‘Apple Could Never Make Anything as Shitty as the Things I Make:’ Artist Tom Sachs
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Published 2022-03-23
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You might want to turn to the Rocket Factory, "a trans-dimensional manufacturing plant" created by artist Tom Sachs, in which you can build and own a personalized rocket in both the physical and virtual world. The project is one of the most inventive uses of NFTs, a groundbreaking technology that makes digital items one-of-a-kind by giving them a unique code that can't be duplicated or forged. It stands at the intersection of cryptocurrency, the metaverse, and persistent human longing for the new frontier. You create a unique rocket online that gets minted as an NFT, he builds a meatspace replica and launches it, and you decide what happens next to the art.
Sachs' ongoing project makes use of the new form of digital commons called the blockchain, which is the shared public database that make it possible to prove that you and you alone own an NFT; of the metaverse, or the 3D virtual world where some believe a great deal of human interaction will soon be migrating; and of our persistent longing for a new frontier, all of which are characteristics of what is often referred to as web3—the next phase in the evolution of the internet.
Sachs is an internationally recognized artist and sculptor best known for making painstakingly realistic reproductions of familiar objects that exist in the real world. One of his most acclaimed projects, for instance, included creating a scale replica of Le Corbusier's modernist housing project The Radiant City out of foamcore. Other memorable pieces include creating a full-scale model of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki and, in a nod to Andy Warhol, a series of shipping boxes for household items such as Kellogg's corn flakes, Brillo pads, and Heinz ketchup. Long obsessed with space flight, he has created three different "Space Program" installations, each of which represents what it means to fly to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
Reason's Nick Gillespie spoke with Sachs in his studio in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood to talk about the role of psychedelics in his creative process, how the internet has radically flattened and improved the relationship between artist and audience, and why his meticulously handcrafted NFT rockets can be just as exciting, innovative, and inspiring as the ones made by Bezos, Musk, and Branson.
All Comments (21)
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This has got to be one of the most idiotic business ventures I've ever seen. I bet it will make millions of dollars
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"NFTs" Immediately stops watching
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...or I can buy an Estes kit, build a way bigger rocket for a fraction of the cost and put decals on it for whatever brand I want. ...oh, and I'll have the sense of accomplishment knowing I built the rocket.
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I remember in the 70s when a guy in Los Gatos packaged an ordinary rock in a pet carrier looking box labelled "pet rock". He got rich. Of course everyone knew it was a gag.
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NFT's more like No F***ing Thanks
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Can we just get some more Remy, please?
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I saw his space exposition at Site Santa Fe i 2017. Whimsical, Detailed, Serious. Incredible. Love his work.
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Says he doesn't make art for collectors, and then the program immediately goes into his NFT COLLECTION, to be COLLECTED by....... COLLECTORS.
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I've never seen anyone so excited to be interviewed by Reason
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I made one of those in 8th grade. Painted it too. Didn't do anything as moronic as an NFT tho.
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5:42 *holds up 4 fingers *realises *hmm, I better go whole hand with this before they ask me if I'm on something
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The opportunity to separate fools from their money will never end.
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"Immediately change the channel and do something else." Okay.
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I still don't get the purpose of NFTs. Never have I had a piece of art on my wall and thought I need a collectable digital version of this.
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Ah, the great NFT ponzi scheme. Web3 is a bubble.
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My cousin lived on a farm and we would order Estes rocket parts from the comic book back page and fire them in a field.
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Dude this guy is just selling model rockets and selling them. Convince me i’m wrong
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Now we know where Casey got the phrase "Ideas are cheap, execution is everything"
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Really? Nfts? Bruh, you're a scammer
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PT Barnum allegedly said "There is a sucker born every minute." This guy is obviously after every one of them. Perhaps the worst video ever on Reason!
