Who are you?
I’m Parri, a full time nerd and part time architect from Buenos Aires, better known as Everlasting Building in the NFT universe.
When did you start making art?
I think I have been trying to create things while messing with stuff since I have memory. As a teenager I got a big interest for street photography, then during college I started messing with 3D and visualization software and the possibilities those had, specially when used in non conventional ways or mixed with different media.
When did you first hear about CleanNFTs?
I was either late or really soon to the party depending on who you ask. It was August 2021, while taking with a friend about the lack of platforms to connect with artists and share experiments. Took a dive in HEN without even considering the monetary aspect of it all, just wanting to see cool stuff. Not long after, and without a plan or even a Twitter account I started minting. Has been a wild ride from that point forwards.
I love both architecture and liminal spaces which made me a big fan of your work. When did you first discover your love/passion for these things?
It comes from my backgrounds both as a photographer and an architect. I always looked for ways of mixing architecture with different art forms, how a space can convey a story for example, or how it could be portrayed through different media. Liminal spaces are an amazing subject in that matter. They are a transitional space. A threshold. Like in a story, the interesting part happens between the setup and the resolution. Nowadays it’s intriguing to see ourselves living in a liminal state between the physical world and the virtual one. Not only that, but liminal spaces are incredibly mundane by nature. So mundane in fact, that they become strangely familiar to all of us. The unheimlich. With the Building I try to work in this uncanny valley point. First, in the look itself, at first glance it may look like a photograph, but the more you look at it the stranger it gets. You start doubting it. Some furniture may be real, some other 3D rendered. Then there is the “Everlasting” idea. Not only because it’s minted on the blockchain forever, but because the spaces inside the Rooms are frozen in time. It’s a digital domestic purgatory. Lastly, on the topic of furniture, some objects are incredibly sympathetic. Even being an inanimate piece of plastic, a monobloc chair can bring so many nostalgic memories. I can bet everyone reading this can think of a moment involving a garden chair. It can be childhood, it can be summer, but the chair is there. It’s the same story for every object we live with.
What is the process of creating one of your Everlasting rooms?
With the Rooms I always try to match a certain atmosphere. I start with a few reference images, either photographs, paintings, movie scenes… and begin building from there. Most of the process is trial and error, the end result is never what I had in mind, and there’s a beauty in that. Different from physical architecture, where most decisions need to be taken before the actual process start.
Do you have any particular favorites of your rooms so far?
Usually my favorite one is the one I’m about to drop next, after months I still get hyped about that moment. If I were to choose from already minted ones, I really like the collab Rooms. There’s so much to learn working side by side with another artist. For example, Room #25 was a two part collaboration with @derueichen, where I brought his unique machine world to the Building, while he built an Everlasting Room in real life. Madness.
How did you hear about FxHash?
I heard about fxhash at the very start, by artist-collectors friends that saw the potential in what was cooking. I think the first work I collected there was generative token #627, although it would take some time before I too started creating.
What made you decide to randomly generate works in your style?
First of all, it was wanting to try something new. Breaking stuff. Using a PFP code for something that has nothing to do with it. Then, because it felt like adding to the liminality of the work. Fxhash Rooms not only are unique, but generic as well. Like in a real building, they all look incredibly mundane, you can imagine yourself lost in a maze of similar yet different Rooms. The first ones play with stacks of plastic chairs, again, possibly the most generic object in the world, but each one is still truly unique. It’s taking the strangely familiar to another level.
What adds value to your art?
This is a good question, I need to take the position of a Room collector now. I think there are a couple of factors that made the Rooms so interesting to collectors. The pieces are serialized inside a big collective piece, the Building. If you got a Room, you are an everlasting neighbor. But more important than that, the liminal condition makes them valuable to different eyes around the world. There are people owning just a single Room because they saw something that reminded them of someplace. They have been in the Room sometime during their life. The space speaks to them in a way. The art works as a memory container.
What do you have planned for 2022?
Roadmap: Art. Keep making stuff I like. Not only the Rooms, but also more experimental pieces or collections. Find new ways of creating while breaking things, maybe going back to photography too, but with something not designed to do photography. This is just starting, it may feel like a lifetime but my first piece was minted just four months ago. Can’t wait to see where the community takes the clean NFT space to during 2022.
Is there anyone you want to shoutout?
I would make a mile long list if I started naming. Firstly, all the Everlasting collectors, specially the ones that saw something at the very start and motivated me to keep creating. Then, a big shoutout to the HEU family, who quickly became the little voices inside my head and a constant source of inspiration.
Anything else?
If you are an artist reading, keep doing what you love doing while always being ready to make a jump into a new platform or workflow. The space is so rapidly changing, and we are early! If you are a collector reading, big respect.