"The Masquerade is my next chapter of the story of Luci, continuing right where The Monument Game left off. Art, community-building, and modern exegesis come together to elevate the choices, connections, and true nature revealed through others' collision with my work and world. Players from The Monument Game who pledge to the Masquerade will be able to enter as they are, but as this is a party, each will be able to invite a guest to join for a price." - Sam
Every single one of the hundreds of written contributions will be taken in and deliberated on. Deliberations come in two forms: alone between Sam and the author, and together with The Council.
Alone, Sam will go through every bit of Observation, Discussion, and Revision, and sort the space myself. Masks will be chosen or crafted in real-time based on what he feels is best suited to its wearer. A direct link between himself, the collection, and those who participate in the Masquerade.
The Council’s task meanwhile will be to whittle down from many to few to find who put on the best show, who gave themselves to the Masquerade, voting to select one Observation, one Discussion, and one Revision, to respectively award the Masks of Creation, Destruction, and Balance.
The Mask that’s been made for a receiver is a link between them and Sam. That what you gave to the Masquerade was taken in, read over and over, and what you received is what I felt from you. Though you are being sorted, each Mask was made and inspired by his love of people and all the funny forms we take.
Some will be obvious: a Luminate mask for someone who led the way for many others. Fungal Network mask for those who connected and stitched people together. Others are more subtle. But even within the largest category like Foundation, there are common stones, rare earth metals, and bedrock that will stand the test of time.
The color, texture, flow, protrusions, form, each Masks inspiration from its corresponding component of the jungle and how matters of Man, Nature, and Spirit rhyme across each function of a living ecosystem. There are Masks for mothers, guides, seers, trolls, mimics, reply guys, thought leaders, jesters and code-crackers. There are hierarchies across the Masks and hierarchies within each, there are packs and groups, links across the jungle, some live inside the work “X. Masquerade”, some are inspired by principles that govern our world, others by the most specific quirk of an individual person. There is a Mask for every type. Thank you for giving yourself to the network. All we have to offer is ourselves." - Sam
Sam Spratt creates from rupture. The pursuit of redemption through solidity–to chart a path forward from past missteps.
His current body of work, a series of digital paintings: Luci (pronounced Loo - See) follows the infinite story of pilgrimage and serves as a refracted self-portrait of the artist–each piece: a confession, a conversation, and a joke at our own expense. Through the process of palingenesis, this episodic body of work serves as guides and warnings for the atomized individual exiting dissociation and attempting to connect, grow, and thrive in an escalating network.
Sam lives in the United States of America and works out of his studio in New York City. His artwork has found homes in games, films, music, books, comics, magazines, theater, and most creative industries.