In this interview, renowned actors and artists Vincent D’Onofrio and Laurence Fuller give an insight into the creative process behind their artwork ‘No Fear, No Greed, No Envy’. The latest project of the collaborative initiative Graphite Method is a fusion film history, digital arts and poetic expression immortalized in a Bitcoin Inscription. It is the daily change of frame and word poetry that makes the art work special.
https://ordinals.com/inscription/97180c1a34fd5dbbdf3afcc5fc3708af63d0bb486fe224bdb7f0e2d4bb51efd7i0
STEVEN REISS: ‘No Fear, No Greed, No Envy’ is your fascinating new project. What was the inspiration for this project and what made you decide to start Graphite Method together?
LAURENCE FULLER: I created this piece after talking to Vincent about creating a work of art for Graphite Method that would be engraved as an Ordinal. It should be an historic concept in cinema, poetry and art. A first of its type. That would be forever a statement about Bitcoin blockchain and the changing technologies and their impact on human expression.
In the past, I had been thinking about how the triptych has played a role in art since Renaissance times. Francis Bacon explored this format, which was three acts of storytelling, in Modern Art. However, it wasn’t used much in modern art or digital art. What do we understand by the term triptych today? It corresponds with the structure of three acts in film.
Vincent and I talked about how the file needed to be reduced to meet the Bitcoin parameters. We also discussed that our project collaborator, Ordinally, had mentioned the possibility of creating a work that evolves over time.
Vincent suggested that we use the history of Charlie Chaplin’s signing documents with Marie Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and one of Hollywood’s oldest major studios. (We left D.W. Griffith out for good reasons). Triptychs are three portraits which evolve with time and tell the dreamlike story of cinema’s history. But there will be some differences, particularly in light of AI. Vincent and myself would be the narrators of each frame. Each would include a single word poem that moves from bottom to top.
Vincent found my poems on Twitter after I had reached out to him about his career in acting a number of years earlier. His first post was about a collaborative painting between my mother Stephanie Fuller and myself, combining poetry with an animated picture of whales. After a few years, I carved out a niche for myself in web3, defining cinematic poetry as a medium and working with 100 different artists from around the globe. After a few years, we reconnected and started to build a rapport. I asked Vincent whether he would like to collaborate the following day and he replied. “what do you mean by collaborate?” The rest is history.
In a discussion, Laurence mentioned the tryptic. We discussed the historical background of tryptic works and their ability to expand the scope of an entire piece, or series of pieces. A chance to enhance the story of a painting, portrait, or epic landscape by modifying its structure.
The idea of having multiple panels which can be opened or closed is a good example. You can use a piece of art to tell a story, and then reveal it by opening up a part.
As we talked, I was able to see the entire piece as well as the characters and subject. Laurence was very interested in the story and characters, so I began to tell him about it immediately. Laurence is a very imaginative person. It was obvious that he got the concept right away. In a single day, I had the plot down. It was a sort of draft. The words for each frame. I also described the order in which the words would move from bottom to top. What should the tone and feel of the piece be?
Laurence sent me rough drafts for visuals and I discussed them with him. Laurence was able to really nail the visuals in a wonderful way. It was a success. I don’t like to explain our work. Our pieces, I believe, should be able to speak for themselves. This piece, in my opinion, speaks for itself.
The Graphite Method is formed. Laurence posted a picture on X. Laurence was the first artist I contacted to compliment him for his talents. Graphite Method is the result of a series of events.
SR: Your work has been described as cinematic poetry pioneers. This medium influences your work in digital art.
It’s our medium. I wouldn’t describe myself in that manner. My acting journals have come to life by performing poetry in this manner. Method Acting is a process that’s often lost in dusty books and never explored. The main reason is that our emotional journaling, character background and searching through memories are not really formed in drafts. The journals that are written in them often get thrown away and audiences only see the completed performance. What if these journals were used as the basis for fine art works? The rapid development of digital art and techniques in the last few years allowed me to make these discoveries.
The title of my filmic poetry that I created on the Ethereum blockchain in March 2021 was “When I minted My First Work of Cinematic Poetry on Ethereum Blockchain it Was called “Childish Force of Nature”My spoken word performance of my poem paired with an animation painting by Simajo, is a celebration the human experience of oceans. My art must be influenced by the natural forces that exist in this world, regardless of what AI update is taking place. This is my universal truth. The same goes for writing poetry and performing with my own voice.
Vincent also when we collaborate on Graphite Method Works.
VD : As a person, I would never describe myself as being a pioneer. All arts, to me, are different variations of variations over time. The times are changing, the technology is evolving and we create new variations from the inspiration and passion of artists both past and now. This is enough. This is just a really cool idea.
I’m not only very interested in and appreciate other forms of art, but also the artists and creators in our community. But what we do at graphite is truly captivating. We are pushing this filmic poem as far as possible, using technology as well as our heartbeat and breath to create them. We light it, shoot it, compose it, art direct it and write & direct it.
It’s clear that we are both excited by this. For me, it is all about the excitement.
Laurence, in a previous interview, you said that technological advances are transforming our everyday lives and that it is artists who feel the changes and can express them. What influenced you to choose Bitcoin Ordinals as the currency for your project?
LF: For me technology is an instrument. It’s like a Mozart cello. The technology is inanimate but it becomes alive when touched by human hands and thoughts. The actor’s vocal training in classical music is often described as a musical instrument. My art is a lot about honouring the past. The past of humanity, as well as art history, poetry history, and cinematic history. Bitcoin was the first blockchain. It is also the last place in the digital library, hidden behind the vaults of codes. The digital equivalent of Shakespeare’s Complete Works, or the Divine Comedy. If it isn’t there, then it soon will be. The piece itself is an affirmation of that. Through conceptual poetry and visual art, we hear the pioneers of cinema. Humans are capable of feeling, thinking and processing the world in a way that is beyond technology.
Vincent is more vocal and passionate about new technology than me, even at 64 years old. It’s funny that he says I am like a “painter”, but I can’t really be compared to a real painter because I do not paint. As a performing artist, I treat this artwork the same as I would a playscript. Visuals, poetry and symbols have influenced my work as an actor and filmmaker. The immersive performance of the art, where the filmic art is flickering around me as I read poetry by memory for the most part makes this medium resonate loudest. This is the most authentic and raw evocation I’ve ever seen of acting as a craft, brought to life with a new, visceral and unique style.
Both of you have had a remarkable career as actors over several decades. Your acting experiences have influenced your work in Graphite Method.
Since years, I’ve learned how to be confident and always look forward. Never look backwards and confidently moving forward. The risk of putting your creation in front an audience always exists. There are two outcomes: success or failure. Artists can benefit from both outcomes, and they aren’t so binary in terms of how it affects them moving forward. Both are often interchangeable.
It is essential, just as dreams influence your daily life. It’s essential, but it is also like the foundations for something larger.
After working with Vincent for two years, my work was informed by all the dramaturgists I have worked with, as well as writers, directors, and philosophers. After working with him for two years, I still feel that I am just getting to know Vincent.
It was about 10 years ago, when I began working on the film “The Last of Us”, that my acting journal really took off. “Road To The Well” It was a very intense character – a philosophy graduate. In order to be prepared for my role, I was asked to read Camus and other existentialists. It helped me greatly to integrate some of their ideas into the way that I approached a new script. For a script or role, I wrote raw prose poems and paired them with art references over the years.
Vincent, who is one of the greatest actors in history, asked me to be his partner. It gave my work a different feel. Vincent’s take on things is more avant-garde and modern, often completely detached from history. The next day, he will declare something precious or unbreakable.
The construction of my poem or art work is composed of adaptations. There are many small adaptations that stack on each other to create a Tower of Babel. Metaphors are adaptations of stark realities. Poems are adaptations of unimaginably true things. Through generations, language is changed to pictorial and verbal. The relationship we have with anything can be adapted.
The project you are working on draws parallels with the beginnings of the cinema such as United Artists. These historical references are a part of your work.
LF: My fascination with the history of cinema, art and philosophy is never-ending. Storytellers often reveal things that are not possible to discover on your own. The words of my friends or Baudelaire can sometimes be more true than those I hear around me. Even if they make me feel alone, the people I am around can be very helpful to my work.
London School artists were influenced by their predecessors, such as David Bomberg, Stanley Spencer, and others. Literature evolved that way too, when at one time a certain prose felt very of the moment later became passé and then to generation after that suddenly has a resurgence. Daniel Day-Lewis stated that Brando was a great influence. Vincent made me think in much the same manner. As an artist, you can’t ignore that person who pushes boundaries.
Our works are influenced by art history, but it is equally important that the references we use be public domain.
This is a very helpful idea. This can be very helpful. It’s important to know that you aren’t alone. It is not possible to achieve 100 percent in your art. Instead, it is a journey. Your struggle is to reach 100% knowing that you will never be able.
The audience is able to witness the struggle. This is what the audience gets: the struggle.
It is a constant struggle. It is enough that someone might come and take a look.
SR: You also question the evolving values and ethical issues surrounding AI. What parallels do you draw between early film and modern digital technology?
The introduction of cameras changed the world. The philosophers seemed closest to reality when they discussed how the changes affected painters, sculptors, and their broader impact on society. In Walter Benjamin’s “The Work Of Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction” John Berger’s “Ways Of Seeing” and in his troublesome protégé Peter Fuller’s “Seeing Through Berger”. They all struggled to understand the complex material characteristics of sculpture and painting in relation to our aesthetic experience, and how this affected the way we understood art as spiritual. The camera, on the other hand, liberates an image from the material presence of the object and transforms it into something new and completely different. In the homes and in minds of millions around the globe, the camera lets ghosts exist at once. The cinema reshaped the ghosts to make them move, and eventually speak.
In the days of Chaplin and Pickford, it was a sign of a new generation in terms of their artistic medium. Sound and colour.
Vincent appears to be very concerned with ethics and morality. Vincent seems to have a certain stance, but that position seems to shift quite frequently.
Morality does not concern me as I view life through an existential, stoic perspective. After all, it will be over tomorrow. What did you do with the little time that you had? What other people think of you? You realized your dream?
AI will cause people to lose their jobs. I am not exempt. It does not cause me to jump up and down. The advancements in culture and technology are not new. But I still believe that art that is legitimate always rings loudest, no matter how it was created.
I am convinced that as long as there is human life and a beating heart behind any creation, we will be able to survive new technologies. Laurence and I put our hearts and breath into everything we do. It’s all been photographed. All of it is art directed. All of it is written by our team.
It is certain that they are our creations. AI isn’t used as a joke, per se.
Could you tell me how you took advantage of the limitations on file sizes in Bitcoin when creating this art work?
I was inspired to make a set of static images with one word per frame. Only the floating word in each frame is moving.
This was an important part of the piece. Vincent’s discussion of file sizes led him to suggest that we focus on early cinema, and the way the constraints of their time defined silent films and black-and-white films. Chaplin is best when you watch him in his prime. You can see how he innovates despite the constraints. Restraints imposed by technology, optics or morality. The world was attracted to him because he was breaking the rules of the day with mischievous methods.
What are you hoping viewers will learn from your work in terms of both its artistic and technical aspects?
VD: Hope they like it.
LF: My hope is that, with the passage of time and the repeated display in galleries and museums around the globe, this piece represents the changing guards in everything that we deal with. Old world meets new.
The traditional mediums were important for me all along my artistic journey. From studying classical theatre at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School to studying the art criticism of my late father and his poetry, I was always interested in what he thought. The independent films, I produced, wrote, and acted, were very important in my career as an artist and writer. I also believe that bringing these forms of art to digital art is equally important.
What are your biggest takeaways from bitcoin? And what would you say to artists and collectors who wish to learn more about ordinal art?
The history of the arts. The arts. It can be endless. It works very well in the web3 sensibilities. It’s a deep hole to dig into.
Since I was a child, my appreciation of the arts has enhanced my life. It was through my art collection that I was able to afford my move from New York City to Los Angeles.
My peers did not understand my passion for collecting fine art and being curious about its cultural context. There’s an old picture somewhere of me standing before five Lucian Freud engravings when I was 18. It was a story about a collector, who had given up his entire life for a Peter Booth painting. He was obsessed with it. The painting I had in the film was like this spectre that hung over the actors. I then sold it when the film was released.
It’s impossible to know what the future holds when you own a historical artwork. This is magic.
Here you can see the artwork: No Fear, No Greed, No Envy.
Steven Reiss is the author of this guest post. The opinions expressed by Steven Reiss are their own, and not those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
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Source: bitcoinmagazine.com
