Title
The Hyperreality Show : Episode X.3 : Three (Synthetic) Muses, 2022
Dimensions
93.3 x 87.7 inches :: 237 x 223 cm with screen and frame
Painting
200 x 160 cm
Media: Acrylic, Canon Inkjet/UV printing, on canvas
2022
Video
Duration : 00:47 (loop)
Dimensions: 1280 x 720
Color Profile : HD (1-1-1)
CODEC : H.264, AAC
Audio : None
Minted on Polygon via OpenSea
https://polygonscan.com/address/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963
Smart Contract
0x2953399124F0cBB46d2CbACD8A89cF0599974963
Exhibitions
“Unsafe at any speed” group exhibition - April 2022
Curated by Kenny Schachter for Morton Street Partners
The work
Two of the figures in this painting are based on images of Lil Miquela, a virtual influencer with over 3 million Instagram followers. The first is a typical mirror selfie pose and the other is an Instagram “drop it like it’s hot” pose. The third figure is Shudu, a virtual high fashion model doing a classic “walk through” pose.
The third synthetic muse is in the video (NFT) - an animation of a virtual model that was created by the artist. It is based on motion capture video of a real person. The animation is derived from movements that were captured in video. Transformed into a synthetic muse, she can now be posed according to the artist’s wishes and the colours have been modified to complement the painting. The synthetic muse phases between digital code generated by an algorithm and animated digital painting as she takes different poses.
Themes
This work considers the increase use of virtual entities as models and influencers. The fact that they (and their virtual lives) are able to garner a large following is a true example of hyperreality - the blurring lines between the real and the virtual. It’s a revisiting of the “muse” for the virtual age.
Hybrids
Three Synthetic Muses is one of Lans King's signature hybrid artworks. It is part of "The Hyperreality Show" series. The hybrid work combines a painting with an animation video/NFT. The animation/video NFT is displayed on a LCD screen that is framed with the painting to form a single unit.
The work is incomplete without the NFT. The physical painting should always be accompanied by the NFT. The display can be replaced by a virtual or augmented reality - as long as the video/NFT is in someway hybrid with the painting.
Techniques and process
This work is a perfect example of Lans King’s New Synthesis painting.
An image is transformed into ASCII Code using a generative art algorithm
The background colour is manually painted on canvas
The numerical ASCII code and some base pictorial elements are printed on the canvas
The “abstract figuration” pictorial elements are completed by manual painting
Technique and influences
ASCII Art - in the early days of computing when pictorial graphics were not possible and images could only be created using letters, numbers, and punctuation from the ASCII code.
Generative Art
Use of an algorithm to convert the original image to ASCII code
Art history influences
Albert Oehlen - One of the first artists to combine digital printing and manual painting
Nam June Paik - Combining video and painting
Contemporaries - “Post Internet” artists such as Peter Schoolwerth and Laura Owens. Their works combine digital printing and painting in a way that makes it difficult to discern what parts have been manually painted and which has been printed.
ARTIST BIO : SUMMARY
Lans King is known as “the artist from the future.” His ongoing project, “The Hyperreality Show”, blurs the lines between real & virtual, analog & digital, humanity & technology. This interconnected ecosystem of artworks includes paintings, videos, installations, sculptures, digital, and his signature painting-digital hybrids. His artwork was recently curated for auction at Christie’s in New York.
In 2019, Lans surgically implanted an NFC microchip capsule in his hand and registered his artist-self on the blockchain. It became the basis for his seminal work “(Network of) Self”, 2019 - Current. The microchip is linked to a series of NFTs that will track his physical, emotional, and cerebral data for the remainder of his life. It is a self-portrait of the artist as represented by his personal information.
The artist has been creating crypto art since 2017 and NFTs since 2019. His first drop on Nifty Gateway sold out in less than one minute. He has also been invited to Superrare, Makersplace, and Foundation.
Lans’s work was also the subject of a BBC documentary “The Cultural Frontline”. Lans has also been covered in FlashArt, ArtNet, FAD Magazine, RightClickSave, and Widewalls. His work has been acquired by important collectors and patrons.
Born in Saint Vincent (British Antilles), Lans King was raised and educated in New York, US. His studies in Cognitive Science focused on artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction. Previous to his art career, he was a digital strategist in the communication sectors specialising in luxury, finance, and media brands. He developed his art practice in parallel. Lans currently lives and works between London, Paris, and New York.