David Bianchi is a multi-hyphenate artist, actor, filmmaker, poet. As the creator of the art genre Spinema (spinning cinema through spoken word), he is the first to bring poetic cinema to the blockchain. His vision is to change the world through art utilizing NFTs. Every piece of his art focuses on socially conscious issues and a portion of all proceeds is donated to non-profit organizations that are working to change the issues his art represents. To invest in David’s work is to invest in art as activism.
As a multi-hyphenate artist, David’s work spans far beyond the NFT space. He is a celebrated actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and globally known spoken word poet. He holds over 100 professional film and television credits. He is a member of the prestigious Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the founder of Exertion Films.
David Bianchi burst onto the NFT scene with the release of the world’s first Award-Winning Spoken Word Film NFT. His genesis drop, “I Can’t Breathe” was a painfully honest look at being Black in America in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. In an unprecedented move, David donated 100% of the proceeds to the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, garnering the attention of some of the largest collectors in the space, as well as Forbes magazine.
Film is a collaborative effort, and it takes a village, that is the beautiful thing about my work there are so many souls that bless it before it arrives.
His most recent NFT drop was curated at the prestigous LA Art with Fabrik
Media 2021. As the creator of a new art genre Spinema™ (spinning cinema through spoken word), his vision is to change the world through poetic-cinematic experiences utilizing the blockchain.
Spinema is an amalgamation of all cinematic languages and poetry to birth a completely new art genre.
His second NFT drop, a film called “You Can’t Hear Me”, focused on injustice in America and premiered Cannes film festival where it garnered the praise and bids from some of the crypto art spaces’ most elite collectors. The film was co-written and produced by Bianchi, directed by Emmy nominee Christopher Folkens and starred Bianchi, alongside Grammy-winner Malcolm-Jamal Warner and celebrated poet Chris Wood.
I hope that I can leave a legacy of artistic work that affects social change and make the world a better place.
Bianchi’s follow up a series called “The Modern-Day Minstrel” uncovers the dark and racist history of blackface Minstrel Shows, a national art form for over 100 years and the largest theater movement in US History. The series explores the ways in which this theatrical tradition degraded Black people and contributed, if not created, much of the inequality we see in the international entertainment industry today. This series not only incorporated the use of spoken word within each portrait, but also included the transferring of the intellectual property rights of the written word to the owner of each NFT.
Art should challenge our consciousness and elevate society so it can be remembered for years and generations to come.
My goals are to use the blockchain to affect continual social change and raise the bar on what crypto-art can be. I want to leave a collection of works that will be celebrated for generations
As a passionate activist and artist for social change, Bianchi has vowed to donate a portion of all proceeds from his NFT’s to non-profit organizations which seek to address the issues he speaks of in the real world. To invest in Bianchi’s work is to invest in art as activism meant to change the world.
BREAK THE BARS
Sara’s ten-year-old eyes base their reality on the view of the neighborhood through the
Bars on her window.
Like the bars on her father’s window,
Only his are surrounded by concrete.
And it’s been never since their eyes did meet.
Break The Bars is David Bianchi’s third Spinema™ film on the blockchain. It was inspired by Bianchi’s early days in Hollywood when he lived in the Sunset and Gower district, and would wake up to his own barred windows and fenced community. One day he took notice to some children playing by the dumpster of of complex and was overcome with sadness. He suddenly began noticing children all over Los Angeles in similar situations and remembered housing projects back in New York, and all the places he had been, and started writing. Chris Wood and Bianchi were collaborative poets and local open mics in the Hollywood area, so Bianchi reached out and about eight years later they shot the film.
Mechanically and visually, Bianchi has created two worlds: One that is bleached, cold and stark and another that is rich, super-saturated and vibrant. For example, this dichotomy becomes salient as we watch the story’s hero, Sara, in her home playing with crayons: The light and mood is deconstructed, and only comes alive with color and energy when she is happy.
A luminescent place of non-subjective but factual actual palpable beauty that rings songs of rock-a-by-baby and rubber ducky—
With unconditional loves and licks and a soft kiss from a cocker spaniel
Where fields flow far and dandy lions meet the horizon in a matrimony made in heaven- Where the only steel that exists isn’t a tool a gat or any form of a weapon—
Camera moves and shutter speed also play a major role in the psychology of the imagery to complement an aggressive sound design within the film. Bianchi’s fingerprints are on every frame of this film, as it was also directed and edited by him.
The project is so personal that I couldn’t bring it to anyone else to tell the story. I knew what I needed when I was shooting on the day and knew how I would cut the film in my head. Even the score that is masterfully arranged by Paul Cristo was guided by a temporary score I laid down in editorial. Speaking of sound, we capture live sound, nothing is ADR or recorded in post to maintain the filmic quality of it and keep the integrity of the performance intact. I see these films as moving canvases at 24 frames per second. While many digital crypto artists are focused on one frame. I am focused on 8,000 of them.
– David Bianchi
Giving Back
A significant portion of the proceeds will be donated to charitable partners listed below which focus on working with inner city youth:
New Earth Foundation
New Earth provides mentor-based arts and educational programs that empower juvenile justice and system-involved youth ages 13-25 to transform their lives toward positive life potential. New Earth has a private school where they mentor high schools students to prepare them for higher learning.
Charitas
Charitas is an ICO solely focused on charitable giving worldwide. They will assist in matching funds towards New Earth.
Bianchi will also donate a portion of the proceeds of this drop to the memory of his dear friend Wolf x Lion, who worked tirelessly to uplift the NFT movement and without whom much of this work would not be possible.
Break The Bars – A Spoken Word Spinema Film Directed by David Bianchi
Editions: One
Pricing: Accepting Offers only
*Auction ends 10/1 at 3:30 PM PST
The Power of Voice
Editions: Four
Pricing: 0.4 ETH
*Final edition will be auctioned
Sara’s Playground
Editions: Four
Pricing: 0.4 ETH
*Final edition will be auctioned
Her Mind Soars Beyond The Clouds
Editions: Four
Pricing: 0.4 ETH
*Final edition will be auctioned
OPEN LIMITED EDITION
Break The Bars – Live Poster
Editions: Open Limited Edition
Pricing: 0.08 ETH
ARTIST STATEMENT FROM DAVID BIANCHI
I am an artist first. My visual artistry transcends disciplines. I am more than just an actor. I am also a painter and fine artist, a film director and producer, a screenwriter and have been a spoken word poet for over 20 years while producing spoken word films for over 16 years. I discovered that not only could I move people emotionally through the art of performance poetry, I could also deliver the message in a novel, cinematic way that affects people’s spirits.
Making short films that involve poetry is nothing new. There must be thousands of poets that have made videos while performing poetry. But what I do is different and is a reflection of my multi-hyphenate background.
The poem is the script and everything else evolves from there. Some of my Spinema™ works have up to 20 person crews, sometimes shooting on multiple cameras. I enlist award winning teams and treat it like a theatrical-level motion picture. The results are very high-brow experimental films that evoke social consciousness and entertain at the same time.
I’ve always felt that the way spoken word is presented on television is archaic. Watching a poet on stage with a mic only goes so far in terms of immersion. By delivering spoken word poetry in Spinema™ format we awaken audiences to an artistic medium they have never experienced before.
The genre Spinema™ didn’t really come into my mind until around 2006. After playing several festivals globally and garnering some critical acclaim I started to discover I was on to something. The title Spinema™ I own the trademark and came up with the name around that time to describe exactly what it is I do. We are now pushing the name into the lexicon. When people hear ‘spoken word’ they have an idea of what that art form is.
I am now branding Spinema™ – (spinning cinema through spoken word) so that when people hear that term they know we are talking about high-concept-cinematic-spoken word experiences.
When I discovered NFT’s I knew I wanted to be involved I just didn’t know how. Most platforms capped minting at 40-50MB and that wouldn’t fit my model, but I found a smaller platform that allowed for 250 MB and my career in NFTS started form there. I have been overwhelmed by how welcoming and kind the NFT community is and how available everyone is to high level creativity.
I truly feel that long form (in fine digital art) is the future for many NFTS. There is something very appealing to white glove collectors and Spinema™ because it is such a new art form that is speaking to big societal issues and helping the world at the same time, while giving broader scope to their collections. To own a 1 of 1 jpg or gif is one thing, but to own a 5-9 min moving, poetic-cinematic canvas is completely different. Collectors are hungry for new styles and genres of crypto art and Spinema™ is doing
just that. They can watch these films in their entirety in their living rooms and proudly say they own them.
FIRST EVER RED CARPET PREMIERE IN DECENTRALAND
MakersPlace and Decentraland debuted David Bianchi’s Break The Bars in the first red carpet film premiere ever held in the metaverse. Alongside poet Chris Wood, Bianchi introduced his third Spinema™ film on the blockchain: A raw and passionate exploration of the lives of inner city youth living behind barred windows and fenced concrete communities.
On September 23, MakersPlace’s gallery in Decentraland was fully converted to a screening room to host the premiere. Visitors walked a virtual red carpet leading to the entrance, complete with a step-and-repeat that provides images of their avatars as POAPs (Proof Of Attendance Protocol tokens) distributed through their personal ETH wallets. Anyone in attendance of the virtual gathering was automatically be included in a drawing to receive a limited edition NFT from the drop. A number of NFTs will also be gifted through a Twitter giveaway for the best dressed red carpet Avatar pic: To enter, community members must post a picture of their avatar on the red carpet with the #BreakingTheBarsRedCarpet, tagging @makersplaceco and @davidbianchi.
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