Since 2017, Coldie’s work has helped define the visual language of crypto art. A mixed-media artist with a sharp eye for cultural inflection points, Coldie blends historical commentary with financial critique, creating work that examines the shifting balance of power between blockchain technology and traditional institutions. Series like Decentral Eyes and Filthy Fiat function as timestamped records of a financial and technological transformation unfolding in front of us.

Now, Coldie’s new collection, Tech Epochalypse, a curated secondary collection of 250 1/1 still frames derived from his larger kinetic 3D portrait series is coming to OpenSea. The drop distills five tech power figures: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and Jensen Huang into dynamic compositions that challenge viewers to examine the systems shaping modern life. Each frame is pulled from the parent collection’s interactive, networked portraits, capturing a frozen moment from a constantly shifting digital work.

Coldie: My name is Coldie. I’m a stereoscopic artist who’s been creating a variety of works, physically and digitally, for the past 20 years. I found crypto art in 2017. Back then, there really wasn’t much of a community. The revolution was just getting started, especially with art. I wanted to do my part to spread the word about crypto, so I started minting my works on Rare Art Labs, which was before ERC-721s.

So I was very early on and just trying to spread the word about decentralization, anonymity, and all the different things that come with blockchain. Over the years, I’ve been doing art about culture, about finance, about the people affecting the world we live in, which ties into this Tech Epochalypse series.

OpenSea: You’re one of the earliest artists to define what crypto-native art could look like. When you think back to your earliest blockchain experiments, what core ideas have stayed consistent, and what has changed?

Coldie: Over time, my consistent take is that I react to the environment around me. With portraits, there are people doing certain things at certain times that affect the space, and I have to decide who belongs in a series.

I was at an Andy Warhol portrait exhibit, and it was fascinating who he chose to portray in a specific time and place. Some were Marilyn Monroe. Some were bankers. Some were random people. But the totality created the body of work.

I’ve always been thoughtful about the people moving the space forward positively, as well as people who don’t like crypto, like Warren Buffett. I’ve done multiple portraits of Warren Buffett because it’s educational. Someone can look at the portrait and say, “Is that Warren Buffett?” Yes. Then we can have a conversation about why he doesn’t like crypto. It starts education through art.

OpenSea: That’s interesting you bring up Warhol. He saw everyone as culturally interesting, not necessarily good or bad.

Coldie: Exactly.

OpenSea: Let’s talk about this project. It begins with a larger public collection on OpenSea, followed by the release of the Genesis kinetic 3D series. Why was it important for it to unfold in two phases? And then I’d love for you to show us the work.

Coldie: The series is called Tech Epochalypse, like epoch. Something that happens over a long period of time, a dynamic shift in reality.

For this series, I’m stepping outside crypto personas and looking at what I call the tech overlords. The people in front of or behind the camera affecting our lives. They’re controlling everything around us. Some of that is good. Some of it could be bad. That’s not up to me. But through art, I want to open that conversation.

You look at a portrait of Sam Altman or Jeff Bezos and think, it’s super convenient I can get my Amazon box in an hour and a half. But what’s the trade? There’s always a trade. 

It’s been fun to get outside the crypto-native crowd and look at culture from a higher lens.

There are two aspects to Tech Epochalypse. The Genesis Kinetic 3D Interactive Tokens feature five characters: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Jensen Huang. These are interactive versions of my artwork that you can manipulate in 3D. You can move pieces around and add “control layers” to the work to create a wide variety of expressions.

My mantra the past couple years has been: touch the art. The idea came from taking my son to galleries. He would want to touch the sculpture, feel the textures. I’d say, don’t touch the art. And I kept repeating that. It created negative feedback in my head. Why am I chastising curiosity? So I flipped the script. I want to say, touch the art. Move it. Experience it.

That drove my last two years of exploration with kinetic art, digitally manipulated art and magnetic physical art. It’s like ping pong between physical magnets and digital forms. I learn something physically and bring it digital. I learn something digitally and bring it back. It brings me joy. And if I’m not finding joy in art making, I’m not doing it right. I even made 3D magnetic versions that go on refrigerators. Collectors tell me their kids move the artwork every day. That brings joy to me.

OpenSea: You’re creating structure and then letting go of control. How do you think about that?

Coldie: Humans like frameworks. They need some rules. So I give face pieces and objects to move around. Then I step back.

It liberates people. A lot of people say they’re not creative. That makes me sad. Everyone is creative. They just need permission. These artworks are networked art creations. When you change the configuration, we’re not locking the state. It’s temporary. You can come back in a week and have a new creative thought.

It’s like those watercolor meditation boards. You draw with water, and it evaporates. There’s beauty in temporary action. No judgment. It disappears when you’re done. It’s almost Buddhist. 

There’s also the still-frame portion of the release that will be released on OpenSea.

I created a curated set of cropped frames from the series. Each of the five characters will have 50 frames. That’s 250 total. These are static pieces. I went through thousands of configurations to choose the ones I like.

It’s a networked community drop. You mint and get a live reveal. It’s randomized. You might get Elon. You might get Zuckerberg. You get a piece of the collection. On top of that, of the 250 still frames, there will be three winners. It’s like a Willy Wonka selection. You mint, enjoy the piece, but you might get lucky.

I love the chance of opportunity. It’s going to be someone’s lucky day. I feel joy even saying that. Art should be accessible. I started with a lot of one-of-ones, which is great, but it cuts out so many people. This is inviting people in.

OpenSea: As technology evolves, what do you hope becomes possible for artists?

Coldie: Technology used to move yearly. Now it moves daily. The barrier to creative manifestation is almost gone.

I love dabbling in new tools. This project is code and AI-based from an idea that lived in my head for a long time. I thought, why not make it with code and AI? AI is very much a “yes, and” environment instead of “no, but.” It creates rabbit holes I love exploring.

I also love releasing in serial progression. The interactive tokens are ERC-7160 by Transient Labs, which means I can add versions later. That frees me. I don’t have to finish the final step now. I can release, invite people in, and evolve it over time. It lets me explore without being stuck in the work being finalized. Life is always evolving, and I treat this project the same way. I look forward to seeing what happens when others touch the art and what it is we can create together.

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