“This is an era of experimentation.”
Getting Rekt is Art
“We’re entering a new period of art,” believes OSF (Ovie Faruq in IRL), the man behind the iconic rektguy project. “Everyone talks about the digital renaissance. And that’s like a meme, but I think it is true. We have all these new things entering the world as art, such as digital art, AI, and animated art. These are things that the traditional art market simply doesn’t know how to value – and we’re now doing that and deciding what’s important and what’s not. This is an era of experimentation.”
OSF shares that the rektguy project is art-first. “2022 was a terrible year for NFTs, and rektguy commemorates that. The culture and narrative around rektguy have become a symbol of the NFT and crypto spaces – it has transcended the divide to become its own creation.”
The power of doodling – from which rektguy was created – has led to an international movement and cultural statement. Bored at work one day as a trader for a prestigious bank, OSF doodled a guy holding a drink and wearing a hoodie. “This skulls and hoodie guy was translucent; they’re kind of dead and have no soul. I felt like that while immersed in the finance industry and corporate life.”
Without a name for the character, OSF knew he could make a collection from the art. However, he didn’t create the rektguy to make money – he wanted to be a free man for the people who supported the art.
When he completed his collection and wanted to release it, the timing was auspicious: the crypto and NFT markets crashed. The name rektguy was perfect: it gave this grand narrative to a story and was purely coincidental.
XCOPY heavily influenced his style and motivation. “He is a massive inspiration for me,” says OSF. “I was lucky enough to collect some of his early stuff. His style, using his glitch animation, colors, and themes, are all huge influences for me. I told him that if he never created art, if he never existed, I don’t think I would ever have done it.”
OSF isn’t sitting back. He’s collaborating with other NFT stars, such as Alien Queen, working alongside IRL best friend Mando, and started Degenz and Canary Labs.
Watch this space.
