Fluffy Stories #1: Who is Selcuk Erdem?
Who is Selçuk Erdem?
“You know, when we went to school when we were little, there was a kid who was drawing something in every classroom; that kid was me. I’ve been drawing since time out of mind.” says Selçuk Erdem.
He was born in Eskişehir, Turkey and started drawing before he learned to read and write. He is now one of the country’s greatest illustrators. So how did he get to this point?
Selçuk, to whom the biggest hero has been Asterix since primary school, started his cartoon career by reading Gırgır Magazine and kept reading various humor magazines in high school. In the same period, he started to send the works he drew to numerous magazines for the first time. There wasn’t even an e-mail back then; he would put everything he drew in an envelope and send it to the magazines one by one, and he was an enthusiastic young artist who excitedly bought each magazine issue and checked to see if his work was published.
When he finished high school at the age of 16, he started to study at the Faculty of Business Administration at Istanbul University, but since drawing was his great talent, he became a professional at the age of 18. At the age of 23, his first bestselling book was published. Four more editions of the same book were published later. Selçuk’s works were sold so many times that “I was famous but I didn’t know.” he says about those times. He didn’t even realize how famous he was.
The year 2002 was a great turning point for Selçuk. He published the first issue of the “Penguin” Magazine, which was published weekly for 15 years, together with his friends. He was in the team that founded the magazine. Penguin Magazine has always published great content on the problems of society. Penguin magazine has become one of the most prominent magazines in the country, reaching more than 100,000 people every month. At the same time, Selçuk started to write TV scripts. He drew cartoons for more than 30 major brands. He has created and continues to create exceptional pieces of work for the largest banks and telecom companies in the country.
In other words, Selçuk Erdem, who has turned his curiosity, talent, and passion into his job, has become one of the luckiest people in the world. He achieved this with his confidence and determination to work. He still continues to improve himself by creating more artwork.
So Why NFT?
We asked Selçuk: Why NFT? The answers we got were as follows:
“We’re still at the very beginning of where NFT could go. Only a tiny fraction of this universe has been discovered. Great work is being done and will continue to be done in this area. I wanted to be a part of it too, and now this is my place, I intend to be completely permanent here.
The question of where the NFT world might end up is very open. I can define it as a part of art history; I can say this is new generation art. Being permanent here is very important. Normally, an artist’s first exhibition may cause great suspicion, but from the second exhibition, people start to trust him more and question marks about his permanence are erased with each exhibition. I also aim to continue my career here by being a part of different projects within the NFT world.
Mankind started art by drawing on cave walls, and today it has come to a jpeg file; there is no difference between them.”
About Polar Bears NFT
Selçuk says,
“I love to draw animals and I have always drawn them. At a time when the climate crisis is so intense, it is quite ironic to design a universe where only polar bears survive. That’s why, I immersed myself in the Polar Bears NFT project. I have been having a lot of fun and working hard since I started the project. I have been drawing and producing by working an average of 10 hours a day for the last three months. this project will continue, and I will continue to draw for other projects, as well.”
