KKryptowave, the Artist Explains…
The Origins of Krypto Tiki
The tribal art of Polynesia and Africa has always exerted an important influence on modern art. Picasso and Gauguin were just a few artists that incorporated the influence of primitive masks and tiki images into their work. In the 50’s and 60’s this imagery infiltrated Middle America in the form of tiki-bars and the kitsch culture of Southern California. Later in the 90’s it was ironically regurgitated in the underground pop or lowbrow art movement.
As an artist, I was already a Tiki enthusiast, when a client who is an eccentric inventor and botanist returned from a trip to Southeast Asia with a magical powder that had boner-producing properties. Intending to bring the magic powder to market, he contracted me to design the packaging. It was called Man Of Wood, "wood" of course, being a euphemism for an erection. For reference, he supplied an intriguing photo of an ancient carved wooden Tiki Man with a knowing grin.
I proceeded to do some pencil sketches (see photo) and created a smiling, mischievous character with a head shaped like a phallus. Eventually the client abandoned the project and stiffed me on the artwork. However, the character that I had created had a mysterious effect on me that was both mystical and hypnotic. I found myself compelled to keep working on it and thus began a decades-long obsession with the Tiki character.
In the spirit of early mash-up culture, I began an exploration into the juxtaposition of primal symbols with pop culture. Mixing primitivism, Nordic ruins, hieroglyphics, and graphic emojis with images of Marilyn Manson, Jenna Jameson, The Beatles, KISS, Brittany Spears, etc., my Tiki obsession became a study of the primal hypnosis of mass media. The Tiki character surrounded by sexy pin-up girls also continues a long tradition of presenting the male principal with the feminine goddess, the two complementary forces- yin and yang– that make up all aspects and phenomena of life.
I made some high quality prints of the Tiki Man mash-ups and started selling them on eBay. It turned out that there was an audience and I received orders from all over the world. People were responding to the primal effect of this enigmatic Fertility God. I made thousands of dollars on the prints until I actually got a little burned-out expediting all the orders.
Enter the NFT revolution….
After having success with my previous NFT project, Lords of Acid Kryptoverse, I decided to re-examine the Tiki character in terms of the generative art aspect of NFT collecting. I determined it was PERFECT. It has the slightly subversive appeal of the Boss Cats, the shit-eating grin of the ZombieChains, the tribal quality of the various Bored, Mutant, et al Apes, and it is a Floating Head. Not only that, it has the blank-canvas quality that is conducive to pimping-out with all the various accoutrements that we know and love.
So now the plan is to unleash 10,000 unique variations of the mysterious Tiki man on the Blockchain and The World and let’s see where this goes.
-KKryptowave 2022
The Krypto Tiki Team
KKryptowave —aka: Krypto Karl, aka: Karl Kotas Artistic Director of Krypto Tiki
Huth Solo —aka: John Huthmaker of Digital Syndicate, Chief Technologist, The King of Cardano