It's not like your brain remembers things, but your fingers do.
Because you just see something and you just do it.
You know, it's like walking.
My name is Giovanni Contardi and I'm a
Rubik's Cube artist so I make artwork
using hundreds of Rubik's Cubes.
The first time I've learned how to solve
it, I was able to do it in roughly
three minutes which is OK.
At the top of my career, my speedcubing
career, I was able to solve it on an
average of eight seconds but now I'm a
bit more focused on the artwork.
So I kind of lost a little bit of
touch. Yeah. Pretty much everything
started thanks to Instagram.
For fun, while I was working as a
coffee roaster in Australia, I started
uploading my Rubik's Cube portraits
online.
Everything blew up on Instagram when I
had some celebrities repost my work
and, that of course, gave me a
boost which is what you need on
Instagram. Since then is when I decided
that this hobby could become a job.
So, I momentarily left my job as a
coffee roaster and now I'm just
pursuing this career and I want to take
it as far as I can.
What do I love about Rubik's Cube?
I don't know.
For me it was a big help during my
teenage years because I come from a
600 people hometown which is tiny so
there wasn't much to do.
And, through Rubik's Cube I found, you
know, how can I be — I was passionate
about something, I never felt this
passion for anything else.
And, I'm a very competitive person.
And so the linking between something
that I really like and going to
competition, you know, enabled me to go
all around the world and meet new
friends,
and that's what I like about it.
After that I kind of had a moment where,
"OK where am I going now with this
Rubik's Cube?"
And so I started exploring the creative
side of it.
And that's when I started experimenting
with art.
So this was probably five years ago,
six years ago.
And it's when I started working on my
design and see, "how can I just use six
colors to create an artwork?"
My first full-sized portrait was
actually "The Scream" from Edvard
Munch. And that was made with more than
900 Rubik's Cubes which is actually a
higher number than what I use now.
The first piece I ever, ever sold it
was an Amy Winehouse portrait.
So, at the time, I didn't know about the
logistics involved in it.
So I pretty much didn't make any money
out of it and so it was around $5,000
but of course I wasn't aware of
everything that goes through into
framing it and shipping it.
But it was a good experience and I
actually went to Amsterdam to deliver
it in person so that I could meet the
first person who ever bought a portrait from me.
I always leave a little bit of a gap
between the frame and the cubes.
And this is to show that it's all made
with real Rubik's Cubes. Because
if I inserted all the cubes inside the
frame, most people will think that
it is only two dimensions.
And so this is what I like to do so
that people can feel it, touch it, and
you know understand the value of the
piece.
So far, these past four months my
business has been going very well
although I just started.
I got a chance to do a couple of
portraits for people like as a
Christmas present and things like that.
And especially now, I'm signed with
this gallery in New York called Gallery
104. So I'm just preparing for a show.
So, the artwork that I sold for the
biggest amount so far is a 700 Rubik's
Cube piece for $29,000.
Of course, you know, the price may seem
a bit high at the beginning but the
reason is that it's all real Rubik's
Cubes. It's a handmade frame.
There are tons of hours of work.
So I feel like it's a fair price
considering all the amount of work behind it.
From a concept to a framed piece like
you can see behind me, that probably
takes at least three or four weeks.
The reason behind it is that I normally
work on my design so on my image, first of all.
And I'll start from a photo and then
maybe work up to 10, 12, 15 days on my
project. After that, once I have my
design ready, it's time to play with
the Rubik's Cubes and that takes me,
realistically, only two hours.
The reason for it is that I have been
practicing for almost almost 10 years
now. And so I got the chance to be very
fast at creating a portrait.
After that, you know, to get to a
framed piece I would have to order a
handmade wooden frame made from
an artisan either here or here in New
York or in Italy.
And so the whole process I always saythat it takes months.
So far I've been purchasing all my
Rubik's Cubes online in bulk so that I
could save a little bit of money but
I've just become an official Rubik's
Cube ambassador.
So they're gonna help me supplying with
what I need so that will help me a lot.
You can find a good quality cube like
this one for around, less than $5 a
piece so you can do the math depending
on how much I use for each portrait.
So most people think that I hate the
green color because I almost never use
it in my portraits.
And the reason for it is that the
method that I found to create a design
doesn't allow for the green color to
match as well.
So unless it's really really needed like
on a Joker piece that I made in the
past, then I'll try to avoid it.
I don't hate green.
It just doesn't work very well with my art.