Today we’d like to introduce you to David Schwartz.
David, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
At 20 years old, I had the opportunity to be mentored by the musical icon Prince to record, perform, design, tour the USA and write songs with him at Paisley Park. Fun fact the only video I know of that exists of Prince actually hooping is with me and Kip Blackshire. At the same time, I was also working on an unreleased solo album with Kay Gee of Naughty By Nature. A lot of things were in the works but were slow to materialize. I visited ATL for a week and did very well designing album covers, so well that I moved the next week.
In 2002, I relocated to Atlanta and eventually started a design company called Creative Juice with Jeremy Fuerst designing album covers and branding for many artists and labels. I designed Gucci Mane’s first few album covers including So Icy single f/Young Jeezy. Akon’s demo CD cover when he was being shopped to labels, Tity Boi mix cd, Rasheeda, Rocko, Dro, Jagged Edge, 112, Monica, Killer Mike Grind Time logo and many other Atlanta artists.
I lived in Los Angeles from 2010-2019 and worked on creative for Entertainment Brands, Films and Television shows. I’ve been an Art / Creative Director and Designer on projects for Netflix, Marvel, Disney, Beats By Dre and Paris Hilton.
I was such a fan of Hip Hop album covers in the 80s/90s that I started my career as a designer and my nostalgia for that period influences my current art. After 20 years of mainly creating digital work, I’m now creating physical work. I recently created a marble and crystal sculpture that is a celebration of Hip Hop, currently on display at Buckhead Art & Co. 288 Buckhead Ave.
The boombox is made up of 96 pieces of high clarity 100% optic crystal. Permanently sealed inside the capsule walls are 180 authentic Hip Hop tapes released between 1980-2000 which coincides with the cassette boombox era. Included are albums that inspired me personally, some that influenced the masses, and some that “heads” can all agree are classics.
This first piece in the Rhyme Capsule series features a marble podium figure presenting the boombox over his head. The base figure is made of solid Marble and is the result of a tandem collaboration between myself and artist Isaac Madrid. The entire sculpture weighs 1,200lbs and took 15 months to complete. A special thanks to Atron Gregory (2Pac, NWA, Digital Underground) and Alonzo Williams (World Class Wreckin’ Cru) who donated a few tapes for this debut piece.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Failure is part of the process, when something doesn’t go right, you take away the lesson you’ll never forget or it gives you an opportunity to pivot. Example, I was going to make the Rhyme Capsule an acrylic embedment with old plastic boombox parts glued to the outside. I was already putting a ton of time and money into the sculpture and when it came close to creating that part, I found out that the plastic cassettes would melt under heat and pressure. I thought the show was over and couldn’t believe I might have to scrap something I believed in and was fighting so hard to create. Long story short, I wound up faking an embedment instead and making everything out of crystal, the knobs, speaker grills, everything. Sooooo much better than my original concept. Sometimes in failure, you can find something even better if your mind is open.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I think what has given me the opportunity to work with so many great artists and projects is I want to create something unexpected and emotional. Sometimes budgets and other people’s ideas get in the way of that and every project can’t be that way but thats where my spirit is.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think I would because all of my mistakes have made me a better person, artist and designer.
Contact Info:
- Address: Currently showcased at Buckhead Art & Co
288 Buckhead ave. Atlanta GA 30305 - Website: www.RhymeCapsule.com and www.DavidMadeIt.com
- Email: rhymecapsuleart@gmail.com
- Instagram: @davidmadeit and @rhymecspsule
Image Credit:
Photos of the sculpture are by Sasha Barnes
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