Patrick Amadon combines his passion for art and activism, and is open about how he intends his work to make an impact.
Self-described as “digitally disobedient,” the Los Angeles-based glitter artist made international headlines for his “No Disturbance” digital ad that debuted at Hong Kong Art Week in March. For his political sensibilities.
He also made headlines when he walked out of Sotheby's First Mistakes show by taking a stand against a collection of female and non-binary artists.
(For the uninitiated, glitch art involves intentional digital or analog errors.)
Like many other artists, Beeple's historic $69 million NFT sale in March 2021 caught Amadon's attention. He had been making digital art for over a decade before, but had no way of monetizing it.
“When I saw all the press from the Beeple sale, I ran across the $69 million figure, that wasn't that exciting to me, but I remember thinking, ‘Wait, someone sold digital art, how does that work.' ” says Amadon.
“I've been around for ten years but I'm stuck in no man's land. I used to do physical work but I liked doing digital work more. My audience liked the digital work more, but it wasn't really something you could do in the art world.
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ToggleDigital disobedience
Amadon is a deep thinker and makes an incredible effort to make his art objective. He also embraces many of the crypto ethos and believes that everyone along for the ride is somewhat digitally unruly.
“I mean, if you're in crypto, you've rejected something. They rejected something in the financial world, they embraced sovereignty, they embraced self-management, self-reliance. There are certain social factors that got you here to begin with, that you didn't accept.
“I think we're really tearing down a lot of these existing structures. We are creating hell for many gatekeepers. We are opening doors for many artists. None of us here obey what we ought to do.
“I feel like we've all embraced dissent in many ways because nobody in traditional finance wants you to think that crypto is right. No one in the art world wants you to think crypto is valid. Since we are here, we are all compliant if you look at what society thinks is normal and acceptable.
Art is a medium that Amadon sees as an ability to express his passion for activism and showcase the societal issues he cares about. He makes an incredible effort to make his art have a purpose.
“I like to do something with a purpose. Usually, I like to use art as an outlet to comment on some socio-economic or political situation. Or a cultural difference or just something that injects the space a little bit,” says Amadon.
“I think storytelling is art, and I think beauty is really just the voice you speak. That's why I think theory is a very important part of art. It should be something that most of us can say the same thing about. I mean, beauty kind of becomes the voice again.”
‘No Violence' at Hong Kong Art Week
Embracing digital disobedience and the desire to use art over aesthetics, Amadon boldly displayed the words “No Rioters” on a giant digital billboard above the Sogo Kowway Bay store during Hong Kong Art Week.
The fake art centered around a surveillance camera swinging from side to side, but the main thrust was to display the names and prion terms of activists in the pro-democracy movement since 2019.
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“At the center of Hong Kong Art Week was a government-sponsored billboard the size of a city block. I thought let's be a little reluctant. In the year I followed the Hong Kong protests closely in 2019. I've been a news hawk since the dawn of the internet, so I wanted to do something to celebrate the opposition,” says Amadon.
“I put a giant security camera on there and then every 10 frames or so I just pick up the names of the protesters, their convictions and the instances where the government has beaten the protesters and thrown them in jail. Under Hong Kong's national security law, it's illegal to put that up in public, and I had the biggest billboard in Hong Kong during Art Week for three days in a row, which was great.
Because the names are hidden and difficult to see when displayed in real time on the artwork, the billboard remained for 72 hours in front of the Art Creation Gallery – the gallery Amadon partnered with to display the piece – as Sogo's owners said they were concerned about the hidden political content behind the work.
“The free Hong Kong press found out about it, so the next day, the BBC and the global press reported it, and the Chinese press programed it saying, ‘I'm a protester.' Love it because I'm definitely a contrarian.
“So it's taken over by the government and I join the list with Winnie the Pooh on freedom of speech.”
The porters came out
Amadon believes the Web3/crypto space has a long way to go, but is optimistic about the technology's potential to democratize the art industry, for artists and collectors alike.
“From a collection point of view, from an art experience, from an art point of view, it's huge. You no longer need a brother, sister or cousin to work at Gagosian and sell in person and sit at the head table of the art world,” says Amadon.
“If you're from a marginalized community or third world country, it's very difficult to get involved in the art world. What we've done with the technology is that we've really revolutionized the space and allowed people like Ossinachi and Ix Shells to meaningfully participate in an art world that was very difficult to access before. We are very accessible and very inclusive.
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Doppelganger creation with a smart contract
In May of this year, Amazon launched something special with the Doppelganger Drop in collaboration with Transient Labs. As an artist fascinated by the fusion of art and technology, Doppelganger explores what it's like to connect an invulnerable token to an art collection rather than pointing to an image.
“As we're only just scratching the surface of what's possible in digital art and in digital art combined with smart contracts on the blockchain, I reached out to Transient Labs and had them build a token that points to an agreement. Instead of a token that points to a single link. That's what Doppelganger is built on.”
The contract is owned by the artist and can essentially incorporate multiple images into one NFT. With the artist having the ability to add new pieces of art, users can choose which artwork to highlight but never subtract.
“Basically think of them as frozen metadata. They never change and only the collector controls what he suggests. As a collector, you can choose which art you want displayed. I think we're up to 12-13 different pieces now. I'll add another one soon. “I am adding to it, so I am expanding it, but I can never subtract from it,” he said.
Doppelganger now has 13 artworks you can choose from. Plan to grow this over the years. 🤝
— Patrick Amadon (@patrickamadon) October 30, 2023
Popular sales to date
Amadon's first Ethereum mint was Zofo, which debuted on Tezos with RGB Glitch 2013.
Popular sales include:
Quick-fire question and answer
Effects
“I really like Edward Snowden and Banksy. Aesthetically, I grew up with all the abstract artists, so that's how I first started making art. I love texture and abstract art. People like Richter [Gerhard]He said.
“Inside [Web3] There are several such as XCOPY, Max Capacity and Kidmograph. There was a burgeoning community on Tumblr and everything is still here so it's good to see. I've known Puck since 2013 because the Twitter art community has moved into NFTs in so many interesting ways.
Personal style of art
“Flaws. But my background is street art. I will photograph it, I will contribute to it. I have always loved graffiti. Graffiti mixed with graffiti.
“Banksy has always been an artist that I've really looked up to in how he challenges the art world and how he captures messages from his art.”
Famous collector
“I'd have to say Anonymous. Anonymous has become like family in this process. Picked up my 1 of 1 number. The relationship between a collector and an artist can be very strong. The amount of support you get from them allows you to do this at a higher level. The amount of support I have received from Anonymous over the past two years has been truly life changing.
Which Hot NFT Artist Should We Pay Attention To?
“I'd say one of the biggest initiatives I'm working on right now is the 404 catalog. It's a quarterly exhibition, anyone can submit a piece by an artist. It's an opportunity for artists to shake off any change, to shake off the stage. I wanted to be completely agnostic, social media and presence is nothing, just art and giving artists a chance to be seen just for their art.
Your favorite NFTs in your wallet
“Ana Maria Caballero, 1 of 1. I picked up her Ethereum Genesis piece. She's an incredible poet. We became friends early in the NFT space.”
What do you listen to when you create art?
“I work in complete silence. If there's any noise, I put my headphones on noise-cancelling mode. If there's a distraction, I'm distracted.”
“Having said that, in terms of music in space that I like, I'd mention Mariana McWane, I think she's an amazing musician but she's doing some amazing tech stuff in space. She used the doppelgänger contract to make her album. Every track has its own metadata. All on the same token, I I think it's a fantastic use of technology.
Links
X: twitter.com/patrickamadon
Website: patrickamadon.com
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Greg Oxford
Greg Oakford is the founder of NFT Fest Australia. A former marketing and communications professional at Sports World, Greg now focuses on content creation and consulting at Web3. He is an avid NFT collector and hosts a weekly podcast covering all things NFTs.
Follow the author @GregOakford
