Tezos

Immortal Longings

Creator

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Description

XCOLLABZ x VON DOYLE x DAVID CHEIFETZ x CYNTHIA SAN LUIS x RAFAEL SPIF PROCESS: ▪ 1st stage Digital painting by Rafael Spif ▪ 2nd stage Digital painting by David Cheifetz ▪ AI and neural network transformation by Von Doyle ▪ Animation and sound by Von Doyle ▪ Performance by Cynthia San Luis ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ by William Shakespeare Act 5, Scene 2 Give me my robe. Put on my crown. I have Immortal longings in me. Now no more The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip. Methinks I hear Antony call. I see him rouse himself To praise my noble act. I hear him mock The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men To excuse their after wrath. —Husband, I come! Now to that name my courage prove my title. I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life. —So, have you done? Have I the aspic in my lips? If thou and nature can so gently part, The stroke of death is as a lover's pinch, Which hurts and is desired. Dost thou lie still? Come, thou mortal wretch, With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate Of life at once untie. Poor venomous fool, Be angry and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak, That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass Unpolicied! Peace, peace! Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, That sucks the nurse asleep? As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle— O Antony! ARTISTs WORDS - "Cynthia had this amazing idea about re-interpreting the death of Cleopatra and creating this insane collaborative piece where we would see her before and after the poison entered her skin. When I saw the incredible paintings that David and Rafael did together, I knew this was going to be special so I really pushed myself and started experimenting with new techniques to animate different strings of neural networks together and the result is simply sublime. A two minutes venture into that critical moment in history supported by the breathtaking performance by Cynthia. This is a perfect example of how artists and machines can create together to capture a moment in time and see it from a new perspective." - Von Doyle "Von has summed it up perfectly. I will add that it was a huge privilege for me to participate in this collaboration. I loved being a middle link in the creative chain. It was easy to be inspired by Cynthia’s passion for the subject matter and Rafael’s iconic and beautiful face for Cleopatra. This piece allowed me to stretch my limits with digital painting—to more fully adapt/translate my oil painting skills for this new medium, and to focus more on visual storytelling. It was incredible to see Von bring the imagery to life, skilfully altered in grotesque and beautiful ways, and perfectly animated. And Cynthia’s truly brilliant performance, well-honed from playing Cleopatra on stage. What more can I say—this is a special collaboration and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished." - David Cheifetz “Cleopatra was a complex, passionate woman - one of Shakespeare’s most iconic leading ladies, and has been portrayed by some of the greatest actresses of all time. It was a thrilling challenge playing the Queen of Egypt, a major benchmark in my actor’s journey and an experience I will treasure forever. To revisit Cleopatra - and in a such a unique way with this piece - is a most beautiful gift. I was flabbergasted when XCOLLABZ asked if I would like to join in on a venture with Rafael, David and Von — and immediately said yes! I was intimidated coming in, but these sensational artists were extremely welcoming from the start. It’s been a truly collaborative experience. Thank you.” — Cynthia San Luis "I was kind of nervous about creating the first part of this art. I've already had the honour of working in collab with Von and David, it made me grow as an artist because I love their work and now working with Cynthia I fell in love with her work and talent and I confess that I didn't know how big this work would be, I'm very happy with the result, I couldn't have done it alone. Immortal Longings is the most impactful work I have ever created/participated in" - Rafael Spif