As the man whose bass guitar magic powered James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic’s creation of the genre, Bootsy Collins, as much as anyone, can comfortably lay claim to creating the sound of funk. According to legions of fans, Professor Bootsy may also have been the first person to transform funk into physical matter through his ‘liquid funk’ style of playing. And today, Collins takes the music synonymous with his name into yet another realm with the official unveiling of Eye-Funk, his translation of funk into a visual art image.Eye-Funk is the result of a lengthy process involving photography, greenscreen, found images and archived elements, undertaken with the aim of isolating and visually replicating what’s going on in his imagination. Every piece in this limited-edition line of 300 is a one-of-a-kind collectible, each bearing a unique funk mantra created and applied to the canvas by Bootsy himself.
Each piece is numbered and signed, with his handprints added in acrylic paint. Each piece features a number of hidden elements for its owner to discover. 250 of the 300 measure 40″ x 30″, while the remaining 50 weigh in at a whopping 80″ x 60″. Bootsy’s “Golden Ticket” opportunity treated signees to the early interest list to an advance peek of the piece, but Eye-Funk is now available for all to view and purchase at www.bootsycollinsart.com.Earlier this year, Collins made waves with the opening of The Funk University (thefunkuniversity.com), the online bass guitar academy masterminded and supervised by Collins himself, with help from guest professors Les Claypool, Meshell Ndegeocello, Victor Wooten, George Clinton, T.M. Stevens, John B. Williams, Divinity Roxx, Thee Ram Jam, Frankie “Kash” Waddy, Bakithi Kumalo, P-Nut and Blackbyrd McKnight. Bootsy’s Funk University is produced by SceneFour, the L.A. creativity house responsible for projects with Al Gore’s Current TV, MTV-U, Nine Inch Nails, the RZA, Marilyn Manson, The Pixies, and Beck.
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