I am Karen is a very special artwork for me personally. It was inspired by a poem I wrote for a Lost Poet Origin owned by my friend Lord Truffington on October 31, 2022. The original image that inspired the poem is one of the first and second face in the piece and when I saw the original Lost Poet image, I immediately thought of the Karen meme and what it must be like to be the many who have your name mired by the actions of the few. It got me thinking about scenarios that Karen't must run into on the daily.
Around April 1st, 2023 is when I started working on I am Karen. At that time AI "deepfake" technology was emerging in the form of corporate tools for brands to create realistic looking AI models that mouth and speak scripts perfectly for commercials, internal training videos, and other branded content. When I came across this tech, I felt this poem would be the perfect one to use it to allow the characters in my poems to come to life and speak to the audience.
Based on the reception to the piece from my wife and muse, I decided to enter the artwork into the Obscura Dao's (https://twitter.com/obscuradao) open call for the Makersplace NFC Lisbon AI Hackaton (https://rare.makersplace.com/2023/05/25/a-new-era-of-art-powered-by-ai/). I had submitted my work and mentioned it to my friend Lord Truffington but for some reason, the judges did not see it initially but eventually found it. A few days later, I received a messaged that I had won the spot from hundreds of entries and would have the opportunity to collaborate with Sasha Stiles (https://twitter.com/sashastiles), Trevor Jones (https://twitter.com/trevorjonesart), Hackatao (https://twitter.com/Hackatao), and Coldie (https://twitter.com/Coldie).
I hope you enjoy I am Karen, it is an artwork very special to me and one that marks a major milestone in storytelling for poets and artists and also a milestone in my artistic journey. It allowed me to meet so many people who are now my friends for life and to new opportunities that I hope will bloom in 2024 and beyond.
I'm not sure what I was waiting for to mint it - I was waiting to save it for something special and figure minting on the last day of 2023, a momentous year for me as an artist would be a good reason to.
I am Karen
This is my face
At the thought that my name
Is now worse than a hurricane
Throwing about the detritus of life
Indiscriminately
With no pause
Like an indifferent god
Yearning to unleash
Their unimaginable power
For unknown reasons.
This is my face
As I introduce myself
At a cocktail party in London
To a complete stranger
Who clearly does not know me
And gives that smug, knowing look
I get almost every time
And I know I look this way
Because someone
Snapped a photo of me
From across the room
And posted it
On one those event photo website;
Some Lord or something.
This is my face
When I think of all the people like me
With this name
Searching for the first of us
Or the (probably) guy
Who used our name because
One of us
Wronged him
Likely deservedly
And ruined our reputation
Forever
Or at least until
One of us does something so amazing
It overshadows all the others
Who added to our bad name
Why the hell can’t it be Jenny
Or Penelope
Or Zelda?
Anyway…
This is my face
When I meet another Karen
And we pause for several moments each
After the first says their name
To see how the other will react
As if playing chicken
Like rebels without a cause;
We never blink
We never speak
Just stare
Then move on with the conversation
Become besties
Or enemies if she is actually
A Karen
Ugh.