Island in the Clouds
May 2021 ––
In May 2021, the legendary fine art auction house Christie’s collaborated with Lady Phoenix—one of the most respected voices in the new media landscape today—to present a curated sale of both legacy and newly created artwork as unique NFTs.
PROOF OF SOVEREIGNTY not only brought together over 20 new media artists experimenting with blockchain technology but employed metadata, storage, and legal standards that have been virtually absent from millions of artwork associated with non-fungible tokens until now. Munky’s piece, Island in the Clouds, participated in this historic auction and was the honor of a lifetime.
PROOF OF SOVEREIGNTY not only brought together over 20 new media artists experimenting with blockchain technology but employed metadata, storage, and legal standards that have been virtually absent from millions of artwork associated with non-fungible tokens until now. Munky’s piece, Island in the Clouds, participated in this historic auction and was the honor of a lifetime.
GMUNK (b. 1975)
Island in the Clouds
born-digital, single-channel video
00:00:37 seconds (2560 x 1504 pixels)
Executed in 2021.
This work is unique and is accompanied by a non-fungible token.
Price Realized $17,500
Purchased by Pablo
Island in the Clouds
born-digital, single-channel video
00:00:37 seconds (2560 x 1504 pixels)
Executed in 2021.
This work is unique and is accompanied by a non-fungible token.
Price Realized $17,500
Purchased by Pablo
Lot Essay
–– 01“The duty of the seer is to witness the unseen, the contribution of the explorer is to chart the uncharted. Each has their vehicle, their instrument and their process. It is on them that we depend for a vision of what is to come.”
GMUNK has increasingly been drawn to the process of infrared photography as a technique for mapping a world that lies beyond the perception of our naked eye—essentially manipulating the light spectrum to unearth the invisible landscape. The process he undertakes to capture his INFRA photographs is a technique that demands a precision of seeing and a discipline of composition that reveals the hidden patterns and tensions at play on the terrestrial surface. Candidly, he admits that shooting infrared is comparable to ingesting psychedelics for its capacity to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness. “It's a process of discovery, where the spectrum of light doesn't reveal itself until you're looking through the viewfinder—essentially serving as a portal to an unseen world of vivid textures and tension.”
For this special Christie's submission, entitled Island in the Clouds, GMUNK explores the full spectrum of light as time-lapse. Elevating the InfraMunk techniques into motion is the next evolution of the series, which allows the viewer to observe this infrared spectrum of light in a moment of compressed time. Ultimately, this technique captures nature's spectral transitions as they manifest freely within this invisible world.
GMUNK has increasingly been drawn to the process of infrared photography as a technique for mapping a world that lies beyond the perception of our naked eye—essentially manipulating the light spectrum to unearth the invisible landscape. The process he undertakes to capture his INFRA photographs is a technique that demands a precision of seeing and a discipline of composition that reveals the hidden patterns and tensions at play on the terrestrial surface. Candidly, he admits that shooting infrared is comparable to ingesting psychedelics for its capacity to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness. “It's a process of discovery, where the spectrum of light doesn't reveal itself until you're looking through the viewfinder—essentially serving as a portal to an unseen world of vivid textures and tension.”
For this special Christie's submission, entitled Island in the Clouds, GMUNK explores the full spectrum of light as time-lapse. Elevating the InfraMunk techniques into motion is the next evolution of the series, which allows the viewer to observe this infrared spectrum of light in a moment of compressed time. Ultimately, this technique captures nature's spectral transitions as they manifest freely within this invisible world.
Island in the Clouds – Story
born-digital, single-channel video
00:05:44 minutes (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Executed in 2021.
born-digital, single-channel video
00:05:44 minutes (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Executed in 2021.
Credit List
Photographer: GMUNK
Digital Artist: GMUNK
Concept Writer: Stephen Marshall
Typography: Michael Cina
Composer: Keith Ruggiero
Curator: Lady Phoenix
Digital Archivist: Regina Harsanyi
Smart Contract: Monograph
Photographer: GMUNK
Digital Artist: GMUNK
Concept Writer: Stephen Marshall
Typography: Michael Cina
Composer: Keith Ruggiero
Curator: Lady Phoenix
Digital Archivist: Regina Harsanyi
Smart Contract: Monograph