Starting in Japan, UltraHive 3 is a traveling cd cover art show with 100 artists making original cd cover art!
First stop: The Nano Gallery , May 16, 5pm UTC through May 18, 7am UTC.
The CD artwork I’ll be contributing is both physical and digital:
Café Americana, Oil on Canvas, Digital Animation on CD-R, Size: 4.7in (12.065cm) square, 2025
The work also features an animation burned onto the CD:
Art Description for Café Americana:
The interstate highway system, often hailed as the ‘Greatest Public Works Project in History,’ has profoundly shaped American culture since its inception with the signing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Highway dining became a staple of Interstate terrain, adding character, sustenance, and charm to both weary and exuberant travelers alike. This included “Roadies”, touring alongside musicians and performers throughout the nation.
It is with this inspiration that I created the art piece, Café Americana, which exists both as an analogue and digital expression, bundled within a cd Jewel case.
The physical artwork, measuring 4.75” (12.065 cm) square, is an oil painting on archival paper canvas, and inserted as the face image. It signifies the colorful attention-grabbing restaurant highway signage famously syncopated throughout the Interstate. The digital work is an audio-visual animation in MP4 format, which brings to life the sounds and popping illumination characteristic of greasy spoons day and night. Play the animation on loop with headphones for full effect.
Café Americana serves as a cardinal guide to fountains of coffee, beer, and all-you-can-eat burgers, for explorers in any condition. Bon appétit!