b. 1966, Ithaca, New York; lives and works in New York City
Hawaiʻi Triennial 2022 artist

OG:CR #3579 Prototype Sculpture
2023
Photo curable resin, AkzoNobel paint, fluorescent powders 

Approx: 31.5 x 23.6 x 21.25 in (80 x 60 x 54 cm)

Unique

OG:CRYSTAL #3579
Minted October 16, 2021
Generative NFT
Created by Michael Joo, Danil Krivoruchko, and the OG:CR community

(NOTE: Images above illustrate the five generations of the NFT)

OG:Crystal Reef (OG:CR) is a generative art project created by artist Michael Joo, digital artist Danil Krivoruchko, and the OG:CR community. The project is the product of Joo’s many years of research and artistic practice involving process-based art, crystalline forms, and collective identities, as well as Krivoruchko’s experience in generative art and algorithmic content creation. 

 

The OG:CR project minted 10,301 NFTs of 3D seed crystals on October 16, 2021. During the growth phase, the seed crystals grew into OG:Crystals, their facets and contours completely individualized, and algorithmically generated by merging each owner’s unique crypto wallet ID/ history with the myriad possible combinations of crystalline and coral reef form and structure. After three months, the OG:Crystals were locked so that new transactions would not influence its shape, color, or rarity.

 

The present lot comprises OG:Crystal #3579 (NFT) and OG:CR #3579, the first physical prototype of the OG:CR project. An exclusive for artXchange, this painted sculpture is a unique rendering of the OG:Crystal #3579 NFT and a prototype for a potential, thousand-part monumental gallery installation by Joo in the future. 

 

In preparation for Hawaiʻi Triennial 2022, Joo made multiple research trips to the islands. “My relationship with Hawaiʻi began with HT22 and catalyzed an active exploration in the islands for intersections between art and science,” Joo recalls. As an ongoing project, future developments of OG:CR may include community participation in Hawaiʻi to further coral research and generate climate awareness and sustainable initiatives. 

 

NOTE | Upon successful purchase of OG:CRYSTAL #3579, the NFT will be transferred to the new owner’s cryptocurrency wallet. Assistance in opening a cryptocurrency wallet is available upon request. 

 

PROGRAM | May 21, 2023 • 3pm • Royal Hawaiian Center | Hear Michael Joo discuss this project and potential futures for OG:CR.

Joo’s artworks investigate concepts of identity and knowledge in a hybrid, contemporary world. His artworks often blend and collide seemingly disparate elements such as science and religion, fact versus fiction, and high and low culture. Human intervention in nature and the forms generated by these intersections is a recurring backdrop for his work. Using a range of materials and media, and with an emphasis on process, Joo juxtaposes humanity’s various states of knowledge and culture, addressing the fluid nature of identity itself, and prompting us to question how and why we perceive the world as we do. In performance/video works, he has swam through a ton of MSG, waited in the wild for elk to lick salt off of his body, and walked against the flow of crude oil along the Trans Alaskan Pipeline. Joo’s works are held in numerous public collections around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum, Denver Art Museum, Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Guggenheim Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Savannah College of Art and Design, Israel Museum, Moderna Museet Stockholm, UCLA Hammer Museum, Walker Art Center.

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All artworks ship from Honolulu. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer. Applicable sales tax will apply to all works shipped within Hawaiʻi. Please note, bidders will be charged for the total purchase price; 3% processing fee, 2.9% credit card transaction fee, plus $0.30 per transaction, if applicable; and any sales tax, based on your registration address. For transactions over $10,000, you will be given the option to pay via wire transfer. Please direct inquiries to events@hawaiicontemporary.org.