Hafftka - Artist

In this episode of "NorCal and Shill," the host, NorCal Guy, welcomes Hafftka, an exuberant artist who found new creative freedom in the NFT space. Hafftka describes his transition from traditional art forms to digital art, sparked significantly by the limitations he felt in the traditional art world. During the pandemic, he dove into crypto and NFTs, which he found liberating due to their inclusivity and potential for experimentation.

Hafftka shares his diverse work history—from construction to book cover design—to support his art career. He emphasizes the democratizing nature of Web3, where artists can freely explore and create without traditional art world restrictions. He dismisses concerns about the NFT space, viewing any setbacks as normal parts of evolution. Hafftka also talks about the balance between one-of-one art pieces and editions, advocating for accessibility in art collecting.

He concludes by discussing his passion for new technologies like AI and highlighting his upcoming projects, including an animated meme card. Hafftka’s advice to aspiring artists is to experiment fearlessly and embrace new digital platforms to expand their creative horizons.

https://x.com/hafftka

Transcript

Hafftka: 0:00

Who is this?

NorCal Guy: 0:01

Who is this guy?

Hafftka: 0:08

NorCal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy.

NorCal Guy: 0:15

Norcal and chill podcast. Norcal and chill podcast. What the sh? What the sh? Norcal and chill podcast. Norcal and Shill Podcast what the sh-, what the sh-? Norcal and Shill Podcast. So it's shill time. Norcal and Shill Podcast what the sh-, what the sh-.

NorCal Guy: 0:32

Hey everyone, welcome to another exciting episode of NorCal and Shill. In this episode, I sit down with Hafka, an artist whose zest for life and creativity is truly infectious. We delve into Hafka's journey from traditional art to the vibrant world of digital and crypto art, exploring how the pandemic acted as a catalyst for his immersion into the crypto art space. From welding inside of sewer tanks to peddling art on the streets, hafka shares his diverse job history and how these experiences shaped his artistry. We discuss the incredible opportunities within Web3, the importance of experimentation and the endless potential for artists in the digital realm, artists in the digital realm Plus. We touch on the significance of persistence, sharing wisdom from Winston Churchill and the future of digital art. Whether you're an artist, a collector or simply curious about the ever-evolving crypto art space, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration. Tune in and get ready to be inspired by Hafka's passion and vision for the future of art. Everybody, please, welcome Hafka. Hey, hafka, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Hafftka: 1:56

I'm doing great. Hey, norcal guy, it's great to meet you. It's great to be here.

NorCal Guy: 2:00

Man, it's good to meet you too. Like I appreciate your energy on the timeline, all like, and it's all the time. It's not like ups and downs, like it's like enthusiasm that's genuine and like it's infectious, and I appreciate that a lot thank you so much.

Hafftka: 2:18

I'm having a lot of fun and I actually, from when I came into this space, into the n NFT arena ecosystem, whatever you want to call it I felt really reborn and I felt I could be myself and just be very creative all the time, do whatever I want, which is very different than the trad art world that I was in.

NorCal Guy: 2:40

Right, right, right, that makes sense. So how did and what were your first thoughts? How did you get into this whole crypto art space?

Hafftka: 2:48

Well, I did digital art very early on. I did digital art in the 90s. I did it because of my kids. You know I have three kids they're grown now and you know getting computers and the first thing you do on a computer is start drawing and painting and it was a lot of fun. So I, you know, learned to do digital art early on and then, when the pandemic happened, basically everything shut down right. So, you know I, you know it's very, very funny.

Hafftka: 3:18

I said to you not, you know, uh, why don't we get into crypto? I didn't really even know about nft, I just thought you know crypto, I haven't had any time for it, let's fucking go. And then I found out about NFTs and digital art. It was very natural for me and I fell in love with all of the diversity and all of the different kinds of things that are out there, which is something I have been complaining about in the art world for the longest time. Everything is just, you know, pretty much predictable. You know people copy themselves, there are no surprises. And so the NFT ecosystem just blew me away. It was a natural and I just felt at home, felt I could be myself.

NorCal Guy: 4:10

That's awesome. So I mean I feel well, how did you choose art? Like what brought you to art?

Hafftka: 4:17

Well, you know it was a desire for freedom. I think Both of my parents, I grew up in a very unique situation. Both of my parents are Holocaust survivors. They came here in 1949, and they had really actually seen the worst of not being free in the world. And so, you know, as a child I grew up steeped in that understanding and the privilege of being in America also was something very dear to them and was a strong impression on me as a child.

Hafftka: 4:53

And you know I always, since I was very, very little, I really so gravitated towards loving art. My mother took me to a lot of museums. It was really quite extraordinary to see all the art and great music in our culture and it just wasn't natural. It's all about freedom, it's all about expressing yourself, and I just went for it. You know it was the end of the 60s when I first started becoming an artist in the 70s, and you know the 60s when I first started becoming an artist in the 70s, and you know it was, you know tune in turn on and drop out, you know.

NorCal Guy: 5:31

So it all, it all fit. So that brings along the. So what jobs have you done along the way?

Hafftka: 5:38

oh, I've done everything. I've been in construction, I've been a truck driver, I did paste up a mechanical, I did all you you know design book covers, you know janitorial work, welding absolutely anything and everything in order to become an artist. So of course, you don't make any money in the beginning of being an artist and you have no clue. I was a taxi driver, I was a truck driver, so like, basically, I had no, nothing bothered me. I was like you know, if that job's available, let's do it. And I learned from everything. I was very fortunate. Um, the way I first started selling my art was just peddling it on the street. It's very primitive, but it gives you an extraordinary face-to-face meeting with the audience. It was mind-blowing, it was a lot of fun. It's really amazing to be on the street. And you know, I peddled art in front of the Museum of Modern Art from the Metropolitan, you know, with moon dog. You know it was in. It was an incredible experience. So it was very cool. So I started doing anything and I'll still do anything.

NorCal Guy: 6:50

I love that. I love that. I mean it's so like well, especially, I feel like my generation and younger. You're always like you see the success and you're like I want to do that right now. Yeah, there's always a process to get there and, like another guest of mine said, you've got to crawl before you ball.

NorCal Guy: 7:14

And so, yeah, it's because I mean, I had to grind on those jobs, I didn't do like, a lot of those jobs, that's a variety of jobs, like I've done some other jobs, but yeah, you've got to do a variety of things before you can like, yeah, absolutely, grinding is grinding and it doesn't really matter what you do other jobs, but yeah, you gotta, you gotta do a variety of things before you can like.

Hafftka: 7:29

Yeah, absolutely, grinding is grinding and it doesn't really matter what you do, right? Uh, sometimes it's very unpleasant, you know I I welded inside of a sewer tank once oh, yeah, yeah that's about as unpleasant, but you know, and I just think everything is an opportunity to learn and I went with the flow.

Hafftka: 7:53

I love it so what are the best things about Web3 today? It's extraordinarily open. I mean, there are absolutely. There's nothing that prevents anyone from making any art. There is nothing that prevents you from making any art. There is nothing that prevents you from developing as an artist and there's nothing that prevents you from changing, and that's very relevant to me. So some of these things that I say is are very relevant to a young artist. You can go, you can experiment, you could do whatever you want.

Hafftka: 8:25

But I'm an older artist with a lot of history and the limitation in the trad art world is that I could do only one thing, like, for example, let's say I decided I wanted to put out a photograph. Well, of course, I can't do that in the galleries that I've shown in. Nobody would take me seriously. Nobody would take me seriously if I use AI. I just started using AI. Nobody would take me seriously if I use AI. I just started using AI. It's mind-blowing, it's absolutely mind-blowing and it isn't easier than painting. It really is. You have to put a lot into it. You always have to put a lot into art, regardless of what you're doing, regardless of what kind of artist you are. The thing in Web3 is it's 100% opportunity for everyone. There's no one stopping you, and that's the way the art arena should be. So, to sum it up, I think Web3 is the perfect art arena.

NorCal Guy: 9:23

Yeah, yeah, I love that. So where do you see digital art and NFTs in five years and do you have any concerns as we expand and grow?

Hafftka: 9:36

No, I don't have any concerns. I don't have any negativity. There are bad things that happen in every arena, whether it's art, whether it's business. There are always twists and turns to the progress. There will always be lousy artists. There'll always be great artists. There'll always be dishonest people. There'll always be honest people. This ecosystem is just like any other. There's going to be a lot of progress. There's going to be things that go wrong. Of course, in crypto, things do go wrong. You have to double check your wallet on every transaction. That also is going to change.

Hafftka: 10:14

But I'm not negative about anything. Actually, I'm very, very positive because I think digital art really frees us to do anything and it frees artists to come from anywhere. Anywhere in the world. Anybody can be creative. They can create something, even on their phone, and that's not a limitation. Even the New York City. Well, a robot can actually paint and it's going to get better. So there are no limitations, and everybody who talks about handmade and limitations and it's got to be done the traditional way I know the traditional way. This is a great improvement. I love that.

NorCal Guy: 11:09

So what would you like to see more of in this crypto art space?

Hafftka: 11:13

More artists experimenting, more artists playing. It turns me on. You know, as an older artist, you know all artists steal from each other. This is like just the way it is, and that stealing is called inspiration. There's nothing wrong with it. You know, when I see a work like Tid saw joe peace's work that was just released, yeah, you know, it's mind-blowing, gives me a lot of ideas. Claire silver and I did something together. I learned so much. It's so exciting. It's incredible to be 70 years old and learn stuff that that's what I really want to do. I mean really, otherwise you're dead. It's like Henry Miller said it's the live and the dead.

NorCal Guy: 11:56

Yeah, so this is a fun one Does. One ETH equals one ETH.

Hafftka: 12:03

Yeah, one ETH equals one ETH. I mean, you know why not? You know, I don't really. You know, a lot of people get all twisted about the cost of things, about going up and down, being in a different economy, measuring it in dollars. I say just do what you want. You know are basically about pricing art. It doesn't matter whether it's ETH, bitcoin or dollars, it makes no difference. Dollars, it makes no difference. Price things realistically to the market. You know, and you know as a, as an artist, what you want is support so that you could make more art. So my advice to all artists about this is just be sensible, yeah, and make it accessible. You don't have to create, right? You know work of art and think, oh, I just created the fucking mona lisa and that and it's priceless and I've got to get that priceless prize. Sell it. Sell it to whoever wants it.

NorCal Guy: 12:58

Let it happen organically yeah, does your supply matter?

Hafftka: 13:05

uh, I feel as a artist and as a human being, I want to create to the max Right now, if supply matters and I have I'm very prolific and I don't find that it's mattered throughout my life. Everyone has always known that I'm always creating, and so you know, I think long term, I think past, when I'm going to be dead, so I'm making enough paintings for eternity. That's the way it is. And so this whole worry about supply that artists you know artists have been told to think like art dealers. That's a huge mistake. Let art dealers think like art dealers. Artists should just be free and be artists.

Hafftka: 13:49

You really don't know what your destiny is. You know, even if you're a great artist, you might never sell a painting. Van Gogh sold one painting. It was kind of a pity purchase, yeah, you know. So I think, stay away from predicting, stay away from trying to like game the market. If you're an artist, concentrate. You don't have that resource. I know what I'm good at. I'm good at being creative in art. That doesn't mean I would be a creative automobile designer. I probably wouldn't. So you have to really know which lane to keep staying.

NorCal Guy: 14:24

Yeah, so what are your thoughts on editions versus one-of ones, and how? How would you make those work together?

Hafftka: 14:34

It's a fantastic opportunity to have editions. I think this is wonderful. I did that in the traditional art world. I made etchings myself. I made etchings that were monoprints. I love the medium of etchings. It's a very old-fashioned, primitive medium. I still have an etching press, so I would make etching monoprints and small editions of eight. Now the thing is the whole conversation about one-of-ones and of editions.

Hafftka: 15:04

One of the ways that I actually became successful in this arena was by making additions with the bull token holders, and what that means is that I was able to create works of art that are the same as one of ones. Make them in small additions, fractionalize them so they could cost less, so that people wouldn't have to risk their life savings on my work. This is the great opportunity is to sell art to anybody and everybody. So if you're an artist, one of the things that's happened in the brick-and-mortar art world is artists are only selling to billionaires. It used to be millionaires, now it's billionaires. No, that's not the way it should be. Sell to everybody, everybody. Let anybody and everybody have access to your work, because actually it's an emotional transaction, not a financial transaction, for sure so if you are an animal, what would you be and why?

Hafftka: 16:07

Animals have it rough. You know animals have it rough, and so I'm happy to be a human animal. You know I love animals. I love dogs, I love elephants, but I can't imagine myself as anything else really Do you what? Would you be?

NorCal Guy: 16:25

I've always gone with octopus. I've always gone with octopus.

Hafftka: 16:28

Okay, they have a reputation for being super smart and they can get out of any right, right, right uh, and they, you know, blend in camouflage you know, stay hidden, or they're like semi-social too.

Hafftka: 16:42

So yeah, that's true, it's pretty cool, yeah, but they don't get to hang paintings on their walls. So, you know, I mean I, you know it's true, nature is incredibly beautiful, really, truly is. But I've always been drawn to human culture, not the worst of it, the best of it. Yeah, and you know, we can hang that on our walls or put that on our screens and that turns me on in a way, more than going to the, the redwood forest, which is absolutely, truly beautiful. But for me, I want to, you know, see beauty on my wall. Somehow, I don't know I'm an urban creature yeah, yeah, yeah.

NorCal Guy: 17:22

Do you have a favorite food?

Hafftka: 17:25

uh, anything, my wife cooks. I'm very lucky man in that department, but I'm a meat guy. I'll eat. Steaks are my favorite. I eat steaks all the time, can't go wrong.

NorCal Guy: 17:38

Can't go wrong with some good beef you can't go wrong with steaks. It's good stuff. Do you have a piece of advice or a mantra that you live by?

Hafftka: 17:53

You know I do, and it's advice that I've thought of a lot. It wasn't given to me personally, it's by Winston Churchill. It's something he said. Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. That guides me, because as an artist you fail constantly and it's not just failure in the sense of that. I made this painting and I think it's great and I put it out there and nobody wants to buy it. I mean that's one kind of failure. But actually the process of making art is unbelievable. You're just constantly failing until all of a sudden it's good and then people come around they say you're a genius or a legend. They don't realize how many times?

Hafftka: 18:41

you've failed and how miserable that work of art was. It was just unbelievably miserable, but you somehow got lucky. Miserable but you somehow got lucky. Yeah, so you know, I I try not to lose my enthusiasm, uh, because you know it.

NorCal Guy: 18:59

Just that's the way to go forward, right do you have advice for artists joining this crypto art space?

Hafftka: 19:08

yeah, I, I think every, every artist working now should not diss this digital space, and I see that all the time. I've seen that from trad art dealers. I see that from traditional young artists and it blows my mind. You know a lot of them, you know, want to imitate lucian freud. They want to imitate, you know, that milieu, that old-fashioned way, everything about it it's it's kind of hero worship that is just misguided and stupid. So what I think is artists should experiment with every new technology that comes along, and web 3 is the place to do it. There are are no boundaries here. It's extraordinary and I think it's all open. There's a tremendous opportunity for artists and, you know, I think everyone should get every artist, or everyone who has that seed, the desire to become an artist, start working it out here. I've seen success in that with artists. I've seen artists who are pretty unknown still constantly working, constantly learning new technology and experimenting, and this is the place to see that. It's extraordinary.

NorCal Guy: 20:22

Yeah, I love that if you could live or move anywhere, where would you live in a while I I could, I could go any at this point in my life.

Hafftka: 20:35

I can go anywhere. You know, right right in the world. I love new york city, you know, I love brooklyn, where I am, I'm situated, I have the right kind of studios, right kind of space, so I don't really have a desire to go anywhere. You know, my kids always want me to travel all over the world. They live in incredible places. It all looks beautiful to me, but like I want to be in my studio, I'm happy here. Yeah, I love that.

NorCal Guy: 21:03

Do you have any questions for me?

Hafftka: 21:07

Yeah, how do you feel you know you're very active in the space and you know what's going on? How do you feel we can get more artists and more collectors to just come into the space and start playing around?

NorCal Guy: 21:22

yeah, I was uh kind of thinking about this, um, since you kind of prepped me, um, that uh, I don't know. I was wondering if, like additions would be the way. And you know, everyone has, you know, and that's the thing. Like, a collector doesn't have to be someone that has a lot of money, is going to spend a lot of money, absolutely, it can be someone that just likes your art and you can like hey, as you know, here's a digital edition, you know, and then you could send one to a wallet for them or something along those lines.

NorCal Guy: 21:58

I don't know the best way to do that, probably like the coinbase wallet, mobile wallet. It's probably like the easiest way to go at this point, or, uh, no, I think that's probably the easiest way to go because I feel like they have an n wallet. That is fairly reasonable. Or if it's on Sol, the Solana Phantom that's what it is Mobile app, it works pretty well. So I think something like that, and I think additions are that way, because then you don't feel like you're giving away like a one-of-one which is like super valuable to you. It's an addition, and you're like, hey, thanks for being a you know, my friend or a patron, or something, and here's a piece of work for you type thing.

NorCal Guy: 22:40

I think additions are the way and you know slowly if everyone you know, gave away a little bit to people that they respect and that appreciate their work. You know, you get people that are start being interested in the space and even if, like, that first transaction in crypto is kind of like eye-opening and more people should do it, or at least like show people to do it or have them do it themselves, because then you're're like, oh shoot, this is transformative and there's still a lot of people that haven't done that and, uh, that that transaction just opens up a lot of eyes. I know it did for me back when I was like first, like, oh, I just sent this kind of value from here to there. That's crazy. And it didn't, you know, it just cost me a transaction fee.

Hafftka: 23:32

I think that's great. I did that with my Pepe you know, pepe for the people and then I changed the metadata all the time to show people a lot of different art.

NorCal Guy: 23:43

Yeah.

Hafftka: 23:44

And I think more artists should do something like that Mine was free it doesn't have to be free, you can make it a low price. That mine was free it doesn't have to be free, you can make it a low price. But I think artists of all stripes and all values should put out something that is massive, that a lot of people get and they can experience in their wallets.

NorCal Guy: 24:04

Yeah, you know that. So that that makes me think like, uh, an open edition, an actual open edition, none of these timed editions like an actual open edition that you just give away to people that want it and you're like, hey, you know, here's the address. If you want to go claim it, you can go claim it. You know, you can live it one, two per wallet, whatever you want to do. But also, as an artist, you can give that away to someone that's not savvy yet and get them into the system. Yeah, Absolutely.

Hafftka: 24:34

I think that's the way to do it, like you said. Yeah, yeah, I love additions. I don't think there's a conflict between additions and one-one. I think artists can do both all the time, for sure, you know.

NorCal Guy: 24:45

Yeah, it's important, it is so. Do you have any other questions? It is so. Do you have any other questions? Nope, all right.

Hafftka: 25:02

Do you have any projects you're working on and you'd like to discuss or anything about yourself you'd like people to know or get out there? I'm sure I'm going to be here. I'm going to as long as I have breath in me and strength. I'm going to be sharing my work because I love it a lot, because I have breath in me and strength. I'm going to be sharing my work because I love it a lot. I've got some things coming up. I've got a meme card and 6529.

Hafftka: 25:17

Okay, anybody that owns a work of mine including the Pepe, I believe is on the allow list. It's going to be low priced, it's going to be an addition and it's a big animation and it's all about memes. So I think everyone will. I think it's a big animation and it's all about memes, so I think everyone will. I think it's beautiful. It's based on a lot of my paintings. It's put together. I love doing stuff like that. So that's coming out and I'm just now totally obsessed with AI on such a deep level. It's pretty amazing to me. Training models is fascinating. It's funny because one of my sons has a PhD in mathematics and years ago told me about AI and you know, I've been thinking about it for years and every now and then I'd say to him you know, help me create this model. He's always he's way too busy, way too busy to to screw around with his dad right right you know, finally it's here and this is phenomenal and I was very fortunate.

Hafftka: 26:20

Claire silver, who's a brilliant artist I adore her, I admire what she does. She came over to my studio and several times and just showed me, really showed me the magic. But the magic is there for everybody, I have to say. You can learn it on your own. You don't need the tutorial. I was very lucky to get that and maybe I was a little lazy to like want it that way, but you know, really, these, these apps are just amazing. The, the GUI, is really friendly. There's so much you can learn. There's a lot of information out there. So you know, I'm very excited about the future. I'm excited about painting with brushes, painting with AI, painting, doing everything, digital art. It's all exciting to me.

NorCal Guy: 27:05

Yeah, man Well, Hafka man, this was an amazing conversation. And I just wanted to say thank you so much and I appreciate your enthusiasm again and just thank you for your time and coming on the show today.

Hafftka: 27:21

Thank you. It's a lot of fun to meet you and it's just great to get together. Thank you so much, who is this guy?

NorCal Guy: 27:33

Who is this guy, who is this guy. Thank you so much time. Podcast show, show, show, show, show, show.