Don’t put Ed Balloon in a box.
Never lending himself well to labels, the multidisciplinary artist explores his idiosyncratic creative vision through the lenses of music, film and stop-motion animation with projects like Run Ed. Now it’s time to add generative art to the list.
His new project, Beauty Supply Is Out of Du-Rags, released this week on the newly launched Prohibition platform, explores the complex cultural legacy of black hairstyles through algorithmic code. Billed as “the first on-chain generative art project featuring braids and locs,” the collection represents a deeply personal and cathartic moment of expression based on Balloon’s own experiences.
“The du-rag is a way to hide, but you don’t have one, so you have to show and accept the world as you are,” he explains. “That’s the statement I’m making.”
In a conversational nft now podcast interview, Ed Balloon delves into his vision for the project, the state of NFTs in music, and the importance of uplifting artists of color.
Matt Medved: You are a multidisciplinary maker who thinks in terms of moving image, art and music. How have NFTs changed the creative canvas for you?
Ed Balloon: It has given me so much more flexibility. I think outside of Web3 you’re like artists like, okay, do a video, do a song and cover art – it’s very linear. When I came to Web3 I was like no. It enabled me to see it as a place where I can create, be honest and disrupt. I never really looked into making that kind of thing when it came to music until I came to this space. Having conversations and just watching other people create allowed me to visually “maybe I’d like to take advantage of that.”
I’ve always wanted to make sure people in the Web3 space knew I was a musician and artist. People didn’t really know. They knew about the pop and they knew about the visual stop-motion thing, but they didn’t know I was a musician too, even though I’d say, “Hey, I’m a musician, but I’m doing this too, right?” So I felt like I had to do something.
To end the “Fuck Around And Find Out” day… I decided to drop my genesis on superare. it’s a music nft that pays homage to black hair. This piece is also inspired by the legend @yatreda who was one of the first artists in the space to beautifully illuminate African hair con pic.twitter.com/4llag7Xp0X
— Ed Ballon.eth (@Ed_Balloon) January 3, 2023
As a musician yourself, what do you think of the state of Web3 music? What do you think it takes to take this ecosystem to the next level?
It’s weird because I feel like it’s out there and it always gets rejected. IRL concerts, ticket sales – easy. But it’s about making sure people understand what’s happening in the culture. For me, I came into music thinking that a bunch of us would disrupt what we knew, what we saw, what we thought we knew, the patterns and things like that.
Coming into Web3, I see the difficulties of people who don’t really understand music as an entity and need to learn that. It’s something where I thought, ‘How do I find ways to have conversations and just be like you like music? Dope. Do you like visual arts? Cool. We may also have to combine it sometimes.”
Maybe that’s a way to get those who are here to understand that you’re getting a collectible, but also see it as something like fine art. Music, as far as I know, has not even been seen as something that is fine art. So I feel like even being in Web3 gives us the flexibility to not just be this one thing.
Gm if you haven’t hit yet – pieces are still available
Here https://t.co/0szK6BGHF5
If you get a piece in the collection, you also get the chance to claim a vinyl for FREE
Let’s Get It 🔥
115- one of my favorite outputs to date pic.twitter.com/16KZPbdCWm
— Ed Ballon.eth (@Ed_Balloon) July 21, 2023
Tell us the vision behind your latest reclamation project.
It will be one of the first projects that will actually show box braids and locomotives on the chain.
I had done a drop on SuperRare called, Trap Balls on a Loc Tree. It was a piece of music and I used my locs, and I manipulated it in a way that it looked like a tree branch and I had these balls on it, and it was really cool. I loved it. I had a few people ask me questions about that. It was in a way that there was a disconnection. That triggered me. But I really didn’t want to talk about it.
I’m afraid to talk about it because I’m not sure how it will be viewed. As a black artist, it’s always a really hard thin line between what you can talk about and what you can’t. I was scared, and I wasn’t quite sure why. But I did know about these conversations, I noticed I was a little bit triggered.
“As a black artist, it’s always a really tough thin line between what you can talk about and what you can’t talk about.”
Ed balloon
It often takes me back to the times when I was growing up when people would say, “Hey, you have to shave your hair, or you can’t have your locs, or you can’t get that job, or you can’t do this, you’re not going to be able to do that.” What I found so strange was that hearing these things brought me back to that place of these conversations in this ecosystem. We have PFPs of animals wearing durags and I’m like, “Oh, didn’t we know that durags are actually here for hair protection?” There is a disconnect there.
So with this project I thought, “How am I supposed to talk about this?” I said, “We’re going to code box braids and locs and we’re going to put these bad guys on the blockchain.” My goal is to make sure we showcase the beauty of our hair, the art that goes through it, the process and time. Sometimes when we get our hair done, it hurts. People don’t understand that. I want to show the colors, but also how you feel dope and fresh when it’s done. It is these beautiful things that I tried to bring to life through this project. This is art for us too. We love the designs we make with it. We love how they sway in the wind. This is us and accept us for us.
Oh dear!! the ED RUN COLLECTION IS GOING OUT!! Oh my God ! Welcome new members to the fam!!! FYI: 50 percent of secondary sales go toward buying art from underrepresented artists in the space!
— Ed Ballon.eth (@Ed_Balloon) July 29, 2022
What is the mission of the Ed Balloon Generational Wealth Fund?
I really want to be able to be in a position where I can buy art from artists of color, especially black artists in this space, because unfortunately it’s still very difficult for artists of color to sell their art. So I [decided] I need to find a way where I can have this fund to support that.
I felt like this was a way to also set an example for other projects that want to include this, because I didn’t see that. It’s something I’m still in favor of and try to do as much as I can with it. I also still try to give as much visibility as possible to the artists we collect with my platform.
“A lot of platforms don’t know how to move around in this space right now.”
Ed Balloon
What is your spicy taste on the NFT space?
Maybe it’s not that snappy, but I still think a lot of platforms don’t know how to move in this space right now. They do things that have already been done, thinking it will help them. But that only traps them, because space is always changing. If you are not able to have your own vision, then you will not be able to move with this space. My goal is to help, but I feel like a lot of times they don’t try to go to artists, which is weird because we are the voices of reason and we have a lot of the vision.
This interview transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
For the full and uncut interview, listen to our podcast episode with Ed Balloon.