Burst_: How laughter has become an insignia for the popular crypto artist

In the world of crypto art and NFT collectibles, 99% of content is noise, and even among the colorful spectrum, most of the self-proclaimed NFT artists would use templates, AI, and go as far as copy-pasting the design principles of successful collections in a desperate attempt to make a quick buck. That is discouraging for some collectors, if not repelling. For others, it is the perfect condition to spot and value truly unique art accordingly.

Opinions differ, and I am not an art expert or critique myself, but being a sound engineer, I tend to believe what makes up great art is the inability to copy it. There are a few crypto artists that despite infinite attempts to copy their work, everyone failed. Artists such as XCopy, and Burst_ are the perfect examples in this case.

Burst_ 101

Tell us about Burst_, who are you, and how you got involved with crypto art?

My name is burst_ and I officially started with crypto and crypto Art back in 2019 when I moved to Peru to live with my girlfriend there. I learned about crypto art from the Venezuelan OG crypto artist @yusaymonj. Both of us were kind of broke at that time and I told him that I wanted to find a way to make money online but I didn’t know how, so he mentioned I should apply to SuperRare.

It was a good time to start and so I did, and they accepted me right away and at the end of the year, I started to mint my first pieces. I remember selling my first NFT for $1. However, I have to say that I never exchanged Fiat for crypto so someone borrowed me $8 to mint my first couple of artworks. Within a very short period, the whole thing became life-changing. I remember selling (in July 2020) for the first time an artwork for 1 ETH which was back then $180 lol HAHAHA.

How have NFTs changed your perspective toward art, and where do you envision the future of your outputs after all these experiences?

For me, it was a dream come true and I learned new techniques around animation and gifs, glitch art, and overall a bunch of new skills, practices, and software I probably wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

My art is all about three core elements, that would be visual art, text, and sound which work together to create a holistic experience for the observer. This was important for me from the get-go, and over time, I started to implement more artistic layers to create immersive experiences through my art.

I am keen and excited to experiment as much as possible with all kinds of new technologies including XR, AR, VR, and sound design. My work started to be more augmented in 2021, and I’ve sold a bunch of pieces that are both digital and physical, such as paintings hanging on walls all over the globe right now. I also just launched a T-shirt collection on Manifold.

At the same time, I love the technical limitations of the blockchain, trying to store my art truly on-chain when possible, and I am experimenting with Bitcoin Ordinals this year.

What are your platforms and outlets of choice, and how do you pick the right one, based on your art?

My main platform of choice is undeniably Ethereum since I started on SuperRare and I am still active there. They were focusing strictly on digital art in the beginning and I loved the community so it was a perfect match for burst_ crypto art.

https://superrare.com/burst_

I’m currently focusing on Bitcoin Ordinals as previously mentioned and I am about to launch my first collection of 123 postcards called HAHAcards on the Ordinals protocol alongside @Phetven_Nobody with help from @veryordinally. I am excited about Ordinals, it sort of feels like the early days of Ethereum. You can check @HAHArtifcats for more info.

Process

You are one of the handful of artists that managed to establish and sustain a distinguished and extremely unique art style and aesthetic, that combines collage, typography, political messaging, and art. Was that intentional or you landed here after trial and error?

I would say it was kind of always my intention to combine all these elements, considering I truly love to express myself in this format and I enjoy mixing different tools to create new artistic possibilities. I think art should be fun, enjoyable, and immersive.

What is the typical creative process for Burst_ crypto art?

I usually start by working on something physical, not always, but I would say 90% of the time I’d start painting something abstract or something in my vicinity. I tend to close my eyes and see the artwork, which I then draw or paint, take a picture of, digitalize, and manipulate it in tools like PS before I animate it. The final step would be adding sound to the artwork.

Sometimes there are great opportunities to match the digital with the physical, and others not so much. This year I also started to use AI tools. For example, the HAHAcards collection uses AI in 5 of the 123 pieces, where I fed the AI with my own artworks and took the derivatives to polish them further digitally. Then I printed the piece on photo paper and started to paint on top of it. Finally, I took a high-res photo of that and repeated the process of polishing until I felt the art was done.

HAHA is here to stay. That's why we haven't just made digital art. We created digital HAHArtifacts! Exactly 123 physical cards, transferred to ordinal space to be here forever. In the name of HAHA, in the time of HAHA. pic.twitter.com/fBHZ5Km5ci

— HAHArtifacts (@HAHArtifacts) September 24, 2023

What are you trying to convey through your art?

There are a few narratives in my artworks. Most notably there is the HAHA aspect, which I am always using and then there is a portal-like dimension to each piece that observers can use to enter another dimension should they resonate with the art, the animation, the sound, or all the above.

Crypto art scene

Do you follow and compare yourself to crypto art trends or do you follow your own process and plan and why?

I never compare myself with trends or other artists. I usually do what I love which is me and my agenda of narratives. I try to be as creative as possible and I don’t feel the need to compare myself with anything else going on.

What is the best medium to showcase your art?

Obviously, I love having a bad-ass painting like 2 meters tall or something on a wall, and then when you try to photo it or scan it from your phone it starts to create an immersive experience for the viewer in an AR fashion. But I also like how it looks on a laptop or a screen, especially the animations. I dig high-quality canvas screens you can hang on your wall, and it always feels as a real painting that is alive.

https://twitter.com/burst_cryptoart/status/1631717476407955457

Wanna learn more about Burst_ and collect some of his gems? Make sure you follow him on Twitter, and join his relevant group chat where he occasionally drops alphas on new releases.

This is the first interview of a series I am thinking. Please do let me know what you think about it, in the comments below, or hit me on Warpcast.