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Permission to be Munko

“For me, art has always been about connecting with strangers. Whether that stranger is actually me or someone else- it’s about being heard and making others feel less alone.”

Artist David Choe sits on the floor of his childhood home which has in the last few years become his painting studio. The walls and his person are covered in an amalgam of paints, clays, varnishes, and oil pastels. He’s trying to describe an idea and experience until he abruptly cuts himself off- “Words- they’re so clumsy. Blahrgabdkhfbhke-” he makes one up, “that’s probably why I’m an artist. Between show and tell, I’m much more a show rather than a tell kind of person,” he says before taking me into a room where he shot his recent hit TV show, The Choe Show.

Inside the room, the entire floor is littered with drawings, each one a different version of a whale character he’s been drawing for decades called Munko. “This is what I was trying to describe,” he says, motioning towards the ground and its skin of separate drawings, before going off on an impassioned description of his dream to create a multi-decade multi-dimensional artwork that is just as much authored by him as it is by a community. And while things may be easier to describe in characters and colors for him rather than consonants, throughout each detail about the project, one can tell that it is, in his words, “the most important artwork I’ve ever made.”

Let’s go back a bit-

In the early aughts, Choe was given a choice that would not only change his life but his entire world. After painting a series of large-scale murals at the offices of a relatively new startup company, he was given a choice between cash or company stock for his efforts.

“Everyone thought I was crazy. I was and probably still am, but I was raised to not just see opportunities- but take them.” He chose the stock. Years later, the company, Facebook, had one of the largest IPOs in history and Dave became a multi-millionaire. “It wasn’t about potential, logic or even the actual product. Honestly, it confused me- but I believed in their passion. I chose and still choose passion over logic- and it rewards me each time.”

Fast forward a decade. The world’s changed many times over. Under Web 2.0, what initially began as an opportunity to connect people has turned divisive. The previous paradise of worldwide connection has now turned into a periled paradox: we’re brought together algorithmically more through anger and outrage than passion and purpose. There’s an illusion of choice buttressed by monetization of each person as a product rather than a participant. Simply put, the technologies that were supposed to bring us together are tearing us apart, while at the same time monetizing our every movement and conversation.

But what if that weren’t the case? What if a new technology were to emerge that could deliver on the promises and benefits of Web 2, while also bringing about a new era of connection not to be monetized, but instead, incentivized through honest passion and purpose?

Enter: Munko.

For over two decades, Choe has been developing Munko both as a concept and project, with its first iterations having been made in the street with a spray can, to an evolution through multiple different forms of media, from the physical (sculptures, toys, prints, paintings etc.) to the ephemeral. Now, using both Web 3 and the innovations enabled by new technology processes, Munko has evolved and grown into a dynamic participatory project where everyone has a say and a will. Rather than being a static avatar, Munko has been designed from the ground up to utilize breakthrough and bleeding-edge technologies to adapt themselves to you. The more participation and passion one reveals to Munko, the more Munko will be able to mirror and reflect the person they’re attached to. How is this possible?

After studying the Web 3 space for nearly two years to find the right partners to help him express his vision, Dave has connected with some of the most capable teams in the space to provide him with both the technological and creative foundations he needed to pursue and put forth his “greatest and most involved artwork I’ve ever made.”

As he describes it:

“I stopped selling my art years ago. Every day, thousands of people message me, asking, ‘when is something coming, when will there be something I can buy- something I can own?’ I still paint and draw every day, but not for anyone else, not even myself- simply for the joy of the act. And then it hit me- what if I could give someone that experience? That joy is something that is so much more than an object, to give that feeling of pure passion, creation, and curiosity- that’s what Munko is.

I’ve put my entire passion and purpose into art, everything I’ve done has brought me to here, and it culminates with Munko, just as it began with Munko: a circle, a red through-line that connects everything.”

I could tell he was getting frustrated trying to describe something in words that would be easier to show in images.

“Look, I don’t need to sell anything ever again and I haven’t in years, so when I choose to, it’s for a purpose beyond money.

I want to give people the experience and permission to create and be free- without judgment. Imagine you had a safe space that wasn’t just inside your mind, but part of a community. I want to allow people to believe in themselves, to grant and give them the experience of what it’s like to be pure in the moment of creating something that is meaningful for them.”

We move back into the kitchen where he’s been painting a series of different portraits.

“My whole life I’ve struggled. I really shouldn’t be here right now- it’s a miracle that I even am.” I ask him what he thinks it was that helped him. “Friends. They saved me; they saved my life.” He pauses for a moment, picking at paint on his hand like some scab. “Without them- without my friends, I wouldn’t be here.”

He looks towards the window and the paintings around him.

“When I was younger, I believed in my work more than myself- does that make sense? My work, my art was untouchable- but me, my person? I thought I wasn’t worth anything. Took years for me to get over that, to even realize it and how wrong I was. And it all comes back to two things: friends and making shit- it’s what saved me. Munko is about giving people both of those things and letting them realize that they’ve had them all along. In the end, this will be just as much their artwork as it is mine and, honestly, with the way things are built, they have ownership and say not just in the product but in the community itself.”

He continues to talk about the project, about how 20% is going to charity, about the complex and intricate ‘Munko Machine’ he had built to allow each Munko token holder a unique object that visually responds to them personally based on how they interact with their object. He tells me how the whole thing starts with a commitment to honest participation that itself is encrypted so no one knows what a person has revealed except the person themself and their Munko.

“The only people with the answers are you and Munko.” He tells me how it’s taken nearly two years and a worldwide search for him to find the right team and partner that could bring this vision to life. The team is made up of an incredible array of world-class engineers, data scientists, designers, creative thinkers, 3D video graphic and crypto developers.

“Everyone thought it was crazy, this idea. When things are this new, people don’t understand and there’s fear of failure or the unknown. Artists are made to confront the unknown and show people what’s possible. It’s funny, I got the same reactions from people when I took Facebook stock. Every logical person said it was impossible, or a crazy decision, just as they have with this idea. But that’s coming from a place of logic- and logic serves no purpose when it comes to passion.

In the end, it all comes back to choice. What will you choose? ‘All I can do is show you the door- it’s up to you to walk through it.’ A person can only be shown an opportunity, it’s up to them to take it. To not passively let something pass by, but to pursue it with both passion and purpose, that’s always been my goal.”

Written by Walter Hong

tags: Munko, Munko NFT, Community, David Choe
categories: Essay
Thursday 07.14.22
Posted by David Choe
 

MUNKO

I was sitting on the floor of my childhood home a few days ago surrounded by thousands of different Munko drawings when it hit me.

In over 20 years of drawing or painting, I realized I always came back to Munko for the thrill of connection, vulnerability, and simple fun that the character provided. Whether spray painting Munko on the street to connect with strangers or using their voice as a way to say things that I wasn’t always able to myself, in a way, Munko felt and saw more into myself and the world than I ever did. Munko believed in me more than I believed in myself; they became a kind of alter ego of my internal thoughts, feelings and doubts made public. And more than anything- Munko was fun.

A while ago, I made a choice that changed my life. It wasn’t based on anything that made sense- there was no logic to it, like all good decisions. I’ve always been impulsive, and it’s helped, hurt, and healed me more times and in more ways than I can count. This time it changed everything. Of course, I’m talking about my decision to take Facebook stock instead of cash as payment for the murals I painted at their office. At the time, everyone thought I was an idiot- some people still do. “Why- why would you take stock from some random nothing company instead of cash?” Why? Because I believe. I believe in passion. I chose and still choose passion over logic- and it rewards me each time.

Over the years, I’ve let my passion and purpose guide me. Whether through decisions that have rewarded me with millions, or decisions that have me focusing on myself. I stopped selling my art years ago. Every day, thousands of people message me, asking, ‘when is something coming, when will there be something I can buy- something I can own?’ I still paint and draw every day, but not for anyone else, not even myself- I do it simply for the joy of doing it. And then it hit me- what if I could give someone that experience? That joy of simply being free to create and connect. That feeling of pure passion, creation, and curiosity- that’s what Munko is.

So, I searched the world for answers as to how I could create and do, not what I wanted, but what I needed to do- always following my passion and purpose, ignoring each person who said it wasn’t possible, or that I was ‘too crazy.’ It took nearly two years of searching to get the right team together for the project: the right engineers, designers, creative thinkers, data scientists (I didn’t even know what that was before I started), and an entire team of dedicated 3D video graphic specialists and crypto developers- all in pursuit of the same goal and passion that sparked itself from an idea I had, a ‘crazy’ idea that all this Web 3 shit was really about connection without the burden of judgment, it’s a canvas of possibility for a community to do what only great art can- connect the curious to collaborate and provide a path to passion and purpose for those seeking it.

In the end, it all comes back to choice. What will you choose- passion or logic? There’s a red thread that connects us all. All I can do is show you the door- it’s up to you to walk through it.

You’re no longer alone.
You have all the answers.
This isn’t just my dream anymore - it’s ours.
It’s no longer my art, it’s yours.

—David Choe

Tuesday 06.28.22
Posted by David Choe
 

Perfect Day - by David Choe

David-Choe-Perfect-Day

Not very often Do we have perfect days , but since I had one yesterday I’ll share it with you.

For breakfast I Had a delicious #beanBurrito without beans or the tortilla … I basically ate a slice of cheese ( I hashtagged bean burrito so that I could see what other bean burritos are being born ,filtered and photographed in the world… Becuz I am a fatso)

Was gonna buy a bike a #toysRus and then ride it to a check wing place and then reward myself with lemon pepper wings for riding ten miles

Instead I fell asleep on the couch watching #daredevil #rayDonovan#billions #girlfriendsexperience and then ate the same burrito I had for breakfast, for lunch, still on the couch with my eyes crusted shut

I finally woke up at 3:37pm

Listening to my band @mangchihammer super loud off my speakers ,my neighbor walks into my house without knocking to return my #saga#preacher comic books and tells me it’s really weird that every time they stop by I’m listening to my own music or #TaylorSwift #screamo covers really loud , they don’t address how weird it is that they don’t know how to knock or take their shoes off or that every time I let them borrow my comics I find a crusty hard rolled #booger in the crease.rude…( there is a 76% chance the booger is mine)

At this time I thought about getting into a spirited discussion about comics with them because they just read it and it’s fresh in their mind, but instead lied and said I was really busy and they had to go , i really prefer to sleep on my couch facing inwards straddling the back cushions with my leg hanging over and arm firmly imbedded into the crease as if they were giant polar bear #butcheeks, not outwards facing the TV, the problem here is then I can’t tv , I thought about facing the backside of the couch towards the tv and cutting a hole in my couch but instead I put a small mirror balanced on a cushion and watch tv through the reflection… problem solved around this time I had thoughts about calling my masseuse and my chef to cook me a pasta dinner with one super long noodle so that I can suck the noodle from the floor while I’m getting massaged face down on the table , but remembered that I hate people and continued to be by myself ,

Con’t from previous post-I got an idea , so I leaned over and got a pen and paper to design a super expensive car that no one can afford, the steering wheel was gonna be shaped like a taco , I started to draw it , but then got bored and stated to look up “taco steering wheel” on bing to see if anyone had already done it ,but then got distracted by taco shell breaking videos ,pottery videos and tractors saving other tractor videos , I then got hungry and ate two more breakfast burritos for dinner and second dinner in the same style I ate them previous. The most famous person in the world somehow got my # and texts me that they want to eat at my moms house and talk about art (my moms appearance on Anthony bourdains show must be on repeat on #cnn) I think about how much I don’t want to do that ,and how many more things I’d rather do then talk about art, maybe comics I would , but even then. but my ego is still happy that they texted me but offended at the same time , who just invites themselves over to your parents house ? Rude. I started to draw #lyingCat from saga, forgot what he looked like instead Designed outfits and vehicles for a futuristic sci fi werewolf bounty hunter squad that I met when I was on mushrooms, hummed and recorded what their theme song is gonna sound like in my voice memos , saw in my voice memos some podcasts I recorded off my phone of myself interviewing people while I was inside them from a few years ago and deleted them ,I notice a Fuji water bottle under the couch that had leftover water and a few chia seeds (I started eating them because a Milf told me I’d shit better and have more energy to F) after being neglected for weeks and bloomed into a full chia pet, slammed a giant scorpion that came out from behind the bottle killed it with a comic book whack/finger nail crunch fatality combo ,went back to sleep on the couch with deftones playing on Kimmel in the background ,at this time the mirror fell off of the couch

The end

tags: Perfect Day, David Choe, Bean Burrito
categories: BLOG, Essay
Friday 04.15.16
Posted by David Choe
 

Why Saving Banksy Means Saving Yourself - By David Choe

Banksy-David-Choe-Superhero-Munko

Who is Banksy?

Banksy is Batman he is not Robin.

The more important question I want to know is who are you?

When you look in the mirror are you a hero, a villain, an asshole- or just a casual observer?

Super heroes as well as super villains exist in this world we live in today, although it’s not always clear who is who. 

Read more

tags: Banksy, David Choe, Superhero, Munko, Art vs Politics, Batman, Spiderman, Batman and Robin, Buckminster Fuller, fappening, Hollywood, Eazy-E, Skin Diamond, Rocki Roads, Saber, Retna, Asa Akira, Mister Hex, Adrenalynn, Punisher, Jade, Critter, Slick, Revok, Bonnie Rotten, Hex, Neckface, Axl, Axis, Slash, Crash, Doze, El Mac, Duff
categories: BLOG
Wednesday 03.09.16
Posted by David Choe