Kevin Heisner

Kevin Heisner portrait

Kevin Heisner (b. 1970) explores metaphysical questions through material and immaterial forms inspired by Renaissance imagery, glitch aesthetics, and Eastern philosophy. Using AI prompts and intentional glitches as artifacts of technological translation, he presents what Heisner calls “spooky actions,” entanglements of human intention, historical data, and machine processes. Heisner’s works invite viewers into an archaeological moment of unfolding digital consciousness. Heisner also develops collaborative AR projects and research-based installations that extend Heisner’s ongoing inquiry into nature, perception, and impermanence.

Artworks
  • Elements, 2023, 3D-printed nylon, mixed media, Ø76.2 × 53.3 cm
    Elements, 2023, 3D-printed nylon, mixed media, Ø76.2 × 53.3 cm
    Elements is a series derived from Spirit Snacks project, exploring an alternative approach to visualizing energy and vibration. Each piece features a meticulously 3D-printed nylon “spirit” placed atop a plastic rock base, upon which lies a handwoven rug created by the artist. The compositions evoke the meditative geometry of the rock garden at Ryōan-ji, creating a sense of visual harmony that invites viewers to contemplate spirituality, nature, and the unseen. Within this structure of harmony, the Elements works reveal how sculpture, after the advent of 3D printing, acquires a new sensory reality. The “printed form” is not a mere replication of a virtual model but a visualization of the process through which digital data materializes into physical substance. For Heisner, 3D printing is not simply a technical tool but a sensory conduit between the virtual and the real, where sculpture is composed not through manual labor but through the rhythm of algorithms. The series captures the moment when the printed forms reenter reality from the digital environment, proposing a new sculptural dimension in which material sensation reconnects with the metaphysical.
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  • Elements, 2023, 3D-printed nylon, mixed media, Ø45.7 × 61 cm
    Elements, 2023, 3D-printed nylon, mixed media, Ø45.7 × 61 cm
  • Elements, 2023, 3D-printed nylon, mixed media, Ø45.7 × 86.4 cm
    Elements, 2023, 3D-printed nylon, mixed media, Ø45.7 × 86.4 cm
  • Gramps × Shlumper, Head In The Clouds (Seoul Limited Edition), 2025, Sugar jelly (cherry flavor), hologram trading card (24pt stock, holographic foil), NFT edition of 500
    Gramps × Shlumper, Head In The Clouds (Seoul Limited Edition), 2025, Sugar jelly (cherry flavor), hologram trading card (24pt stock, holographic foil), NFT edition of 500
    The Head In The Clouds Eureka Gummies NFT is connected to Shlumper (A.K.A. Kevin Heisner)’s Spirit Snacks Edibles. NFT holders gain exclusive access to the Spirit Snacks Lab and join ONBD and Shlumper on their mission to explore everything about Spirit Snacks. Contents • 1 Cherry-flavored sugar gummy • Head In The Clouds hologram trading card (Seoul Limited Edition of 100) • Card specs: 24pt card stock, block hologram foil print NFT Information • Total supply: 500 NFTs • Blockchain: Polygon • Token standard: ERC1155 • Format: 5-second video loop • Status: NSV (Not for Sale) • Benefit: Exclusive access to Spirit Snacks Lab • Artist: Shlumper • Collaboration: Gramps × ONBD Head In The Clouds Eureka Gummies NFT disrupts the boundary between art and consumption, revealing how digital art expands into a new genre through the commodification of experience. The project is connected to Shlumper (A.K.A. Kevin Heisner)’s real edible gummy brand, Spirit Snacks Edibles, and grants exclusive access to a virtual space called Spirit Snacks Lab only to NFT holders. This structure reveals how art shifts from an object of appreciation to a system that constructs an experience of ownership through participation and purchase. While composed of looping video NFTs, physical gummies, and holographic cards, the work’s core lies in the circulation system in which digital imagery and material objects are continuously exchanged and redefined.This project demonstrates how digital art reconfigures the viewer’s experience through the sensory logic of consumption, extending beyond the conventional art market. The NFT functions not merely as proof of ownership but as a symbol of participatory spectatorship, transforming art into a hybrid genre where acts of consumption and play converge. Shlumper employs this structure of sensory consumption as an aesthetic material to explore how digital-age art simultaneously generates economic relations and sensory experiences. Head In The Clouds Eureka Gummies NFT presents a new form of post-consumer art, where distribution, ownership, and enjoyment merge into a single aesthetic event.
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Artist Responses
What media and technical components make up this work?A sculpture symbolizing the NFT, and the NFT candy and AR that come with the trading card. The NFT authenticates the work, anchoring its digital life across platforms. What’s collected is less an object than an encounter. Is conversion into other formats possible?
Yes, migration is like a wave. The consumable parts and AR files move freely between formats, retaining their meaning and provenance on-chain.
Are there plans to migrate or emulate this work in response to future technological changes? Files and contract metadata enable emulation as platforms evolve. Technology is not static; it evolves, and the work adapts and re-manifests with it. What should be prioritized to ensure the long-term care of this work? The gummies are ephemeral, yet the experience remains documented and alive on-chain. What do you consider the essential element that must be sustained, even if the medium changes? The work exists in the coexistence of opposites: physical and metaphysical, fleeting and permanent. What matters is the interaction between viewer and object. Does the work depend on specific technical forms or hardware? Any compatible device suffices; there is no fixed hardware. The importance lies in how it is experienced, not in how it is presented.The true medium is perception.What are the most important environmental conditions for installation (such as space, lighting, or sound)?Neutral lighting and a calm space are ideal. A still atmosphere that allows for reflection and AR visibility invites the viewer to become a co-creator.To what extent can the work be reinstalled in the future without the direct involvement of the artist?Yes, it can. Its presence is renewed each time through participation and re-presentation.Can the current form of the work be maintained in the future?Yes. Components may evolve, but the intention remains the core of the work.If specific equipment or components fail, can they be replaced?The work is not just a gummy, and NFTs are more than an act of authentication.Are there any particular points you would like to emphasize or considerations to note regarding the preservation of the work? Not applicable.