Pixelated Nostalgia with Defiant Squid

Defiant Squid is a crypto-artist and animator whose practice fuses memory, abstraction, and the pixelated spirit of early video games. With a focus on nostalgia and geometry, his works transform digital landscapes into textured forms that feel both experimental and familiar. We talk about his journey from animation to crypto art, his explorations of light and fragmentation, and the ways he navigates between digital and physical mediums. 

Recorded on September 29, 2025

Follow the guest:
https://x.com/DefiantSquid

Follow the hosts:
https://x.com/Scooter0x
https://x.com/PepaDot

Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:52) What cryptoart means to Defiant Squid
(02:18) Early influences and first encounters with art
(04:08) The origin of the name Defiant Squid
(07:09) Discovering Async Art and programmable layers
(09:45) Balancing animation and personal practice
(10:44) Nostalgia and geometry
(11:49) Memory, emotion, and digital texture
(13:13) Embracing imperfection in the digital medium
(15:54) Why digital and physical art both matter
(17:31) RYB and the colors of memory
(21:10) Super Effective and cryptoart through gaming
(23:39) Restart in MS-Dos Mode and 1990s nostalgia
(26:16) Voxel Cliffs and exploring 3D in 2D form
(28:59) Making a coffee table cryptoart book
(32:19) The Cult of Cryptoart and creative community
(34:28) Foundational works of cryptoart
(35:48) The current state of cryptoart