Mystical Unicorn

Jonathan Monaghan: The video games I was playing at the time appeared to be relatively accessible in terms of creating games like these myself or producing content for them. This accessibility was exciting and influenced me to start working with 3D modeling and animation. I found these creative tools immensely powerful for what I call "capital-free" image making, which means I could create moving imagery on my own without a production studio or budget.

JM: My works, I believe, have matured and refined over time. It’s funny though; I've been using the same 3D software since I was 16 years old!

JM: Although my work appears to be fantastical and otherworldly, much of my imagery is a mix of elements from modern consumer culture and digital technology, which I fuse with ancient myths and symbols.

JM: My work offers an opportunity to reflect on our relationship to technology and the natural world. As someone who works with digital technology, I try to offer critical perspectives on the digital age. The relationship between technology and the natural world is a discordant one, and I try to explore this discordance in all my work.

JM: It's true that artists have been at the forefront of so many influential media technologies. As soon as all those technological advances such as the printing press, photography, video, or blockchain emerged, artists were right there to show the world what was possible. Artists are essential to the story of each of these technologies.

JM: Contemporary society tends to think of the current epoch as inherently distinct, as if digital technology somehow distinguishes us. In some ways, that's true, but I find substantial narratives from history to draw from.

I draw my inspiration from reimagining everything from Faberge eggs to specific historical paintings. In my practice, I often begin by researching ancient myths and imagining new ways to tell these ancient stories. I weave these together with wide-ranging references to science fiction, baroque architecture, and historical artworks. The result is a cross-disciplinary yet connected body of work offering critical reflections on the technological landscape from which they come.

JM: My computer-animated video installations construct dreamlike narratives that allude to the dehumanizing effects of technology and consumerism. I draw from a wide range of sources, including ancient mythologies, commercial architecture, and corporate logos, to imagine a mythical world where the boundaries between the natural and man-made are subverted in fantastical and sometimes humorous ways. The imagery and themes in my video installations also inform the rest of my multidisciplinary body of work, reappearing in my prints and sculptures, among other mediums. My works appropriate the sleek, computer-generated techniques and aesthetics found in video games, advertisements, and real estate renderings. These elements provide my audience with a familiar framework, while my critical reflections on the digital landscape also elicit deep-seated anxieties about the future.

JM: While physical video installation is the primary aspect of my art practice, I also work with digital fabrication techniques such as 3D printing and computer-controlled milling to produce sculptures in a variety of materials, such as plastic, marble, and gold. I begin creating these works in the same computer software as my animations, with imagery, themes, and forms appearing across the physical and virtual spaces. As these works straddle borders, I aim to engage in the growing disconnect between what's real and what's mediated. These works are experimental, challenging new technologies to produce forms impossible with traditional sculptural methods. This has led me to exhibit in a diverse range of venues, from outdoor sculpture exhibitions to major film festivals, in addition to galleries and museums.

JM: When I was doing an artist residency in Berlin in 2013, I met a programmer who was very aware of new blockchain technology, Trent McConaghy. One evening over dinner, he introduced me to the concept of using a blockchain as a distributed ledger to secure digital artwork. This concept fascinated me because I felt art collectors and even institutions were still wary about acquiring digitally native artworks, and this provided a more secure way to track provenance and authenticate my works. We did a lot of experimentation using the bitcoin blockchain to create what were essentially proto-NFTs and some of the first, if not the first, digital artworks to be secured on a blockchain. It was pretty incredible to see this concept develop into what it is today.

JM: I’d like to answer with an example: My most recent video installation, Move the Way You Want, has been acquired by The Phillips Collection as part of its permanent collection in Washington, D.C. The digitally-native artwork is the museum’s first art object acquired with NFT registration. I created the eight-minute video artwork alongside an immersive, site-specific dreamscape in response to The Phillips Collection’s ongoing Intersections series, which invites artists to produce a work that engages the museum’s permanent collection. I’m certain that digital art continues to have a more prominent role in the contemporary art scene.