NFT Radar Presents – “THE INVASION OF”: An NFT Collaboration with Musician & Artistic Creator Gary Powell.
As a publication, we are truly honoured by the magnitude of this drop that we have been lucky enough to hear about. In the early 2000s the Libertines first two albums “Up the Bracket” (2002) and “The Libertines” (2004) were seldom off the top played on my iPod. When we were approached to present a feature on the Opensea drop, launching at 10 pm UTC (5 pm EST), 18th of June 2021, we jumped at the chance. Garry Powell has teamed up with New York visual artist Josh Klaw (to whom we must grant full credit for all the images contained within) and the heavy-weight Hollywood TV writer Jim Martin. ‘THE INVASION OF…’ is currently being developed as a graphic novel, with an animated feature to serve as companion pieces, to Powell’s debut solo album.
Powell et al’s first crypto drop will be a 1 of 1 living art collaboration, including animated visuals and a totally unique, unreleased demo of a track from his debut solo album. After purchase, the master version of the track will be erased, thus ensuring its provenance and value on-chain. Following this, Powell and his collaborators will go on to release three highly limited edition NFT GIFs, and three numbered digital prints. Due to Openseas superior metadata limits of 100 MB and market dominance, it was the obvious choice of platform, upon which to mint, thus giving the levels of assured scarcity and authenticity that blockchains have to offer.
Discounting the forerunners to EIPs ERC721 token standard. Namely Coloured Coins on the BTC chain and CryptoPunks “the first “Non-Fungible Token” on Ethereum and inspiration for the ERC-721 standard that powers most digital art and collectables”. The medium has only been in existence since early 2018. The opportunities with which the standard present us are only just starting to be realised. In the days of “The New Normal” where holding physical art exhibitions have become unfeasible. Due to restrictions on visitor numbers as well as the logistics of having to sterilise everything after contact. Paired with increasing disillusionment with US, UK and European central bank fiscal policy, investment diversification has inexorably moved towards cryptocurrency and ergo crypto art. It seems inevitable that artistic associations, on this level, will be on a pleasantly upward trajectory.
Garry Powell said of the fundamental concept behind ‘The INVASION OF…’: “There is no longer a libretto like brief to read at the back of an album to tell you what you have purchased or how the work was completed and by whom. There’s not even really the physical experience of playing your purchase as for the majority this has been digitised. I want to take the experience we once cherished and place it into a familiar framework that is the world we live in now so you can hold something whilst you listen and watch something that ties the whole experience together. “
Please find below a curriculum vitae an excerpt from the PR and community management companies press release, that I would be remiss were I not to include, as it demonstrates the gravity of cross-industry cooperation and highlights what a special offering this is
About Musician and Creator Gary Powell
Gary Powell is the creator of ‘THE INVASION OF…’, an inter-dimensional graphic novel and animated film, bridging time and space; set to music (Music and Lyrics by Gary Powell, novel co-written by Powell). Powell is a contributing writer for the New York magazine Ubikwist and has interviewed the likes of Ben Harper and photographer Anthony Barboza. He hosts his own radio show, DJs around the world, runs his own record label (25 Hour Convenience Store) and is an ambassador for the charity Restore the Music. He has toured with Dirty Pretty Things, The Specials and New York Dolls. He has released three albums with The Libertines – Up The Bracket (2002), The Libertines (2004) and Anthems For Doomed Youth (2015). Powell will be touring the UK with The Libertines in November and December. Instagram: @gdogg27 Twitter: @gdogg27
About Visual Artist Josh Klaw
Josh Klaw is the visual artist for ‘THE INVASION OF…’
Josh Klaw is a multidisciplinary visual artist and filmmaker. After graduating from the Cinema School at USC, he worked in music video and feature production before transitioning to commercial art and photography and as an artist, he trained under legendary animators Karl Gnass and Glenn Villppu, at The Animation Guild in Burbank, CA. After years working for start-ups, big brands, ad agencies and private clients in the multiverse of commercial illustration, storyboarding, cinematography, feature films, fashion photography and influencer content, Klaw is transiting the portal from analogue deliverables, migrating towards blockchain art and crypto culture. His work combines the mediums of fine art photography, digital VFX, animation, cinematography and good-old-hand drawn illustration to create unique pieces that could not have existed in another era. Previously, his work has been commissioned by Society 6, Athleta, National Geographic Channel, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Ecos, 3Doodler, Clorox, Temple Run, Dreamworks, Tillamook and Apple. Instagram: @JoshKlaw
About Writer Jim Martin
Jim Martin is the writer of ‘THE INVASION OF…’ graphic novel and animated film alongside creator Gary Powell.
He is a BAFTA award / BANFF award / Webby Award / PGA Award-winning Emerson College graduate, who has written for film, television and the Internet. Jim’s writing debut featured on NBC’s HEROES. Jim wrote and produced the HEROES web series and graphic novels, writing on Season 4 of the show (An episode he titled “LET IT BLEED”). After his run on HEROES, Jim co-wrote and co-produced a reboot of Leslie Charteris’ THE SAINT starring Adam Rayner and Eliza Dushku. Jim staffed as a writer on DISNEY XD’s international hit cartoon RANDY CUNNINGHAM: 9TH GRADE NINJA. He went on to staff on DISNEY’S BEST FRIENDS WHENEVER, being promoted to Story Editor in season two, before becoming Executive Story Editor on the first season of RAVEN’S HOME and then Co-Producer on the NETFLIX series MALIBU RESCUE. Between seasons of live-action TV, Jim has written episodes of myriad animated series including MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN, Bleacher Report’s CHAMPIONS series, Blizzard/Activision’s Netflix series SKYLANDERS ACADEMY, as well as Hasbro’s MY LITTLE PONY. Jim has also been nominated for an International Emmy and an NAACP award. Instagram: @BarelySarcasm Twitter: @BarelySarcasm
Website: www.theinvasionof.com
Instagram: THE INVASION OF (@gdogg1227)
What’s clear is the obvious…
The universe is infinite…
Be prepared for THE INVASION OF…
Intro written and prepared for publication by Benny Steele
