Feel the Bite
Media: Animation, Digital art, Oil on canvas
Year: 2021
Collection: MAN VS MACHINE
Size (H x W): 140cm x 140cm (4 ft 7 ins x 4 ft 7 ins)
Size (W x H): 1920 x 1920 pixels
The pen is mightier than the sword is an old adage implying that the written word is more effective than violence in bringing about change. Ice Cube reworks and updates this belief by declaring that his lyrics are more powerful than any weapon he could hold; transforming the meaning further so now the pen is his rifle, and his words are the bullets.
The composition of the painting was created with AI to incorporate the tangible qualities of Cube’s hand written lyrics and the pens with which he wrote on the paper in front of him. Choosing the songs ‘Dead Homies’ and ‘No Vaseline’ to send to Trevor, these two compositions lay the foundations of the oil painting and provide the tone for the portrait. Cube’s ‘weapons of choice’, the pens and his words, become not just his form and body but also the world that surrounds him, the one he’s built, and which has defined his journey.
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Variations
Feel the Bite: Bronze Edition
Media: Animation, Digital art
Year: 2021
Collection: MAN VS MACHINE
‘Fuck their own world up with the shit I say’
With a greater potential than any bullet the written word’s range exceeds that of anything constructed from brass or lead. The bullet is fleeting and momentary, an ephemeral explosive reaction, in contrast the written word transcends time itself remaining long after the pull of any trigger.
Feel the Bite: Silver Edition
Media: Animation, Digital art
Year: 2021
Collection: MAN VS MACHINE
‘It’s a shark in the water, do you feel the bite’
Although not capable of causing destruction like a gun, the written word is still capable of causing physical change, social and political upheavals, uprisings and revolutions. Words may not possess the corporeal qualities of a bullet, but their repercussions can be felt just as effectively.
Feel the Bite: Gold Edition
Media: Animation, Digital art
Year: 2021
Collection: MAN VS MACHINE
‘See my pen is mightier than my AK, and my enemies won’t have a good day’
Ice Cube speaks about not just the ‘weapons’ at his disposal but his own choices and personal journey. He speaks as much of the choices we all make in life and the consequences of those choices as he does of the triumph of the pen over the weapon.
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