Welcome to the 5th Dimension — where Iconic Artists meet NFTs
Drops by Jahan Loh, SSUR, and a New York Aerosol Legend
Read on to learn about why we’re excited about NFTs and incredible artists Jahan Loh and Russ Karablin (SSUR). If you read to the end, you’ll discover the New York Aerosol Legend who’s making his NFT debut on our platform this week — and trust us, you won’t want to miss it. Or any of the other news we’ll be sharing this week…
NFTs: Disruptors and Enablers
Non-fungible tokens have caused a great commotion in the art world — and for good reason. For those who are unfamiliar or just getting started with NFTs, the slew of jargons, modes of entry, and speculative nature of crypto may feel daunting. Yet, exciting times await those who are willing to dive in head-first, demonstrated by or perhaps even spurred by the recent wave of NFT news dominating the headlines. Museums, galleries, collectors, and artists alike are increasingly turning their gaze towards NFTs and how this technology could be used to verify the authenticity of art and determine provenance. Even the exclusive and high-brow auction houses cannot resist the temptation to participate in what could be one of the most significant technological revolutions of not only the art industry, but also world history. And yet, the question on everyone’s mind is this: can crypto art replace the real thing?
The debate rages on, but for creators — artists, musicians, songwriters, DJs — apart from gaining access to game-changing benefits such as greater artistic autonomy and new monetization channels, NFTs have also provided a myriad of opportunities for them to experiment and engage with their audiences, simultaneously creating both deeper connections with existing fans and enabling a wider reach.
Here at 5D, or 5th Dimension, we strongly believe in this future of art and increasing access to art. Our team hails from notable projects in the cryptocurrency space, collectively bringing over 20 years of experience in founding, designing, building, and shipping crypto projects. We have seen, first hand, the incredible feats that can be achieved by a strong community of true believers. However, the focus of 5D is, and will remain, the artists and our art community.
We have been discerning in the artists and masterpieces that we invite to our platform — focusing on modern-day creators at the top of their game who believe in our vision and want to contribute to a new reality for future artists.
Enter 5D
5D’s vision is to bridge the digital and physical art worlds and to be at the forefront of digital art curation. We exhibit our strong curatorial focus on contemporary art by collaborating with prominent cultural figures on special projects while developing a sustainable digital space that complements the larger arts ecosystem. In our first two drops, we focused on artists with deep roots in the Asian and American street scenes, who have established themselves as true icons.
Making their crypto debuts this year on our platform are contemporary artists Jahan Loh and Ruslan Karablin (SSUR), who cite their move into NFTs as a way to work with different media and explore innovative methods to create digital art.
“I wanted to try something different, to see how I can breathe life into my characters beyond the canvas,” says Loh. He adds, “Going into NFTs has given me new insight into the future of art. Artists have more control with what they choose to sell and where, but finding a suitable platform is equally important. Curatorial direction, however, is something that is lacking on some of the major ones.”
Until 5D.co, that is.
Jahan Loh, Ruslan Karablin: two of many in a stellar line-up of artist drops
A key opinion leader of street culture, whose brand collaborations are known to smash sales records, Loh is best known as the inventor of Chinese wild style. His art is collected by institutions and celebrities around the world. The Singapore-based artist has been experimenting with new formats over the last five years but hasn’t, up until now, had the opportunity to test their viability. Working with 3D renderings, the three NFTs he dropped on 5D are an extension of his Spacemen series, which tells a cautionary tale about the future, time-warping, and interstellar travel.
Karablin, an artist and owner of cult label SSUR, was born in Ukraine and raised in Brooklyn, New York from the age of five. He is currently based in Los Angeles where he’s spent the last decade running his label and creating art. In his crypto debut, the artist pays tribute to late rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls with a hybrid bust of both, which examines the parallels between their careers, attitudes, and music. First conceived in 2014, the series, Eternally Bonded, is his expression of love and admiration for the two legends.
For both drops, NFTs are accompanied by a physical limited edition sculpture that owners will soon be able to redeem.
Our next drop…STASH
Heading the next drop on 5D is New York aerosol icon Josh Franklin who goes by the moniker Stash. The Brooklyn-based artist is a cult figure in the sneaker and street scene who counts Nike, A Bathing Ape, MEDICOM TOY, Neighborhood, and Casio as some of his many long-time collaborators. His works have been exhibited at and collected by MoMA, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. He is best recognized for his iconography, which includes spray nozzles, arrows, and splats often sprayed or scribbled in blue.
Franklin has exhibited with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Futura, among others, and was the first graffiti artist to go into streetwear in the ’90s. His releases are highly-prized, collected by the likes of Virgil Abloh, Kanye West, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Fraser Cooke and Nigo. In 2019, some of his pieces appeared in a Sotheby’s auction of Nigo’s collection.
Stash will release three NFTs: the first, a digital representation of his first sculpture, the immortalisation of his hand holding on to a Krylon spray can he used in 1986. Titled Southpaw, the work represents his identity as an artist and serves as a reminder of his roots in subway art.
The other two NFTs, titled Alter Ego, are versions of the Spray Cap Man he created for MEDICOM in 2000 that was released as a Kubrick, a rare collectible in the secondary toy market. This iconic character provides a mask of protection and separation for Stash as an artist from his work. Physical redemption will be made available for Southpaw.
Stash’s drop goes live on 5d.co on Friday at 10AM SGT | Thursday at 7PM PST / 10PM EST. Mark your calendars — this is a once-in-a-lifetime historical moment and opportunity to own an authentic Stash masterpiece.
You won’t want to miss this…
Big plans are underway to introduce exciting new features to our platform that include a boost in capabilities for community engagement, among others. We can’t say much about that quite yet, or some of the big names we have lined up for the rest of this year, but we promise it will be worth the wait.
Maybe we’ll share some news with you sooner that you think. Make sure to join us on Twitter and Discord for the latest updates this week!
