Showing all 10 results
Veleno #2 (NFT)
Starting from the first drawing that put on paper the idea for “Veleno” cover (2002), Mauro Balletti designed a second version of the image. Another Indian ink sketch, showing a Mina from the future at the centre, with name and title on either side. An illustration of what it would become the photograph for the album cover. In Balletti's imagination this was a future Mina, hence the title he suggested for the album: “2040”. As it often happened, Mina changed the title many times and finally chose “Veleno”, but Balletti's idea for the cover remained. This unreleased sketch is a precious example of how Mina and Balletti worked together for the album covers. The talent of Balletti was to switch from the initial sketch to the final image, that consists in a graphically elaborated photo. This NFT (Non-Fungible Token), in other words a non-replicable nor replaceable item, offers this unreleased Indian ink drawing, in its very first design stage. A Mina's portrait, drew by Mauro Balletti's genius, that becomes in this way a digital art work with blockchain technology. Mauro Balletti tells about the creation of this unique work in a video.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- Final draft #2: ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Detail: Photo #1 a detail from the preparatory image #1
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the technique he used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Veleno #1 (NFT)
Among the kaleidoscopic metamorphoses Mina showed on her album covers, there's also this strange lady from the future. Her silver hair, aiming the sky, frames a pale face with such intense eyes that make her look like an alien, nostalgic for the Earth. Mauro Balletti designed this cover for the album “Veleno”, issued in 2002. The first version was a sketch that he drew on paper with Indian ink. This unreleased document becomes today an NFT (Non-Fungible Token), a non-replicable nor replaceable item. With blockchain technology, a Mina's portrait, drawn by Mauro Balletti's genius, becomes a digital art work. Mauro Balletti tells about the creation of this unique piece in a video.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- Final draft #1: ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one.
- Detail: Photo #1 a detail from the preparatory image #1
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the technique he used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Salomè #2 (NFT)
There is an opera dedicated to Salomè by Richard Strauss, there is a tragedy dedicated to Salomè by Oscar Wilde, there is a Salomè in Gustave Flaubert novella “Hèrodias” and a Salomè that inspired a poetry in “Les fleurs du mal” by Charles Baudelaire, there is a Salomè painted by Klimt and there is a Mina-Salomè photographed by Mauro Balletti. Flowing hair and beard frame Mina's face and she has an enigmatic as much as cleverly ironic expression. The image, designed by Mina and Balletti for “Salomè”, recorded in 1981, becomes now an NFT (Non-Fungible Token), in other words, a non-replicable nor replaceable digital art work, with blockchain technology. Mauro Balletti tells the making of this unique work in a video.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- Preparatory 1: unreleased preparatory photograph #1
- Preparatory 3: unreleased preparatory photograph #3
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Salomè #1 (NFT)
As a celebrity, Mina was used to constantly change her makeup and hairstyle for TV shows and concerts. Her looks dictated trends and she was a fashion icon, despite herself. After leaving the stage, Mina decided to change and to play with her image for her album covers. Over the years, with the precious help of Mauro Balletti, she designed a kaleidoscopic self-image, through many transformations. For 1981 album “Salomè”, Mina and Balletti created an image that entered in collective imagination and last ever since. Mina with the beard is a modern Salomè. This photograph by Mauro Balletti was shot after a long makeup session, during which the beard was attached to Mina's face lock by lock, so precisely to look real. Today, this iconic photo becomes an NFT (Non-Fungible Token), in other words, a non-replicable nor replaceable item. Thanks to blockchain technology, Mina's image becomes a digital art work. Mauro Balletti explains the creation of this unique artwork in two videos.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- Preparatory 1: unreleased preparatory photograph #1
- Preparatory 2: unreleased preparatory photograph #2
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Rane Supreme #4 (NFT)
Mina and Balletti designed a real image that abstracts her ideal feminine beauty. In this NFT (Non-Fungible Token), an item that is not replicable nor replaceable, Bodybuilder Mina opens the arms, displaying the strong muscles. The image was created by Mauro Balletti without the support of Photoshop. In 1987, in fact, the graphic and photo editing software didn't exist yet, so Balletti photographed the two subjects, he manually overlapped the images and finally took a picture of the combined photos. Using analogue technique, he erased the contact points between the two photos and created the final image, which became part of “Rane supreme”, Mina's album from 1987. The NFT offers the moment before the use of airbrush on the overlapped images. Mauro Balletti explains the creation of this unique artwork in two videos. An unreleased image becomes a digital art work with blockchain technology.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- The ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Detail: Photo #1 a detail of the preparatory image
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Rane Supreme #3 (NFT)
Seen from behind, hiding her face, bodybuilder Mina shows her famous braid, falling on a massive back. It's almost a visual oxymoron: the braid, symbol of femininity, on a muscular body, symbol of manliness. This image is part of the graphic and photographic material created by Mauro Balletti for Mina's album “Rane Supreme”, issued in 1987. In an era without Photoshop, Balletti invents a way to make an image overlapping and to do it harmoniously. This NFT (Non-Fungible Token), in other words, an item that is not replicable nor replaceable, offers the moment before the use of airbrush on the overlapped images. Mauro Balletti explains the creation of this unique artwork in two videos. An unreleased image becomes a digital art work with blockchain technology
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- The ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Detail: Photo #1 a detail of the preparatory image
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Rane Supreme #2 (NFT)
Bodybuilder Mina is presented in different poses especially made for 1987 album “Rane Supreme”. Inside the album, a top view of an extraordinary Bodybuilder Mina who seems resting and at the same time on the verge of standing up in all her bulkiness. Mauro Balletti put Mina's face picture on top of the man's photo: to achieve a balanced final outcome, he tried to find the right camera angle for the two separate shoots. This NFT (Non-Fungible Token), an item that is not replicable nor replaceable, shows the different layers of the image and it captures the stage of production preceding Balletti's graphic corrections to hide the overlapping. An unreleased image becomes a digital art work thanks to blockchain technology. Mauro Balletti explains the creation of this unique artwork in two videos.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- The ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Detail: Photo #1 a detail of the preparatory image
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Rane Supreme #1 (NFT)
Mina plays with her image and becomes a bodybuilder. It was her own idea and Mauro Balletti made it real. In 1987, this image was used for the cover of “Rane supreme”, gaining interest and admiration straight away. This NFT (Non-Fungible Token), an item that is not replicable nor replaceable, shows the overlapping process Balletti made: he took the picture of the bodybuilder first and then he added a beauty photo of Mina's face with an eye mask makeup. At that time, Photoshop, the digital photo editing program, didn't exist yet, so those steps were up to Balletti's genius and manual ability. He cropped the two photos by hand, overlapped them and then photographed them again. He eliminated the outlines with an airbrush and other analogue graphic procedures. Two videos of Mauro Balletti tell the creation of this piece. An unreleased image becomes a digital art work with blockchain technology.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- The ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Detail: Photo #1 a detail of the preparatory image
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Canarino Mannaro #2 (NFT)
Created by Mauro Balletti for Mina's 1994 album “Canarino Mannaro“, this image becomes today an NFT (Non-Fungible Token), an item that is not replicable nor replaceable. The picture shows the preparatory phase of the image designed for the inside of Mina's album.
The inside of “Canarino Mannaro” was created without using graphic programs nor digital images. Mauro Balletti took pictures of several wigs from eighteenth century and combined them, by merging and overlapping, to create a sort of cloud that reaches two Mina's profile photographs facing each other. The image consists of many graphic and meaning layers: in the centre, the cage with the man swinging on the perch, like a real canary. This NFT contains all the overlapped layers and the merging of different images created by Balletti. Mauro Balletti tells about the creation of this unique piece in some videos included in the NFT and unlockable after the purchase.
An unreleased image becomes a digital artwork thanks to blockchain technology.
NFT Content list
- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- The ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Detail: Photo of a detail from the preparatory image
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques he used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques he used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #3: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques he used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
Canarino Mannaro #1 (NFT)
The cover of "Canarino Mannaro"(1994), one of Mina's most beautiful album, becomes today a NFT (Non-Fungible Token), in other words, an item that is not replicable nor replaceable.
This NFT shows the preparatory phase of the album cover image, created by great designer and photographer Mauro Balletti.
The cover of “Canarino Mannaro” was made without using graphic programs nor digital images. Mauro Balletti put together the still image of a Mina's close-up, from a VHS cassette, with an eighteenth century print, creating a new, original image.
NFT Content list- Cover: Unreleased preparatory stock photo
- Unlockable content after purchase
- The ultimate image obtained starting from the preparatory one
- Video #1: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #2: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image
- Video #3: Mauro Balletti explains the techniques used at the time to create the ultimate version of the image