INSILIO: Inner Sanctuary Exhibition at NFT Paris
INSILIO: Inner Sanctuary is a beautiful exhibition of new works by A.L. Crego, Cem Hasimi, Spøgelsesmaskinen and Yudho. Curated by Sutan for the Cyberforms booth at NFT Paris, this exhibition brought together these four influential artists working on the Tezos blockchain, each with their own important take on Digital Art and culture. The artists ‘light the way’ with confidence, to echo the words of curator Sutan. Their works each individually show us a path that together form a map of possibilities, four approaches to animating with light, a core value of Digital Art.
Spøgelsesmaskinen's animated works 'CAGE #1', 'CAGE #2', 'CASE', and 'CAVE'
The Animated GIF is a wild and wonderful file format enabling us to do so many different kinds of Digital Art. Artists who create Animated GIFs all approach their creations very differently while working with the same constraints. Since 1990, when the GIF89a specification became publicly available, we have had the ability to make ‘moving images’ online. These are the Internets first ‘films,’ online years before we could stream or easily share video. To ‘animate’ literally means to ‘bring to life.’ We bring to life new artistic energies, born from now-classic-technologies!
A.L. Crego’s works “The Fifth Wall” at the Cyberforms booth
A. L. Crego’s new work for the exhibition is a series entitled “The fifth wall” which is fittingly hypnotic. Watching each ‘fifth wall’ seamlessly loop, we see luminous landscapes, layers of movement that build the world inside the frame. Light beams and wave-particles. We follow figures walking along the foreground in perfect loops. Their ‘walk cycles’ seemingly go on forever. They are on a journey but held in place, on-screen, framed by thick grey borders that recall ancient HTML < border > codes.
Spøgelsesmaskinen's new animated GIFs 'CAGE', 'CASE', and 'CAVE' exist inside square screens and signature style grids. Organic flows move through each artwork in shapes like liquid or the way that 3D space itself is rendered. Trompe-l'œil optical illusions (which Spøgelsesmaskinen masters) make these square containers more like windows or open boxes filled by ghostly animations. Each infinite loop reveals its own captivating details that seem to change impossibly on every repetition.
Yudho’s works (left) 'Voidbloom' and 'Godsignal' at the Cyberforms booth. Image credit: @oohgaga_
Yudho's most recent monochrome Animated GIFs 'Voidbloom', 'Godsignal', and 'Husk//Halo' combine high-contrast iconic figures and references made cosmic. From the focus on precise pixelation in 'Voidbloom' to the carefully balanced details and negative space of 'Godsignal' Yudho controls the movement of light to create cyberpsychedelic forms. 'Husk//Halo' pushes this inner-outer high-contrast further into a 'space' where the stars are inside us and we are outside swirling in the dark of outer-space.
CHAOS & ORDER - CHAOS (left), CHAOS & ORDER - ORDER (right) by Cem Hasimi. Image credit: @oohgaga_
Cemhah creates and codes Digital Art and physical light sculptures. The relationship between physical and digital is especially vibrant here because the flow, like electricity, transmits ideas. Cemhah’s Digital Art shapes the physical. Alternatingly (like the AC [Alternating current] electricity from the grid that powers them) this influence also flows directly (like DC [Direct Current]) from the analog world to Digital Art. His new works in the exhibition, “Chaos & Order” exemplify these two states. Co-existing, constantly shifting between one another, and inspiring the Art, from on-screen to on-site, and back again.
Cyberforms booth at NFT Paris 2025. Video by @atomicute
Brought together by Sutan’s curatorial concept, the INSILIO exhibition is wonderfully poetic and philosophical. Sutan leads us deep into an interior world where every pixel is a particle of light that can transform us and shape realities. Like Stan Brakhage (the experimental filmmaker who helped define Film Art) said: every frame is an important artwork. The artists in this exhibition explore each loop and pixel this way, carefully crafting perfect loops and working with each pixel to powerfully express themselves. They animate and bring to life every light, creating in each element an inner light that they share with us.