A.L. Crego: A Self-Taught Digital Artisan and Master of GIFs
The Evolution of A.L. Crego: From Words to GIFs
Originating from Galicia, Spain – where he currently lives and works – A.L. Crego was drawn to literature and music starting from a young age. These interests soon sparked his fascination for creating images through words, the cornerstone to his art to date.
Following college, he developed an innate passion for photography and video, studying photography for two years while concurrently undertaking various creative endeavors, including event photography and album cover design.
A.L. Crego’s fascination with GIFs as an artistic medium arose during this photographic journey, merging it with his deeply-rooted passion for street art.
Inspired by the “Mixed Media Collective,” he pioneered street art gifs, which have been featured in numerous street festivals: to date, A.L. Crego has created more than 200 street art gifs, each originating from a single photo, exemplifying his love and commitment to this form of art and its meticulous process.
From 2014 to 2018, he devoted himself to his craft, emphasizing street art within the digital realm, specifically on Tumblr, where his hypnotic visual mantra has been cultivated since the very beginning of his artistic journey, and where A.L. Crego continues to share his path to this day. To him, the gif format is not just a way to create and watch art, but a new way of thinking as it leads its spectators to see reality in a new light.
“I hunt light. I cook video loops. I serve GIF.”
2018 marked the year that A.L. Crego merged blockchain technology with his creations, joining Makersplace’s platform and minted his first works. On June 6th, 2019 he minted his first work “Noisy fountains of silence. 2”.
Chain-Agnostic Creativity: A.L. Crego’s Artistic Methodology
Light is A.L. Crego’s preferred medium and vital lymph to his art, characterized by an ever-changing style he defines as No-ism.
No-ism is founded on his belief that adding -isms to anything, risks becoming a cult — An underlying theme in the ‘Amniotic Culture’ series, where “Community” leads spectators to reflect on how a real community can only be created out of inertia, not interests.
A fervent advocate of decentralization, A.L. Crego’s most powerful creative endeavor to date is the creation of “H3LIX” a pioneering GIF art gallery in the metaverse that encompasses 300 1/1 pieces, a custom contract, a virtual reality space, and web3 integration.
All 300 pieces housed within H3LIX are intrinsically decentralized, independent of any singular platform — H3LIX stands as its own entity, serving as the birthplace to his trademark technique characterized by animated, pulsating light and white pixels set against a contrasting black backdrop.
Crego’s commitment to decentralization extends to his creative methodology, which is centered on a cross-chain approach to various blockchains. To this regard, he argues that the true value of work resides in the work itself, not in the medium that carries it, merely functioning as a vehicle — an approach that aligns with his chain-agnostic philosophy.
“Language is the source of code. DNA the main blockchain”
We are all degenerative generative fragments of evolution, with DNA being the essential code. This prime ideology of A.L. Crego is encapsulated within the ‘Amniotic Culture’ series, specifically in “Code Error“—a triad of 1/1 pieces illustrating how coding errors can either present problems or facilitate the birth of new specimens.
In terms of tools, A.L. Crego predominantly employs Photoshop and After Effects: his creative process typically comprises the collection of images and videos from a multitude of sources, which he then deconstructs to produce unique digital “collages” in alignment with his artistic vision. However, at the heart, his creative process involves using the computer as a painter would use the brush, and not the other way around; a way to translate the images he carries inside — a means of interpretation.
Ultimately, words and music —Crego is also a drummer—serve as the cornerstones of his artistic output: every creation starts with a quote, followed by a format, aesthetic and style to fit it. A principle reflected within “Harmonics”, where the GIF is silent, yet through motion is able to generate a beat, melodies and rhythm.
In this case, the GIF is silent, however in other works A.L, Crego’s GIFS are harmoniously paired with music, with numerous creations featuring rich collaborations with Coio and his music, which complement the visuals.
In the same way Sacred Geometry is hidden in Nature, digital noise, which beholds the deepest component of the digital realm, beholds Geometry. As a result of the quest for ‘sacred geometry’ in digital noise the work “Hypnotic Machine 24” – part of “The hypnotic machines series” consisting of 51 pieces using frequency modulation and white pixels – reveals powerful ways to express and discover new facets of our reality.
A.L. Crego : The Artisan’s Craft in the Digital Tapestry
In the vein of a true artisan, A.L. Crego crafts each of his works with meticulous attention to detail; by combining a unique blend of light, motion, and form, he presents narratives and abstracts that serve as an embodiment of his profound philosophy—a mirror to his contemplation on community, decentralization, and the power of visual language.
His innovative approach has significantly contributed to the expansion and diversification of the digital and GIF art space. Through his work, Crego has redefined the perception of the GIF format, elevating it not only as a medium for creating and viewing art but also as a new paradigm for artistic thinking.
fakewhale
Founded in 2021, Fakewhale advocates the digital art market's evolution. Viewing NFT technology as a container for art, and leveraging the expansive scope of digital culture, Fakewhale strives to shape a new ecosystem in which art and technology become the starting point, rather than the final destination.
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