#acrwrs

Fundamental Mechanics series

52+20 .gif animations, 360px × 639px, March 16, 2019 - April 17, 2020. Minted as NFTs on the #tezos blockchain between April 10 and August 6, 2021.

This series was made on a mediocre iPhone 5 using the Instagram stories feature while researching 16th century visual culture for the design of The Three Motions of Loom tapestries (‘Fundamental’ or ‘primary mechanics’ is a loom term). I discovered that the rebus-like late Medieval (alchemy) emblema resembled compositions of equally modular emoji and .gif stickers.

The enigmatic ‘hole’ emoji – one of the few emojis that actually has some depth – turned out to be the perfect portal, simulating space in a flat screen.

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These ultrashort animations were a quick way to investigate the artistic possibilities of consumer technology and prefab components. 

At first, I used existing .gifs from the Giphy database, which is integrated in Instagram. After a while, though, I started missing elements, and applied for my own Giphy artist account.

Between August 2019 and May 2020 my Giphy account accumulated a whopping 195.1 million views, with one of my unicorns accounting for about 31 million of them. I closed my account in May 2020 when Facebook bought the platform. I didn’t feel good about providing free content for that company.

A selection of 37 animations from the series was turned into a 3-edition video work, presented on a small, open frame screen.

When NFTs entered my field of view in February 2021, I realized the series seemed made for the NFT medium.

I turned the animations – originally saved as mp4s – into low res .gifs; a choice made for several reasons (compatibility, for instance, and to honour the original format of the stickers that were used). 

After careful (ecological) consideration, I decided to publish the series on the now defunct platform Hic et Nunc (*).

The series was minted between April 10 and August 6, 2021.

(* Update Nov 2021: the series can be accessed through objkt.com)

Tools (v002)

Seamless loop, colour/silent, 1920x1920px, 2x6", Alexandra Crouwers, 2021 Lower Paleolithic French Acheulean hand axe model via Research Labs of Archaeology, University of NC (CC0 Public Domain).

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I often like to (re)connect to the human origins of image making. The stone tool was not only used as a handy device for cutting, scraping, or cleaving, but there are indications that we sometimes also aimed for aesthetics or showing off craftpersonship.

Many unused tools have been discovered in the Olduvai Gorge, often too big or too small to be practical. There are tools with exposed fossils, or tools that resemble faces.

This videoloop attempts to show the computer-mouse and the hand axe caught in a time/space continuum of tools. Someone remarked I should've chosen a less plain mouse, but this is exactly the mouse the work needs.