Projects
![]()
No projects found
Investors
New
DAO Treasuries
DATs
Lend / Borrow APRs
Chains
Categories
Spaces
Moments of the Unknown - 164
Recorded: Sept. 18, 2025 Duration: 1:04:31Space Recording
Short Summary
In a vibrant discussion, artists Joey and Kia explore the launch of their innovative video project, highlighting strategic partnerships and funding opportunities that are shaping the future of crypto art. They delve into the growth of their audience and the trends in technology integration, showcasing how they are leveraging blockchain to enhance their artistic expression.
Full Transcription
what's up fam?
Good morning.
How are you Joey and Kia?
I'm good.
Uh-oh.
Hey, we're doing this from the same room.
I think we might have to...
One should mute...
Yeah, you can stay here.
Let me go to the other.
Ouch.
Sorry to separate you guys.
I'm really glad that you're here.
No problem.
How's your day going?
It's going well.
What about yours?
Well, I'm walking around the city, so hopefully it's not going to be too loud.
But I'm so grateful to have both of you here today.
It's a very special day.
Your video is so beautiful of your whole family.
I hope you like it.
Oh, my God.
I love it.
I'm obsessed
it might be one of the clearest
videos in the whole project
honestly
I'm very thankful
Darul is now
almost two years
and two months
he was born July
18 so when you
come he was like two months.
This is very special, now I see it back.
Isn't it crazy how much time has passed and yet it feels so current and like two years
have passed and your child has grown.
I want to talk to you more about like your thoughts on how time and and
your perspective when you see things like this video and you watch your child grow up like what
does that make you feel like as a mom and a dad um I knew even when you come I knew it will be
something special because the project takes um it's going to take like one for a year.
You will be going around and filming in Ethiopia, you were telling us.
So by the time this comes, I know it will be special.
So yeah, when I see it, I just don't believe like how small he is.
Because now if you try to do this, he will be running around.
You can't even catch him.
So it's just very cool.
How about you, Joey?
Yeah, I'm just very fortunate that he is growing up around artists and museums. We have this video and photo of him at a Caravaggio exhibition at Toledo
Museum of Art, and he's around the same age, I believe. And he's just like crawling on the floor
and there's these famous paintings behind him. And it was when the museum was closed and we were
just in there doing our thing. So there was no other people there.
And when I look at what you captured of us, it's very special because we don't even live in that
place anymore. And all the objects and things that you see in there will just never be recreated in
that way again. And I think I also want to say that I really like to see it in the mix of all the other people that you've captured because, you know, I'm not sure exactly what kind of film camera you have, but stylistically, like seeing it cohesive and united across everything and being one day in moments of the unknown, it feels really special because when you came, we didn't know what it would look like. And
obviously we trust you and we know that it'll be a banger for sure. But seeing it in context
to all the other moments that you captured, I think is really special too.
Thank you, Joey. And you know, it's ironic about what you said about, you know, your
child growing up with art and artists and running around Caravaggios.
This whole week that's coming up in New York is all art-based, all artists.
So in the context of the stream of consciousness of the movie, that's also shining through because New York is filled with art.
And I actually wanted to ask you guys, did you also grow up like that, being surrounded by art and I actually wanted to ask you guys did you also grow up like that being
surrounded by art and paintings or is this something new to you that you're able to gift
to your child that you might not have had or in this way? The way I grew up is our house was in front of Ethiopian Orthodox Church. So I was able to watch when we do theater.
But other than that, I didn't have a chance to meet an artist.
Even we didn't have television.
So until I was like almost teenager, I didn't even, I was not exposed like that.
So for that all it's very very special
because uh literally when we have even in new york and toledo he we take him around everyone
knows him so he like he has a photo with everyone with sam with amli like where like you don't know how lucky you are but yeah Joey can answer your
experience too yes uh growing up my dad did a different kind of art which is um maybe not
directly an art but definitely still what I would consider an art and he's an antique dealer.
So he takes old things from the past, like vintage Coca-Cola machines, neon signs, gas pumps,
and he restores them to working order again.
And I suppose it's not photography or video or anything like that,
but it is an attention um, attention to detail
and a care for old things that I grew up with.
So when you look at one of my father's, uh, restorations, like you look at the screws
and he'll like line up all the points going the same way.
Just, it's like a very, very, uh, a strong attention to details that no one would really know or care about.
And then if you go a little bit further, my grandmother was also an antique dealer.
So it's not exactly like growing up around painting or photography, but I think just
both Ki and I grew up, like she mentioned, the little theater outside of her house. Like local theater is a kind of art and you grow up not knowing that
these things are art, but later on in life you discover that, oh yeah, that was actually maybe
the most purest form of art possible. So I want to ask you both questions of, you know, how you both got into art, how you,
how you found each other, how the art continues to flourish together as you're both, you know,
videographers and photographers and use lens-based art to, to, you know, express yourself. So
either, you know, Joey, like we met like almost a decade ago.
I wrote a little bit about it in the video diary.
And we, our first meeting was at Sean and Cass's house.
And I'm, you know, and they're surrounded by so many amazing talents and people,
both in psychedelics and like art and directing.
And when I first met you, I was like, man, this guy has this shit together.
He's like one of the top photographers in the world, if not the top doing all these campaigns. And
I really looked up to you at that point where I was like, wow, this guy is so inspiring
as a photographer. It's like maybe one day, you know, I'd love to be where this guy is at.
And it's just funny, you know, just meeting you then and working together when when you got started nfts
it just makes me feel so happy that we became friends and kind of like a full circle moment
so i'd love to hear more about your background and getting into photography and you know all
the work you've done and also kia how how you how you came into video and all your beautiful work that i really admire and maybe talk a little
bit about the adam image i collected because it's one of the most angelic pieces i've ever seen and
collected and i'm so grateful to have it um i actually have a tattoo of like a fire sword on
on my arm as like Archangel Michael. So I kind of look at Adam like he's our Archangel Michael
my arm as like archangel michael so i kind of look at adam like he's our archangel michael
cutting the cords of attachment, cleansing all the demons. So I know this is a few questions,
but I just want to hear your side of things. Yeah, I'll, I'll go first and then I'll let
Kia explain her own story. But mine is, um, I never went to college or university. I've always done photography in some shape or form.
And I suppose the story stretches as far back as when I was like seven years old.
I used to take photos of my toy dinosaurs.
And then when I was a teenager, I used to go on tour with bands and things like that.
I'm from a small town in Canada.
And when I started to have my own money, because we don't come from much means, I actually
just used that money to travel and to do my own personal fine art portraiture work.
And it is more like photojournalistic style but it took me to places like Ethiopia
when I was 18 years old. I was just like kind of like a naive backpacker and I suppose you know
my work has been balancing commissioned work like commercial commercial work for clients, but trying to apply my own fine art style
and also keep my own passionate work going
while still working for others.
And fast forward to meeting you, Justin, at that time,
I also greatly looked up to Sean as a director
for the audience.
Who doesn't know? he's the guy who made the Gathering of the Juggalos documentary. And one of the things that I think that connected all of
us, Justin, is that Sean had these like very eccentric subjects, but he never looked down
on them. He always loved them. And, uh, when you
watch Sean's film, even like there's a famous one called Florida man. And, um, he just like,
he just like really respects these people and he lets them talk like stream of consciousness.
And these are people that you'd probably never go up to and talk to. So I, what connected us,
Justin is Sean, but I always just loved his approach.
And I have to say, to connect all the dots here, the film you saw, the Toledo Museum of Art, was very much inspired by Sean's style and approach,
which is to really dignify the people that you're training your camera on give them a lot of space and a lot of
distance to make it more intimate just let them be themselves and uh that's i suppose the overview
of my photography and filmmaking now but always approaching it from a from a documentarian perspective. Can I ask a quick question before we go to Kia?
Yeah.
How do you feel like you can get your subjects to open up?
Is it spending more time with them?
Is it being vulnerable with them?
How do you, you know, you shared some really powerful moments
that felt like, how is the camera even there?
I feel like I'm just looking into this person's life.
Like Red Beard's moment with his daughter
was probably the most, to me,
the most touching part about that whole movie.
It really touched deep in my heart,
like what we were seeing.
And how are you even there?
My question for you is,
how did you get these people to open up so comfortably?
And not just this movie,
but in all your projects where you're
traveling with the kurdish or in thailand with the farmers you know where's that how do you bring the
magic for getting people to allow you to give you permission to see them like this yeah thank thank
you so much um well if you if you kind like go back, all of those projects came to be
out of a true passion or curiosity and respect for these kinds of people. Like you mentioned
the Kurdish fighters, like if I'm there doing that, doing that photo project, it is not because
I am a conflict photographer who is, you know, floating between different conflicts and not
able to, like, immerse myself in so many different things. It's because, like, I chose that specific
window of the world to be there out of love and passion. And so, like, when I am there, there's
nothing inauthentic about it. It's just I'm there because, like, I want to actually and passion. And so like when I am there, there's nothing inauthentic about it.
It's just, I'm there because like,
I want to actually do that.
And it's something that I'm actually interested
in photographing.
So what you experienced with the most recent project
with the film about Sam,
it also includes, you know, my family members,
like even Kia as a subject in it.
When she left her observation on the masquerade, she became a part of it.
And Sam has been a friend of mine for 15 years.
Banny, I'm very, very close to, and I got closer to him in this film.
I don't want to give away too many details about the film,
because we're going to have future screenings in the future.
But to your question about choosing subject matters is like,
there is, and getting people to open up to you, it's just all this stuff comes from a very real
place. So when I'm there explaining what we're doing, it's because I'm not like a gotcha
journalist, like, oh, now I'm going to interview someone who hates Sam's work, right? It's because it's taken from
a very personal lens of, I really respect this person. I love this craft. And I'm going to
explore it from this very, very personal lens that happens to come from me. And I think when
you put that energy out into the world with people that you photograph or film,
then they become collaborators with you on the project instead of just becoming subjects.
I get, I get agree there. I think it's like this trust that's built. And sometimes even in the
moment, just by energy, authenticity, it's like, to what you said, it's like, we're not muckrackers
trying to stir up the shit
we're you know in a in a sense you're the chief of propaganda but i can see there's more truth
than that than trying to find a story that you know circumvents what you're trying to show or
achieve but you're just being with them being present i think that being present seeing them who they are and in their truth is is kind of like the icebreaker
yeah it's i'm i am a soldier in your militia and we're making our own our own movie um about us
and i don't mean that in the war context i just mean that in the like to propagate uh context
of like we're in this together, there is another kind of like NFT
documentary that's floating around. That's like a little bit more geared toward the general public.
And that film has to interview people who thinks like NFTs are stupid. Right. And that's, I think
that's valid for that kind of film, but it's, it's not really the film that I'm interested in making, right? It's
like everything, even if you look at some of the past projects that I've done, photo projects that
have a short documentary that goes along with it to give greater context, it is very much in the
same style as the Sam documentary, where it's like, you can hear my voice behind the camera and I'm asking questions. It is like a very first person perspective. And the documentary
that was shown in Toledo, I think reminds me more of that style, which is like, that comes from a,
honestly, like a tutorial or behind the scenes style, which is to say,'s like it's a little bit more like you're looking over the shoulder
of the person instead of them being this subject that is forced upon you, if that makes sense.
Well, I was going to ask and then and then we'll go to Kia.
What did you learn about yourself while going through this journey with with sam and everyone
in the film and making this film and doing something different than you might be normally
you know the way you shoot the way you're you know in the fields what were some of your challenges
what were some of your lessons what were and and how you grew um well it was really difficult
and a lot of people trusted me with this despite i've i've
never made a feature length uh documentary before so for me it was um something that was like very
very a new thing for me which was exciting but also incredibly challenging i mean there was a
lot of like what did i learn about myself yes there was like a lot of technical data management
because we're shooting 8k footage and we had to like, build all these new systems to preserve it
is stretching over a really, really long period of time, which is different as well. So I think
like for myself is, I just I kind of got very tired of my own style of photography, which is stylistically cohesive, but it does get redundant after a while.
And I wanted to kind of see feedback of others for sure because you know
filmmaking is a lot different than just being a solo photographer despite our crew size was like
tiny but also what it taught me was just trust my gut instinct because I had pushed back on a lot
of directions that people wanted to go with this film that I did not think was correct. And it's not like,
it's not about fighting or anything like that. But it is kind of like having a large enough
belief in yourself or ego, let's say, to be like, No, I actually think that I'm right. I'm the one
that's like, ultimately going to have to edit this and and do this. So just believe in what,
this and do this. So just believe in what your plan was from the beginning. It's easy to do that
on a photo shoot because if you mess something up, you can go back and fix it later. But on a film,
when real live events are actually happening, you really have to go like, you have to ask yourself,
okay, what was the original plan that I came up with when everything was very calm?
was the original plan that I came up with when everything was very calm? And should I still
stick to that exact plan and follow through with it? So you got to really like believe in your
initial idea of these things, even when there's so many forces around you that want to pull you
or bend you to this, that, or the other thing. Thank you, Joey.
Kia, let's hear from you.
I'd love to hear about your background and art and how you met Joey
and how you guys became a power couple
and video and photography working together
and all the beautiful work you make
and very innovative styles of video portraits and photography and
you know all the all the amazing stuff you guys do it and you build your own tools you know just
tell us more about yourself um my i would say my art um my art journey started um
Our journey started from my dad.
I grew up in Ethiopian countryside.
As I said earlier, my dad used to, he loved reading books.
I remember we had radio.
The only thing that he entertained us was listening radio drama and talk about that.
And I grew up in, there's Orthodox Church in front of us.
We go there, it's like, that's like most of the time we spend there.
We sing, we learn, we do theater.
And when we come back, we will like write scripts that hoping our what we what
we wrote will be played and in the church theater but um i always see myself out of like the little
small town and be an artist not specifically like in one medium just just I just want to be with artists I always
I always crave something bigger than the place the small town I was in and when I was 18 I moved to
the our capital city Addis Ababa And I joined a modeling school, photography school, acting, everything that can introduce
me to artists, anything. And I was working as a model, and my brother one day got me a camera.
He got a camera for my cousin's graduation and he just handed it to me.
He didn't ask me.
We didn't have a conversation.
It's just like by accident.
He just got it for my cousin's graduation.
And I take a photo
it's just like
it's just
to take it around
and just to photograph for the
memory purpose it's not like okay
it's going to change my life
I didn't even
think about
to get here and all that together.
I met Joey and I worked with him for his book, Ethiopian book, Ethiopian book by Joey Lawrence.
And I worked with him. I learned a lot of things. And that's how it started.
I'm so curious to, you know, when that switch for you was from like you know shooting
memory to shooting with that intention with the people that are around you the family the friends
the craftsmen like how you how you develop that style that's so poetic that's so beautiful um the
black and white style um and when that shift happened for you? So when I take the camera running around,
like most when we have the, when I go, when I do modeling,
it's like just to keep the memory.
My sister will be around.
She will photograph me.
It's just the memory purpose.
But the way how everything changed is when I work with Joey,
I helped him assisting for his book.
When we go, like we travel all around Ethiopia,
I learn a lot of things.
That photography can be something simple.
I feel like what I learned from Joey is he makes it more simple.
He developed himself.
He grew as an artist using different equipment, different cameras.
When I met him, when I work with him,
he's more consistent. He just uses sunrise, sunset,
best light,
just simple. So that
makes me
love, that makes me
learn this
can't get as simple as it is.
how changes um uh i was watching a movie about gandhi i was i was sitting
with joey i remember in ethiopia i was telling him i wish um i was in the like in the industry
in the art in the arts i always do something but I just see myself that the that person like
that makes art like just to be there just local not like gonna skip in like internationally or
something so I would tell Joey do you see this movie I wish like Hollywood come to Ethiopia and do something because like do you know like the Adwa, Adwa is
Ethiopian, Adwa is Ethiopian war between Italy that that's like makes Ethiopia an ever colonized
country which is the most strong word that I said. They should come and make it like it's like it will be a big movie.
So that's kind of like the big base conversation I had.
Like that's I would say that's the starting point.
And fast forward, I realized Hollywood is someone with some vision that they do.
They work hard and they they they work hard to make their vision comes.
And that's how the movie comes.
And that's how we see it.
And about Ethiopia, about my country, my culture, history,
I'm the one who has to do something.
So that's the first starting point that comes and minted as um nft so that's how i i uh that's how i came here
which which was the first project you minted it was ethiopian kingdom one is the queen of shiba
and adua warriors which is the movie that i want to make back then and I'm working right now which is my future so
it's the same topic that I touched in a different time so the picture the video becomes a there's a
bigger story a deeper meaning more more that you want to capture more that you want to create
so these these are kind of like blueprints in a way of where you're heading,
where your mind's at.
Yes.
And what is the general story you're trying to convey
throughout all these works?
The story is Ethiopia, anyone who looks like me
has a strong background very winning background like all all you see is just like
all all i see is when i see uh like black person i would just see what always struggling always
uh like so many things happen in this but the side of ethiopia the way I see it is it's not like that. The way I see it is like it's the side of the winner.
We are the side of the winner.
So that's my point.
The whole thing is just instead of remembering that what happened, the victimization,
what happened the victimization it's but it's it's it's wise to show something that we have
never seen before that's the other point can you tell us a little bit about more about that
like what is victory what is winning uh is this in regards to italy's uh colonialism and like
taking taking power back?
What do you mean by that?
Okay, what I mean by that is Ethiopia is a never colonized country.
When you think about that, it's very...
No one even knows an African country that has never been colonized.
So for me, it's a PowerPoint.
But if you watch a movie, there's no one.
I don't think there's a movie that can show you the colonizer come to the country
and defeated
they come to Ethiopia once
two times to colonize the country
like other parts of
Africa, other parts of the
world but Ethiopia never
colonized because they defeated
them
they fought them
so this story needs to be told like you you are the part
of like the winning part should be told so my my point is who is who's that person who's like who
who am i expecting to tell this story while i'm here so that that's the first thing that, that's the first artwork that I minted in the
behind the scenes. I talk about Ethiopian history and we can't, we never been colonized. This is
the point I want to make and how Ethiopia is related to the Salamonic dynasty because of
Queen of Sheba. So that's the main starting point that I mended and it went viral.
So that's how my journey began as Web3.
And I started taking it more seriously and to get here.
You are the one, Pia.
You have this opportunity. You are the one, Pia. You have this opportunity.
You have the vision, amazing vision.
I want to learn more about how you develop the style to do these short video portraits,
what that means to you, how that looks, why not photography, and how you integrated video
and photography.
I really love that style and you really
mastered it both you guys yeah um and and and we'll walk us through strong hair and then walk
us because because the rig you built for that you and joey i want to hear from joey's side too and
how that came about and walk through basically all your projects because your work is like deserves to be highlighted to the max here
yes so when i when we started it was um black and white motion portrait it's um
it's because it's like the queen of shabazz story was uh it's it's uh 100 like 1000 years before
uh before the Christ.
Everything, like all the story that, and the Adwa, it happened 1896.
So we decided to make it black and white because it can define time. And when you see it, it's something nostalgic.
And I'm working with Joey.
He's a master of photography.
He helped with all the technical things.
But everything started from the idea that I have, the vision that I have.
So he helped with all the technical side.
And then the second one is Ethiopian dance, which I like to do the most.
And when anyone sees the dance, that's very universal.
It's very contagious.
And then the strong hair, we make the 360 photo rig.
And the 60, the rig capture all the different hairstyle.
I didn't have an access or anything.
Like now the knowledge I have having Amazon on my phone,
when I do the strong hair,
I didn't know what Amazon can do or anything.
So now looking at, thinking about it,
it's more cuter.
So I built this 360 photograph
because you couldn't find anything in Ethiopia.
Yeah, and everything, every different story
is just what's in front of me, what I have, Ethiopian history, dance, what I like to do the most, hair.
It's like what I do every day.
Even Joey said he had like 5% of my mind is about your hair.
5% of his mind is just me talking about here so it's uh
part of um it's part of every day's uh conversation so everything i started i do
i it's just somehow it's connected with me can i ask you? Yes. You said you grew up across the street from the Catholic
Church. Do you know the story of Samson and the hair? Yes, yes, yes. Orthodox Church. I grew up
Orthodox Church. European Orthodox Church. European Christian Orthodox Church, not Catholic.
So does the story of Samson resonate with you for strong hair in a way? And also, I want to learn more about why you chose the 360 degrees of the portrait.
So when I go to the beauty salon, I like to capture my hairstyle because I can't show them for next like for next time so I like to
I like to have like I always wish to have like I can't see my hair in 360 so I would
do um next time I will get the same hair hair that's the main starting point but when we couldn't find the 360, we decided to make it from collaborating with the metal worker.
And the platform can, when you see, and then it will make them cohesive.
them cohesive and when you put them in one platform different 100 motion portraits
And when you put them in one platform, different 100 motion portraits,
you put them in one place and it makes them define that makes it like one one thing and if
you want to add joey you can say something too quickly quickly before joey hops in and i definitely
want to hear from his point of view. I see our good friend Wap Shop
APs in the audience, and it just makes me think of that other metal piece with the snake that
you rigged and you cracking open celery for the sound. And I definitely want to go there next and
highlight that piece and that whole series. Joey, if you want to add any thoughts about Strong Hair,
I definitely want to understand your point of view and the rig and the video style.
And even time, like how did you know how much time, especially your portraits,
like how do you know how much time you want to shoot the person,
whether it's like 30 seconds to two minutes?
How do you decide what that right amount of time is for the video photo?
amount of time is for for the video photo yeah so when i when when i shoot i i just uh i just
keep rolling and i decided that when i make a selection i just make like if i find a genuine
motion like looking at back looking at the camera and back if I get that I can uh that's and then that's how I know
when I do it I just keep rolling like it could be for 15 20 minutes and then when the edit that's
where I decided and it's not like um like specific religious thing that okay this one has to be one
minute this one has to be uh I would it's it to be, it was something that I wasn't paying attention.
It's just, like, it depends on the project.
The strong hair goes one minute, the other side in the second.
Joey, what are your thoughts about here before we move on to the project with Adam
and the rhino and the snake?
Yeah, I love strong hair as a series
because a lot of people who didn't grow up in Ethiopia,
like Kia, they don't realize that all those hairstyles
are from different regions.
So when you see the hundred of them together all spinning,
I think it makes like a really powerful,
nice message about unity in the country
because there's over 80 ethno-linguistic groups in Ethiopia.
I remember talking about that with you, Justin,
about the Ethiopia book.
But when I see them all together on one page,
I'm just very struck by the curation of different people of who was included in that. And I know like for us, right, not growing up with this stuff, they just look like hairstyles.
But for Ethiopian people, it's kind of like, wow, that person's from Afar, that person's from the south, that person's from the east.
So I think that's my favorite part about that that project
well said yeah that that is an important part it's like each region there's a
hundred of these pictures videos yeah there was 100 motion portraits. So is it 100 different regions or how many regions?
Yeah, we traveled all around Ethiopia. So we have more than 86 ethnic groups, but some
ethnic group has, in one ethnic group has differentles. So that can count as well. And I'm sure I didn't cover all of like
different ethnic groups that mentioned as 86.
So, but it's 100 motion portraits.
So before we go back to Joey about his Ethiopia work,
we kind of skipped over, you know,
the two projects he has with the portraits and the environmental portraits, the still lives. I of skipped over, you know, the two projects he has with the portraits
and the environmental portraits and the still lives.
I really want to, you know, give Joey some love
about his, you know, two projects
and all your projects also in the NFC space
because we kind of didn't talk about any of that.
But before we do, Kia,
would you like to talk a little bit more about,
you know, Adam?
I'd love to hear more about the
symbolism what your intentions were as an owner of the piece i really would love to hear it uh and
also the snake since we have ap in here and that whole series and that mythological uh connection
and i love mythology and and what kind of ethiopian lore there is that you're integrating as well as like it feels like Catholicism,
Christianity that's mixed. So what is the Christianity that we all know and then what
is like the native Ethiopian mythologies that we might not know and how are you either bringing
them together or showing them in your vision? Adam and Eve
in Ethiopia
we call them Adam and Hewan
it's from the Genesis story
so most of the
story is similar
usually
in Ethiopia we tell
we have
like
something different
but this one is a Genesis story,
so I might not have a lot of difference than the Bible that you have,
but we have different names, Adam and Hewan.
And Adam was being born, the first artwork, Adam being born from the dust.
So we interpreted it as Ethiopian, the way I see it, the way I grew up.
So Adam and Huan, he was born, as I give birth to Davo, Adam was born from the dust.
So that's even the position he was sitting when we filmed that.
I was pregnant at the same time.
I was like five months pregnant when we do this.
And it was very special.
The way he sits reminds me of the way Dao was sitting.
And Kirubel, the Garden of Eden, everything.
We use different questions.
We had like artistic challenge
because like what shall we do with the hair,
what shall we do with their outfit
and how shall we film it by not exposing so much things
because I wanted to be conservative,
but we have to tell a story before they have closes.
So that's it.
For AP, hi.
And the snake is made out of metal um so when we shot this it was in kenya
i collaborated with the kenyan designer kebu abraham so we hire different um we worked with
different uh metal workers to find like the right snake so that we had the first one test, it didn't work.
And this one was different metal,
like cut it in the shape that you see in the video.
And there is a plastic tube inside of it
and then on top they attached
the metal and
tied the snake
to the
stick and then
in the background Kev was
putting it up, putting it down
putting it up, putting it down and another person
the tail
doing the same thing so that was the tail doing the same thing. So that was the story.
And the same guy made the wing that you have the Kirubail's wing.
So when you see this, like something metal, something fur,
so it's like authentic so that that's it
that's the story i would love to hear a little bit from joey about uh this work and then go to joey
and all the pieces you've dropped the nfc space let's show some love to joey his amazing photography
some of his collections um yeah what was what you know having seen all this
through and evolving all these different projects with kia and you being a part of it too you know
i want to hear from your side a little bit um and then before we do you know at the end of this call
whether it's in 15 or 20 or 30 minutes however long you want to keep going i'd love to hear what's what we should expect what's what how we could support you both um yeah yeah for me i i think my favorite artwork
from the adam and haywan series is the one with the rhinoceros because um in real life there's
actually just one rhino and um the reason why the cast uh could get so close to the rhino is because he's uh half blind
and he's in a kind of like a petting zoo enclosure where you could like feed him carrots and he's
very friendly but um there's only one so the way that that was accomplished was it's literally just
the same rhino but on both sides and then um stitched and like duplicated over in like a very kind of old
school way of filmmaking like everything uh kia and kevo does is like totally handmade and i love
the craftiness of that and in the same form the rhino is just literally he's on one side of the
cast and then there's a split frame down the center and then it's duplicated on the
other side so it's like a really really like jason and the argonaut style uh effect and i just love
that it's all kind of done more or less in camera and of course all that's like before the explosion
of ai and mid-journey and all these things um so i just really appreciate that kind of like handmade aspect to all of this.
I have had the privilege of like working on major sets with like, you know, hundreds of people.
And oftentimes when you're working on those kind of like major sets, you don't really think about like the kind of like crafty handmade solutions to things because you're just, quite frankly, too spoiled.
I like that Kevo is a puppeteer.
He's got the thing rigged on sticks and string and ropes.
And it's just like all of that kind of thing just kind of feeds back into the art.
back in into the art. So in some cases, like the best thing that I can do with those is just kind
of like stay out of the way and offer solutions to it. As for me in the in the future, I'm I'm
really looking forward to pulling the thread on what I made with Sam's documentary. Obviously,
me and Kia are married. so like our our rule is
and our relationship is is like anything that she needs from me i will i will give her and contribute
and there's no task that's above or below me whether it's like you know like sweeping the set
or helping with lighting and and in the same way I think if you looked at the credits of the Sam Spratt
documentary, Justin, you'll see that the secondary camera for that was Kia. So she'll do the same
for me when we need a two camera setup. So I think just like, I like this vibe of like keeping it all
in the family, right? Like it's a documentary about my best friend, the subject matters are my wife and just kind of this, this very like family oriented artwork that is looks, I think,
very, very different because our backgrounds are very, very different. But, you know, keep,
keep moving forward in this world and try to stay away as much as possible from other kind of commissioned or commercial
work that I'm not ashamed of, but would kind of like pull me out of all of this magic that's
happening.
So, so more video work from you with, with Sam and other, other projects in the works as well
that you're thinking about or have been thinking about
outside of the family work you're doing
or you're mainly focused there for a while?
Yeah, well, doing this film with Sam
was just an explosion of creativity for me
and new challenges.
So I'm not saying there would be like more of
that specifically but just like in the same way that all of this has you know pushed me forward
and out of what i used to do the same thing could be said about uh kia's vision and the purity of
that and just how i like i was afraid to even make nfts at the starting of all of this I was afraid to like how
would I mint my work how would I do this and I'm grateful that the very first place I minted it was
with you Justin on Quantum season one but like I think I think the like the understanding here is
or like what I learned in all of this is just to not to hold on to to all this past baggage.
So Kia's projects, Sam's project,
they've just really helped liberate my thinking to more how I started my journey as a photographer.
I've always been quite free.
I've never been a staff or had to work for someone.
But I have been very, very chained to certain styles or certain things that I'm doing.
And just the reaction of the film and all of this has been really, really liberating for me.
So what I mean more is it's not more just doing the exact thing, but just having that freedom
to just go out there and be like, you know what, I think I'm just going to do this thing now.
go out there and be like, you know what? I think I'm just going to do this thing now.
I mean, I think that's the magical part about art is like how you, what you choose to your
subject is and how you feel and, you know, being stuck to the things. And I really love that you
said, you know, you're not letting the commercial shit get in the way and take you out of place.
And, you know, coming from someone who did so many commercial works that like we've all seen,
it might not even have known it was you, whether it's like a bank or whether it's coconut water it's like you
you you've you've got you've been there and like just for you to say that you know you're not
letting that get in the way i think is admirable and and you know you're focused on the art and
i'm curious to see how you you two with your new found love for your video style that you've shown us, is going to facilitate work with Kia and the projects you're doing in Ethiopia.
And that's kind of where I was going with it.
It's like how you'll be involved in your collaborations together going forward in the next series for Kia?
Okay.
So as a collaboration,
for far future,
I'm in the process of making
a future film,
which is, I think,
we're going to work together.
We will be, both of us will be co-directing it
and it's going to be about Adua
that I have said so many times almost in this space.
So all preparation is done.
I think that's going to be the big
coming for us together.
But in the meantime,
I have a few things
that
I have worked on, but I cannot
say anything right now.
Awesome. Is there anything
else you guys want to talk about or
that we might have missed or passed over? Because there's so want to talk about or might that we might have missed
or passed over because there's so much to talk about with you too um i'm okay but you can tell
us what's your future plan and thank you so much for um for capturing this but what's your future
plan if you tell us that, that would be really cool.
Future plan.
For what?
For life.
My life?
I mean, I'm going to do what I do every day and hang out with cool people like you.
Make art, both in photo and video and sculptures and paintings. And, you know, I just got my my studio which i'm sitting outside of right now
and excited to make these movie stills into ai paintings and hand paint them and then use ar to
show the video for example for example um i'm gonna make a because these are so grainy and i
used like literally like the most polaroid-y Super 8 camera you could find on the market.
Just converting that with AI to higher scale and higher definition and going to make hand-painted silkscreens with these puppies.
And then when the viewer sees it, I'm going to build an app
where you can hover your phone or go to a website
and hover your phone over the painting and you can see your video.
So for your painting, I'll be painting you guys, your your family and then you could hold the phone up in front of it and
it shows the video and you know the painting goes away and you could see the the real so i'm kind of
like playing with technology and also how integrating silk screen into it and you know
when we're in this field of nfts and, it's like, how do we do something new?
But also, how do we stay true to our vision without needing to come up with gimmicks or come up with any sort of way to be part of a technological boom?
But we do have these tools.
I'm curious to hear from you guys how you're thinking about what technology means and how you use it.
Or you just don you use it or or or you just just you don't use it
um but if there's more things to be said i just want to hear your thoughts on that first
um about uh ai i have not used it for anything yet but um i i love it. I appreciate it. Maybe in the future when I make the movie,
it's going to be in my language in Amharic.
So I hope by the time the movie is made,
I hope that can make them speak different language.
Anyone can choose any language they want.
So I'm looking forward to that.
So I love it. But I have never used it but that's how I see it and yeah it's very cool that you are
being committed that's a very big commitment showing up every day I just
want to say that too.
Bang, it's fun I literally wouldn't do this if I wasn't having
fun and I get to listen to stories of people I see every day. I think it's important to,
you know, get to know the people who are here and listen to stories that are being told. We
see their art every day and I want to go deeper into everyone who is here and shows up too.
Joey, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the technology that's being utilized today and shown.
Do you think it's necessary to learn those tools or stay true to the vision and expression
and to only integrate these things when it's authentic to the process?
Because you guys are working with puppets, you're working with metal,
but you're creating something so unique and beautiful do you ever think about how to make this more with technology
because that's really what resonates how to be innovative are you or you know what that's kind
of the question i'm trying to flush out here yeah well i mean i i think i'm i feel the same way
that kia feels which is like it's a it's a tool and I'm not afraid of these things.
And just because I like handmade things doesn't mean I couldn't use this.
So for myself specifically, I think that it gave me a lot more power in the creation of Sam's documentary because I did use little AI tools to
help clean up sound. And like, this might be boring, but I think you'd be interested in this,
Justin. When you work on a film of that magnitude, when you lock the edit, right,
you then sound mix it, and then you then color grade it, and then like the thing's locked,
it goes on to another person and
i was like i could give this to someone who's going to sound mix it but i feel like they're
not going to understand like what is actually out there to use so i was like cleaning up all the
sound and all the spoken dialogue using ai and just like mixing down background noise because
when i when i shot that stuff uh at most it was just a two
camera setup like we didn't even have an audio person and I know how to do audio like kind of
with with a lav mic but I gotta say like sometimes it's not it's not perfect so what did that do
exactly is it just like allowed me to be like know what, this edit is actually not locked because I know
what was done to every layer of this sound and visual. So this can be a different kind of
process where it's not like, I'm finished, now I hand it off to the next person.
It really gives you the power of 100 people. Even something as simple as doing subtitles, right? Again, another like
very boring process, but subtitles are actually extremely intimate and can ruin movies. So we
watch movies, me and Kia watch movies with subtitles because English is our second language.
And like when you're on Netflix and you're watching stand-up comedy special
And like when you're on Netflix and you're watching a standup comedy special,
subtitles can ruin a joke right because they're not they're not made with any grace or any care and they just blast on the screen and
when you watch
The documentary with Sam you'll see that like the subtitles kind of float and come on as thoughts are being revealed
float and come on as thoughts are being revealed so that is an ai scan of the dialogue and just
allowing me to like get the exact timing of the subtitle without having to do it all by hand so
that like when someone says something but they're thinking about what to say next their next thought
isn't just blaring on the screen for us to read it emerges with the subtitle and what i hope is
when you watched it like you don't really notice that that is happening but it is help contributing
to the storytelling so i i personally see like tools like that helping me have the power of a
hundred people on set versus just two people right me and kia um but But where I don't think it has a place is this is still,
at least from my own work, it's like documentary filmmaking. We would never want to change the
reality of like something that actually happened. And in that sense, I guess I'm still a purist
because there becomes a great dividing line between stuff that is handmade, stuff that was made before AI, or like real human moments versus this other new extension of creativity.
So I support this. I like this.
But I also want when people watch a documentary film to know that these were things that actually happened.
As it should. I mean, a lot of work went into building the shit um joey and kia i have
one question from someone in the audience who has posted on the the video chat that we're doing and
i and by all means i encourage anyone to type in what their questions are um so heart iheartjpegs
asked you asked you from from 20 minutes, does every region drink Tez?
Because he made brew in Tez and brought guest show home from Ethiopia.
So he was just wondering, does every region drink Tez?
Ethiopia has a very, very different ethnic group, like literally very, very different ethnic group Like literally very different ethnic group. So not all of them knows
That
few specific
Ethiopians drink that you make touch but they have their similar things
going on
There you have it.
Okay, Joey, Kia,
if you're down to close down, happy to.
If you have anything left to be said or asked,
I know it's loud now that there's an ambulance passing me.
Any closing thoughts, questions?
I guess I'll just say what I said to you at the museum, Justin.
It's so nice to see all of us still here, you know, after, I guess, many years now. All of us who still give a shit about this are still out here working very strong, still pushing forward with the realities that are in front of us.
And I'm just so grateful to you for including us in this project
and also future projects.
And we are truly the ones
that stuck around through all of this
because I think that we are just very passionate
about all of this stuff.
So what I said to you in the Beeple room
at the museum is like,
from Quantum season one,
I don't know how
many people are still around, but it is nice to see that we're still here and we're still
going to keep doing it into the future. And on my side, I just want to say that I love you,
Justin, and I love each one of you in this space. I'm here learning, creating, just growing as a person, as an artist.
It's because of you, because of your love and support.
And I just want to say that I love you.
Thank you so much.
We're grateful for you.
You guys are the powerhouse couple.
Really appreciate both of your work.
And I encourage everyone in this room to please look at Joey's amazing Ethiopian photographs.
And he has all her collections.
Yeah, these are two amazing artists, two amazing photographers.
These you guys should support.
I'm always here to support.
I love collecting both of your works and just excited to, you know, continue supporting.
And I guess I will add one final thought just for the room.
And just you asked earlier, Kia, what my future plans are.
Well, hopefully, you know, with what we do here with Motu 1, we can create Motu 2 and
go deeper into the lives of seven people from seven continents with 60mm.
And I'd love for you guys to represent Africa with Ethiopia,
and work together on something beautiful there.
So that's kind of like my manifestation for the room, for what's to come in a few years,
hopefully, if the divine alignment brings us to that place.
And I ended the project in Ethiopia.
So Ethiopia is a very special place to me and you,
Joey and Kia helped me honestly complete the project by connecting me to
Nibi and him bringing me to the first human.
And I want to just share here,
before we,
we get to that end point on April 7th that that I ended the film for Moments of the Unknown
with a pregnant mother holding her other son
in front of the bones of Lucy, the original homo sapien.
And I think this whole project,
this whole testament to what we're doing
is about how we honor the past of our ancestors,
how we honor ourselves in the our ancestors, how we honor ourselves
in the present and our, and our family and our friends who are with us and alive and
the future generations to come.
And without you guys, I wouldn't have made that beautiful symbolic piece.
So thank you for our friendship, for connecting me to, to more people.
And I think that's what this space is about is how we connect to each other, how we create
with each other and how we grow. So, so you really, you guys really bless me,
um, with, with the magic of Ethiopia and I hope to return and create something together.
Thank you so much. Have a beautiful day, everybody.
Have a beautiful day. Thank you all. See you tomorrow. See you. Bye.
