In this episode, John Knopf sits down with pioneering crypto artist Coldie for a deep dive into a career built on passion, conviction, and a love for chaos. Coldie shares the fascinating origin story of his unique art form, stereoscopic 3D, tracing it back to childhood fascinations with View-Masters and antique stereoscopes.
He recounts his journey of joining the Stereo Club in the basement of a church , where he was mentored by legends and inherited the knowledge of a "dying art". Coldie details his early hustle, from building his own DIY 3D camera to inventing a magazine to get photo passes to shoot legendary bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus. For years, he was driven by the belief that technology like virtual reality would one day catch up to his vision, a conviction that culminated in tears of joy when he finally saw his work in an Oculus headset.
Coldie also walks us through his entry into crypto in 2017, when he googled "blockchain art" and began minting his work on early platforms like Rare Art Labs, viewing his pieces as cultural artifacts of the time. He provides a rare glimpse into the early days of the NFT scene, explaining how he developed the "Coldie Method" for auctions to ensure fairness and sharing an unforgettable story of standing up to a major collector who tried to game the system.
