NFTs #ARTifacts #Community
MIKE DARGAS x JAIME KING — “HON3Y MON3Y”
Community ARTifact Drop — Live May 1, 2021 at 11:11AM PST with Obtainable
Mike Dargas has a vision to preserve the essence of life. It includes honey, and cryptocurrency.
Yet, Dargas is a traditional artist. His artistic expression remains loyal to realism, where he consistently implies depth within two-dimensional art pieces.
But this depth is now surface level.
With the rise in available technology, such as rendering, augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3-D sculpting, Dargas is now able to immerse the viewer’s senses and perception. His art has evolved into a hyper-realistic, human experience.
With this technology, artists are now able to create a moment that resists the entropy of time and memory.
🍯 To purchase one, click here.
Art moves forward to becoming a part of the three-dimensional web. It will unlock intelligence, new emotions, and link minds.
As a hyper-realistic artist, honey has become Mike’s preferred material to work with.
The honey comes towards the end of the proces, and acts as a final touch. Yet this last step is the most influential. When honey’s thick, viscous sap covers the model, an authentic expression is revealed.
The honey humbles and adds a layer of vulnerability. Suddenly, true and genuine emotion are allowed to surface. There is no escaping the process.
When we are unable to escape the process, and are dedicated to the journey, we touch upon TRUTH. TRUTH is what Mike strives for through his creations. TRUTH is how one gets below the surface of all things. TRUTH is how we communicate within this new reality.
“You have to feel into it” Explained By Mike
Humans first become aware of their surroundings, and then assign meaning to what they see. Each series, from honey to gold, guides the observer down this process, allowing them to authentically connect to the art.
Each drip from a portrait holds a moment of eternal truth. No drip is the same, for it is alive, even if we perceive otherwise. Change is the only constant in this universe.
Alongside this trait, honey has the ability to reflect tones, produce richness in structure, and add warmth and composition.
Digitization of art will make these factors more noticeable than ever before. It will act as a magnet, an unknown force beckoning the viewer to fall deeper into the art.
Humans will step into this virtual rabbit hole. It’s only natural. We are spatial creatures, living in a spatial reality. The advent of new technologies is the human species attempting to extend our control over reality.
Technology extends the capabilities of the human brain and body. Art is a byproduct of this.
The language of humanity is becoming more visual. In the beginning, Web 2.0 introduced to us the memes, the emojis. Web 2.5 companies delivered filters, face masks, and light augmented reality (Pokémon Go, anyone?)
NFT’s are the result of the world entering the Web 3.0 era. It is the next step of our evolution. It is not only a more exciting interface — it is a biologically determined one, because it immerses all of our senses.
🍯 To purchase one, click here.
COLLABORATION WITH JAIME
My Name is Jaime King. My best friends know me as James. I’m an artist, filmmaker, producer, storyteller. Ever since I was born I felt like I was alone in this world, it really wasn’t until I started watching films, reading books and seeing images that provoked a deep emotion inside of me that I felt that I was truly seen. I was seen by people that never met me. They shaped and changed my life forever. I would wake up every day and realize that in a world where I was a puzzle piece that I did not fit into the picture that people want me to be. As I kept trying to shove my little piece into the picture that I did not fit. It’s funny, but it’s not funny at all.
I will be very blatantly honest here. I have no idea what NFT means. I have severe ADHD. I require things that are very kinesthetic. I need to touch and smell and see something, but any opportunity to reach into others through any medium is as if there is no choice. There is no choice other than to participate because humanity is so brilliant. So extraordinary and thus when even if it terrifies me or is beyond me I must partake as that is my calling and my duty to connect and share and see what can be created whilst on the precipice. That feeling of danger is what allows me to know that I am in step. NOT ASLEEP.
Most importantly, I need people to feel like they’re not alone in the world. That’s why I do what I do. That’s why I know through my experience that a millisecond caught on film can let someone know life is messy, beautiful, imperfect, vulnerable, fucked and triumphant. It leaves me speechless. I started off in the fashion industry, working with some of the world’s greats. But really I started off as a writer from a very young age. I always dreamt of being a filmmaker, but as a woman, I was told that was highly unlikely to achieve. When I was growing up, I was fed (like countless others) a rhetoric that I had to stick to one medium but somehow I saw something greater, that there were no limitations, that there was no definition for what it is that I was brought here to do.
ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TRULY TO CONNECT TO HUMANITY, TO BE PRESENT IN THE MOMENT.
The kind of presence that we all strive for, I believe, as human beings. Where art and commerce falls in love. Where the exchange of energy is the gift, where we’re just together in a purist nature. My experience of working with Mike was beautiful. We are both truth seekers. We both have a tribe of like minded souls that invite one another to be oneself. When artists come together with no other agenda other than to create a safe space to explore, that is alchemy. My children were there, his friends and mine together one in the moment. Again, I did not know what I was stepping into. And that’s the part of the greatest of artistic collaborations. To always feel like you’re on the precipice of doing something dangerous knowing in your heart that you’re supposed to do it.
ALL I CARE ABOUT IS TELLING THE TRUTH. That may seem very simple to most people. The nuances of truth are refined and delicate. Our greatest strength is our vulnerability being witnessed. I’ve been blessed to work with some of the greatest artists of all time both alive and those that I love that have passed. They have given the gift through their generosity of spirit and education. I am here to be of service and in a way it feels selfish at times because creating to me makes me whole, my cup is filled and when I’m not creating its agony. There’s something deeply profound about being both the subject and the observer. The work that we did on this day was quite wild and perfect. Perfect because I have learned to let go of my expectations to be free in the moment. All I want to do is show up as love and openness. We’re living in a time where there are seldom second takes. So hopefully this work, this art will bring you joy, will bring you into the present. I could write a very fancy bio about myself. I could say a lot of really nice things to make me look good. I’m not here for that. I’m here so that people feel less alone. As my kids say, for all the rest, google it up. I am choosing to donate my proceeds of this work to Mr. Checkpoint. An activist and cause that I deeply admire. For over a decade Mr. Checkpoint has educated people on the importance of understanding and using your constitutional rights, while advocating to always film the police, and in my heart checkpoint is a true humanitarian and truth-teller. He has put his body on the line and formed a community to share the stories of those that live and die by the hands of corruption. It’s one of the very few organizations that I know that has the courage to stand up for what is correct, demand transparency and shift the systemic patterns of those that abuse the power that they are given. We have been living in a country of injustice and zero accountability for hundreds of years. It is time that we do our part. It’s my honor to support the movement and for every life lost due to the hands of police brutality. I thank you for your attention to this radically necessary cause. ALWAYS FILM THE POLICE.
DROP MECHANICS
— 01
90 days from auction close…(7) owners of all 3 pieces: sting, swarm, and drip can “rarefy” and send to a burn wallet in exchange for a unique 1/1 Jaime King x Mike Dargas NFT
— 02
Within 90 days, anyone who owns shape of honey or shape of chocolate can redeem a physical signed Mike Dargas print.
— 03
All pieces will be able to be displayed in our xela.earth metaverse upon launch fall 2021
THE PIECES:
DRIP 🍯
— The expression starts with the first drip. As each honey molecule falls against the face, we see a slight difference in expression as time goes by. In this piece, the eyes maintain connection with the lens demonstrating focus with no distraction
STING 🐝
— As the honey drizzles, the expression evolves. The canvas is ready to be painted and the energy can be felt. This fierce statement is demonstrated with a hand gesture and smearing of lipstick.
SWARM ✨
— Capturing a fully expressive moment is truly the essence of this exhibit. There is magic in the moment that we truly surrender and crack open. When the soul opens, we can truly find ourselves.
SHAPE OF HONEY 🍯
— The floral nectar flows freely over the shape of the divine feminine converting formless into form. Honey is healing.
SHAPE OF CHOCOLATE 🍫
— The pure, unsweetened, chocolate liquor, pressed from the cacao bean drizzles over the shape of the divine feminine which acts as an emulsifier between two of nature’s finest creations.
THE GIVE BACK
A portion of the proceeds from this show will be pledged to the Kauai Bee Team organization in their efforts to preserve pollination. Kauaibeeteam.org
Art is a medium that reminds us we all share the experience of being human. It’s what allows us to feel closer to one another, and connect on a deeper level. ARTifacts are now able to evoke empathetic and emotional responses that were once only possible when we were physically present. But these barriers have now dissolved. A new existence awaits.
🍯 To purchase one, click here.
BEHIND THE SCENES
blessings.
