SKYE NICOLAS

ARTIST

Originally released in 1981, the Sony WM-2 epitomizes the hallmark of the Walkman product identity. With all its original accessories, printed ephemera, and packaging intact, Skye Nicolas elevates a historically exceptional technological specimen to a readymade that celebrates youth culture—its essence perfectly embedded in the work as it revisits the power of music and personal myths while reflecting on several generations’ emotional attachment to these once ubiquitous devices. Meta prose lifted from 1980’s and 1990’s era song lyrics is carefully engraved on a custom aluminum brass plate that is affixed to the surface of the device. Invoking the age-old practice of inscription, these poetic declarations recall the etching of esoteric text onto sacred objects and artifacts of spiritual importance. The conscious choice of employing non-corrosive alloys explores existential topics of permanence and humankind’s fascination with immortality.
The artist’s creation of a mixtape examines the ritualistic nature of the craft through performance. The specificity of carefully chosen songs annotates a galaxy of personal meaning colored by magical moments. The readymade’s anachronistic presence in a physical space is a viscerally heartfelt experience that draws upon the power of induced nostalgia. As a physical object, it is the direct complementary inverse and counterpart to what the artist refers to as dematerialized or cerebral readymades, as characterized in Nicolas’ definitive Walkman Series of digital NFT artworks.

ANGELS FALL LIKE RAIN [WM-2]

SKYE NICOLAS | THE INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY OF AI-CREATED ART

VOICE GEMS x Skye Nicolas

MORE FROM THIS ARTIST

Skye Nicolas speaks to Anika Meier about music and nostalgia, digital art and pop culture.

NOSTALGIA AND PIXEL PAINTINGS

SKYE NICOLAS: LIVING IN A SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Post-conceptual artist Skye Nicolas utilizes a variety of mediums, including large-format paintings, filmmaking, photography, public space interventions, sculpture, and digital artworks, to combine elegantly composed amalgamations of vivid imagery with familiarity and the skewing of timelines. His methodical reassignment of pop culture references demonstrates the intricate interweaving of important elements in his work, emphasizing concept and composition as the two most important basics. 

The artist reflects on the intellectual idea of conceptual art in the age of AI.

ESSAY BY SKYE NICOLAS

META PROSE AND THE INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY OF AI-CREATED ART

MAGAZINE

A NEW BEGINNING | GALLERY

What would Marshall McLuhan write today? Very likely text messages. The global village is now largely connected via messenger apps and social media. Life is closeness to strangers and friends, changing every second. Thoughts and feelings are shared as they are thought and lived. 

AN EXHIBITION OF MIXED MESSAGES

THE TEXT IS THE MESSAGE | GALLERY

EXHIBITION

In celebration of youth culture and coming-of-age tropes, "NO, DON'T DISAPPEAR [WM-2]" from Skye Nicolas' Walkman series elevates portable music devices such as the Sony Walkman as cerebral or dematerialized readymades: conceptual digital representations of physical objects contextualized as digital artifacts containing data.
The series typifies Nicolas<meta charset="utf-8">' pixel paintings in which remixed images are reduced to their essential structure, the outline. Graphic elements are streamlined into nebulous shimmering pixels that dance across the contrasting dark background of the digital canvas. Declarative statements glide across the screen (often lifted from 1980’s and 1990’s era song lyrics), serve as both internal dialogue and a crucial visual detail to complete the digital painting’s overall composition. The result of this process of reduction and layered storytelling is a visually poetic distillation in which the viewer finds themselves occupying; an intangible dreamscape atmosphere arousing an induced nostalgia that seduces and captivates the senses.
ABOUT THE NFT 
Collectors purchase the physical edition on EXPANDED.ART. The artist mints the NFT on Tezos and sends it via Airdrop to the collector’s wallet. 
ABOUT THE EDITION NUMBER
The editions are numbered randomly, i.e. the edition number is not chronologically assigned to the time of order receipt. All LIMITED EDITIONS are authenticated with a Certificate of Authenticity signed and numbered by the artist on the back of the print.

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