, leaving room for new art to come.

Which tools do you use to create your art?

Hackatao: Brain, hands, eyes, heart, pancreas…

What does a typical day for you look like, and what do you like to do when you’re not busy with NFT Art?

Hackatao: Making art gives us great energy and is addictive 🙂 It’s hard to stop. But when we do manage to pause, we like to read books, spend time exploring nature, and play the shamanic drum. We’re big fans of strategic video games and the horror cinema genre.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Hackatao: S: Hang out with people who are better than you. (which implies knowing yourself and others and having a good dose of humility).
N: Be curious and always ask questions.

Is there something aside from art or NFTs you collect?

Hackatao: N: I have a weakness for old chairs that can be saved.
S: I collect ideas and plans, dreams and visions.

Last but not least – Where do you like to travel?

Hackatao: We would love to travel to Proxima Centauri b. – but not on a spaceship. We prefer wormholes that open in attics, basements, or karst caves.