As the Wu-Tang Clan’s leader and producer, RZA aka Bobby Digital has  made himself a visible figure in the arts and entertainment industry, landing roles in films (American Gangster, Funny People) and producing soundtracks for Quentin Tarantino. He’s long been the group’s resident mystic and stylist, overseeing their production and aesthetic vision through his eclectic use of samples and gritty style of production. RZA’s latest self-mythologizing project involves the limited edition fine art collectible series Victory Or Death.

On January 1, 2010, When Art Imitates Life and SceneFour will unveil 360 prints containing 36 hidden artifacts and messages whose meanings will be unveiled over time. At the moment, details regarding the prints are slim, although the RZA proclaims he and his team will “rewrite and change history.” Whether or not you’re convinced that’ll happen, it’ll be interesting to see if this amounts to be more than just a silly, self-aggrandizing hype machine.

Via the press release:

Details about Victory Or Death remain mum as does the conceptual behind The RZA’s release.  What has been promised is a “reworking” of history onto massive canvas that focuses on the concept of “hearing the call” and revolution in an inspiring and provocative way.  In total, 360 prints will be available to the public on the January 1, 2010 release date.  When discussing the upcoming release, The RZA states, “It didn’t begin 20 years ago…more like 200 years ago. And when you see the piece we’re making right here, you’re going to know what I’m talking about.  We’re about to rewrite and change history.”

When Art Imitates Life was founded by King Tech and Sway (of Their World Famous Wake Up Show) with the express purpose of creating fine art with musical visionaries. The company unveiled the Victory Or Death project to commemorate 20 years of RZA’s career as hip-hop renaissance man–musician, actor and artist. Blue is currently offering six studio-quality desktop microphones as part of a giveaway which includes one microphone signed by the RZA himself.

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For more info, visit http://www.whenartimitateslife.com/

via Abe Ahn, 21 December 2009 7:58am | |