A LIVING PORTRAIT OF THE MAN IN BLACK
The Johnny Cash Project is an online global collective public art project and visual testament to the life and career of Johnny Cash. Working in collaboration with director Chris Milk, Aaron Koblin, Rick Rubin, and the Cash Estate, we created a highly interactive website celebrating American VI: Ain’t No Grave, Johnny Cash’s final studio recording.Visitors to the site artistically reinterpret archival footage with the use of a custom drawing tool, to create and share their vision of the Man in Black. These original, personal portraits are then strung together and played in sequence over the song, “Ain’t No Grave.” Creating a moving, ever-evolving homage to the musical icon, the result is a crowd-sourced animated online music video that pushes the boundaries of the medium. The site has already received over 175,000 visitors from 165 countries, and features almost 10,000 drawing submissions.
The album “Ain’t No Grave” is deeply rooted in themes of mortality, resurrection, and everlasting life. The Johnny Cash Project pays tribute to these themes.
The is only famous person I have wept for on the day of their death. (Albeit, drunkenly and embarrassingly in a bar.)