DON DIABLO: GΞNΞSIS

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Currently voted the world’s #6 DJ, few may be aware that Dutch visionary Don Diablo actually began his illustrious career as a film director and video editor, creating his first video at the tender age of twelve. His first record release followed the year after and whilst some may say the rest was history for the prodigal producer, to focus solely on his albeit vast musical achievements would be to do a major disservice to the creative genius that is Don Schipper.

Don: For my GΞNΞSIS (1 of 1) piece I wanted to create something very special. This NFT is a magical combination of three elements: a never before heard song, an animation and it comes with a hand-built hologram cabinet + cartridge to display the art in a truly unique way in your living room. I started working on this particular song at the beginning of my career and have continued working on it every single year from that moment. I must have spent over 250 hours in total on the song and never found the right purpose or timing to share it with the world, up until now. The animation of the hologram synthesizer is based on the very first keyboard I bought as a kid, to make things truly full circle. The idea for the hexagon hologram cabinet (HEXAGRAM) and the cartridge derives from my love for both Star Wars as well as old school Nintendo gaming consoles. My GΞNΞSIS piece is nostalgia mixed with my vision for the future of digital art.  

Having immersed himself in the world of art from a young age, it was only natural that Don would become engrossed in the digital art movement – something that embodies the futuristic vision that has become his career aesthetic. For many years now, Don has been collaborating on all levels with (visual) artists across the globe, most notably to create art for his shows, music videos and socials. NFT pioneer Beeple recently included their collaborative digital art piece in his record breaking “Everydays” collage. Don, who was named after Don Van Vliet a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, has also recently launched his own HEXAGON comic book series together with Impact Theory’s Tom Bilyeu, collaborated with Disney & Star Wars on an exclusive capsule collection and most recently built an immersive life size art piece for his hometown Amsterdam which will be unveiled later this year. 

Always one to transcend creative boundaries, as the world becomes more and more reliant on streams – be it music, films or tv shows – Don became preoccupied with the idea of streaming art. An untapped concept, Don began visualizing and creating his own hologram cabinets that would allow the owner to stream art via a unique cartridge, working on the model in tandem with his crypto-art debut. Having worked on the development of his HEXAGRAM cabinets over the last two years – some eagle-eyed fans will have already spotted a prototype of the cabinet in footage from his home – Don is now finally ready to unveil his brain child, selling his first non-fungible token with a physical cartridge that will contain a digital art piece, reminiscent of the 80s video game cartridges of his youth. Once in possession of the hand-crafted hologram cabinet, which will be sent after buying the NFT, the collector will be able to slot the acquired cartridge into the cabinet to display their one-of-a-kind NFT. Once the cartridge is removed, the cabinet will power down and remain empty. And yes, it comes with built-in sound and possibly a few easter eggs for the future. Combining his NFT debut with his hologram concept, Don is set to form a hybrid between the crypto and physical art in his own unique way. 

Whilst his GΞNΞSIS piece may be a solo effort, Don is set to further his collaborative projects, having already planned a huge drop coming up soon with world-renowned artists Studio Drift – watch this space.