GMUNK is a person: Bradley G Munkowitz. GMUNK is also a group, and most of their pieces are collaborations. Munkowitz is a visual design director who has worked on short films, commercials, music videos, installations, digital art exhibitions, and more recently has made non-fungible tokens (NFT). His work often follows themes of identity, the subconscious, the human connection to technology.
You’ve already seen work by GMUNK
The famous Windows 10 “hero image” is by far their most iconic work.
I always thought it was computer generated, but it is actually made from pieces of cut glass and an opaque material to block the light, forming the window. Then a projector shines through, and combined with smoke and other effects you get an interesting volumetric “portal”.
The Windows 10 background is actually made up of many layers combined in software, and there are lots of variations to the main version.
Installation: Telestron
My favorite piece by GMUNK is called Telestron. Two giant robot arms perform a choreographed dance inspired by the diurnal cycle. The performance goes through the four seasons, and then enters a charged and chaotic fifth act which represents the damage and disarray inflicted by climate change on the natural cycle.
On the end of each robot arm is an icosahedral shape with many interesting holes cut in it, and a powerful projector on a swivel mount. LED strips are placed on the vertices inside each shape, so they can glow brightly.
The images are cool but you really need to watch the performance. The fluid movements combine with the audio to form what looks like an amazing experience.
Floating Alone
GMUNK has also recently sold some art in the form of NFTs. One example is Floating Alone, an alien artifact imbued with the memories of an entire civilization. A rudimentary consciousness is given to it to protect the data. After millions of years of travel with no contact, the consciousness has mostly died but left behind beautiful patterns.
A number of versions were sold as NFTs, the version below was sold for $38,888.