We began our first iteration of Virtualgoodsdealer Creators a month ago on October 6th and it has been a unique and rewarding experience! This post is a lookback on our experiences, as the organizers of Virtualgoodsdealer, and a feature on all the participants who released products with us this month.
This month we featured work from Charming Sprite Shop by cyber_sprite, Juriel Furukawa, demonmercen, Soft_G0th, Steph Lau, Zines by Jackie, Hillary R, and Skullfucked. Here we are sharing some more about each creator and their inspiration and goals.
I love online shopping because I can take my sweet time. I also like that I can support artists that I admire from around the world, directly, rather than a corporation. -cyber_sprite
cyber_sprite is an accessories designer and resin artist based in Los Angeles, CA. She is currently inspired by N64 Graphics and kandi culture. We were drawn to her work because of eyecatching multilayered holographic designs and the references to internet culture and technology theory.
Q: If you could have an infinite budget for one creative project, what would you make?
cyber_sprite: I would love to develop a mixed-reality VR experience with social elements, IRL items, and popup-type events that coincide with in-game events and lore; something that could connect people online and off.
Q: Favorite meme?
cyber_sprite: The glitter girl from the “coming back from the club” vine. Legendary queen!
The F*** You - T combines the body and performance to create typographical piece. The F*** You T on a deeper read reclaims the body and its subjugation to false stereotyping. However, it does also just exist as a bunch of fuck you’s to whatever it is you want to express that to. -Juriel Furukawa
Juriel Furukawa is an artist and designer based in New York City. Her study centers around the relationship between performance art and motion graphics, with a particular interest in the different modality of self duplication.
Q: How do you feel about online shopping?
Juriel: less frequent than before! I love how much more access I have to more independent sellers, but feel like I can spend too long looking at things. I do enjoy the immediate feeling of desire and love than comes from seeing an item in person
Demonmercenary is “a demon of sadness” based in Orlando. They are creating resin art, jewelry, apparel, and visual art.
I’m a demon of sadness, through my grief I take the trash I collect and make it into fun items ppl can wear use and have, sometimes I make things from nothing as well, magic gang shit. I hope my love for the world is radiated through my collection and people feel it cause I do love you all!! -demonmercenary
Q: What’s something that’s inspiring you right now?
demonmercenary: (devil may cry) my family, they have really been here for me, even when Im to the best to work with and it makes me want to pursue my original goals before my life got messed up harder, they deserve a good life after working so hard to help me despite the circumstances I was born in.
Q: If you could have an infinite budget for one creative project, what would you make?
demonmercenary: a giant resin sculpture, show casing the feeling of severe depression, id need a jack hammer tons of clay, a jar, and hella time
Soft_G0th is an artist based “at the intersection of art and technology”. We were drawn to the striking imagery, playful colors, and variety of textures in her illustration work.
Soft_G0th is a ‘people’ driven artist, she takes inspiration not only from those around her, but also from her own experience as a black queer woman: and centering that experience is integral to the Soft_G0th fantasy.
Almost cried when I saw this yesterday it’s so inspiring seeing my merch on somebody bong 😭 pic.twitter.com/eKTl6uYnUD
— Maya 🖤 (@soft_g0th) October 27, 2020
Q: What’s something that’s inspiring you right now?
Soft_g0th: Right now I’m SUPER inspired by Bimbos, especially early 2000s bimbos, and nature. Something about being outside in nature and seeing all the textures and colors just super psyches my mind up.
Q: Favorite video game?
Soft_g0th: Undertale!!! I beat the pacifist route like 6 times
Steph Lau is a mixed media artist based in New York. Her fantastical and otherworldly style instantly stands out and has inspired many. She has created commercial artwork for clients such as Elsewhere Space, Maison Margiela, Dazed Beauty, Selfridges, and Lady Gaga. Steph also commits to transparency about her experiences and processes as an artist in this day and age, something that reflects in her social media presence and new Youtube channel. She aims to help deconstruct the various forms of gatekeeping within the creative industries.
Q: If you could have an infinite budget for one creative project, what would you make?
Steph: A feature film where I get to make a world fully come to life + hire all the creatives I admire.
Q: Favorite meme?
Steph: recently variations of the “you’re finally awake!” meme always makes me feel better lol
Zines by Jackie was created by Jackie Liu, an artist and designer based in the greater NYC area. “Zines by Jackie” is her effort to create safe spaces for others to thrive creativity in tech, design, and art. Developing an ongoing series, she hopes to create playful, welcoming, and socially-centered ways to learn about technology and our relationships to it.
Q: How do you feel about online shopping?
Jackie: I hate how the dopamine is so linked to the act of purchasing but there really are few sources of joy in these times
Q: If you could have an infinite budget for one creative project, what would you make?
Jackie: probably my own animated TV show with its own merch empire
Hillary R is a digital artist based in Washington, DC. Hillary is a digital artist based in Washington, DC. She is drawn to the aesthetic of creating weightlessness. The world acts as a surrealist escape from reality, where the world is entirely created from her imagination. We were drawn to her charming character designs and the nostalgic feeling they create. Her favorite videogame is Super Monkey Ball and you can definitely see the influence that era of game design has on her work.
Q: If you could have an infinite budget for one creative project, what would you make?
Hillary: I would create a series of one room installations based videogame levels from different games from specific eras.
Q: Favorite meme?
Hillary: anything about the vintage tshirt community. I watch a lot of t-shirt auctions and it can get ridiculous.
Skullfucked was created by New Orleans, LA based designer Daiju Edwards. Their influences are deeply rooted in eroticism, horror, and dreaming; currently they are inspired by industrial music, latex, blood, and prosthetics.
Q: If you could have an infinite budget for one creative project, what would you make?
Daiju: I would make a queer slasher film.
Q: Favorite meme? Steve RAWRvey XD
That’s all our creators for October! We are continuing to release new items by different creators every week throughout November at virtualgoodsdealer.com. Virtualgoodsdealer is organized and run by Cindie Xin and @ada.wrong. Here’s some reflections on our Virtualgoodsdealer creators experience so far:
Thank you to all the participants and everyone that submitted to our open call. This was an experimental concept and we appreciate everyone’s patience during the process! As a person tied to material things, I wanted to explore a different approach towards online shopping, the value of items, the definition of a product, the idea of luxury, and running an e-commerce business. We are only hoping to go bigger in scale and more abstract on future Virtualgoodsdealer projects. I hope you enjoy the items you have purchased and the new items we are dropping next month! -@ada.wrong
Wow, it seems like it was just yesterday that we posted our open call. The initial positive response we received far exceeded our expectations, and since then we have been working hard to create an e-commerce platform that prioritizes independent artists and creatives, while also being a smooth and reliable shopping experience for buyers. From shooting and editing product photos, to social media promotion, to building out our Pages site (that you’re on now!), we have tried to take an approach that maintains our ideals and aesthetic. My favorite part of this process has definitely been meeting and working with our extremely talented creators, all of whom I have learned a great deal from and been deeply inspired by. Thank you to everybody who has stuck around since we were called Mimi Apparel. And thank you to those who recently learned about Virtualgoodsdealer. We are grateful to have the opportunity and platform to experiment and grow. -cindie xin