Kolodny’s Art Makes The Money Go Round
It took time to materialize his love for Miami and join its ever expanding art community. Artist Kolodny uses sculptural words as his medium to transmit his thoughts and share them with the world.
INTERVIEW WITH KOLODNY
KOLODNY
from artist’s archives
LES COULEURS: What’s your background? How did you end up in Miami?
KOLODNY: I am originally from New York, born and raised. I first ended up in Miami about 5 years ago. A friend of mine owned a commercial property in Wynwood and wanted to have an artist in one of the spaces. He gave me a large studio at the Wynwood Arcade. I used to commute to Miami weekly and that’s when I realized how much I loved Miami. Unfortunately it took me another 5 years to get back here full time. I moved here full time last July during COVID-19 lockdowns. There was no better place to be. I have never been happier.
LC: Why art?
KOLODNY: I always have had the need to create, and build. Sometimes that manifested itself in building businesses, but more recently in art. When I was a kid it was with blocks, now as an adult I get to use cooler tools and materials. I love creating objects that move people, and make them think.
LC: What is a typical day in your life?
KOLODNY: I start by waking up and making my bed (start the day with a small win). Followed by a couple cups of coffee, a large glass of water and a stretch. Then the hardest part,- I go to work out. It clears the head, and gets me ready for the day. After the workout, I go through emails, and usually try to deal with the business aspects of the practice, tech stuff, the annoying things I don't want to do. Then comes the lunch time. The afternoons are for creating. The series I am working on now is sculptural. I create words and phrases, made out of 3D sculptural letters. I usually have several pieces at different stages of production. I will start the day by getting the CNC machine running, then have some pieces ready to prime and sand. Then different pieces for assembly, and paint. Then fabrication and resin coating. What I end up doing is a touch random, for now as I figure out a more streamlined production process. Usually I finish around 8 or 9PM, have some dinner and the occasional social pursuit. A day in the life....
LC: What themes do you pursue?
KOLODNY: I have been using words as my medium, making sculptures out of words. I pick words and topics that I am ruminating about, sometimes interesting phrases or quotes. The series is still relatively new, so I am still in the experimental phase. Lots of cool stuff coming.
LC: What are you working on now? Exciting future projects?
KOLODNY: Right now this new series is taking up most of my time, although I am also working on an NFT series. I am starting to plan for Art Basel this year. I think it’s going to be amazing.
KOLODNY
from artist’s archives
LC: What do you dislike about the art world?
KOLODNY: Too many gatekeepers, but that is starting to change, as you can now reach your collectors directly through social chanels.
KOLODNY
from artist’s archives
LC: Can you tell us about the process of making your work?
KOLODNY: The work starts with a word or phrase, that I write by hand using a mop marker. I then clean up the image, and import it into my CNC software, where I set up the image and cutting parameters. I get the CNC machine loaded, then cut the words out. I take the words, prime them and sand them. Then I lay them out and mark them for assembly. The words then go to paint. If the work feels right, they get screwed together, if not,- back to paint. Once together, the final step is resin coating. You can check out my instagram to see the process.
LC: How would you define beauty in 140 characters or less?
KOLODNY: Authentic, aesthetic… senses, pleasure.
LC: If you could work within a past art movement, which would it be?
KOLODNY: I am a huge fan of pop art, my work still fits in that genre.
LC: Tell us about your NTF project?
KOLODNY: I am working on an NFT project based on my Fake Fulfillment series. It’s called Crypto Junkies. I explore the world’s addiction to cryptocurrencies. The series is a study of the top 1000 cryptocurrencies, Each NFT is an original 1 of 1. Crypto Junkies shows the breadth and the scale of the market as a whole, and society’s addiction to it. The series is designed to show its scale and the dominance of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The works will be priced in a totally new and unique format. Pricing will be based on the market cap of the coin at the time of the request, at the following exchange rate: .1 ETH for each billion dollars of a coins market cap.
So a coin with a $1 billion market cap will be .1 ETH. A coin with a $15 billion dollar market cap will be 1.5 ETH, etc. Marked to market. Each label has a variety of traits to discover, discuss and trade. Including but not limited to: Gif vs Jpeg / Color of serum / Number of bottles / Number of empty bottles / Creation dates / Coin amounts / Warnings / Color of a serial number / Color of the bar codes / Type of injection / Type of screen
Buyers will need an OpenSea account with an associated wallet. Requests for purchase can only be made on the CryptoJunkies.io
KOLODNY
from artist’s archives
