Blinded
A one-piece EVA mule with a blindfolded face on the toe. PANEM ET CIRCENSES runs along the sole: bread and circuses. Keep a crowd fed and entertained, and it stops looking.
FilmRendered and animated in Vizcom, edited in Premiere and CapCut. Sound off.
01 · The idea
Bread and circuses.
In the second century, the Roman poet Juvenal wrote that a people who once handed out power now longed for just two things: bread and circuses. Feed the crowd, keep it entertained, and it stops asking questions.
Today the arena fits in a pocket. BLINDED puts the idea on a foot: a classical face with a blindfold pulled over its eyes, the phrase along the sole and the year on the heel. It looks like a museum piece and asks what we miss while we watch the show.
Why a mule? I made it the same week as Technomule, to build on that AI workflow while it was fresh, but this time starting from my own base sketch on the last, to keep control of the form. And I have a weak spot for moulded foam shoes.
“Duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses.”
It longs for just two things: bread and circuses.
Juvenal, Satire X
02 · Details
Carved in foam.
Every reference is relief in the same EVA, so the story adds no prints, patches or extra parts.
The face, blindfolded
- 01Toe
A classical face, nose and lips in relief, eyes covered.
- 02Blindfold
The cloth wraps the instep and folds back into a textured EVA collar, so the face doubles as the vamp.
- 03Sidewall
Laurel branches, the Roman sign of victory, run from heel to toe.
- 04Sole edge
PANEM ET CIRCENSES in Roman capitals around the toe.
- 05Heel
MMXXVI: 2026, the year it was made.
- 06Outsole
A meander border around laurel sprigs.
All images on this page are Vizcom renders.
03 · Process
Base sketch, then render.
After Technomule, art directed with prompts, I wanted more control over the form. I trained in hand sketching at TU Delft for years, with Copic markers, so BLINDED starts from my own base sketch on the last, and Vizcom takes it from there.
04 · Colourways
Four colours, one mould.
Bone is the hero: the warm beige of Italian stone, like the travertine of the Colosseum, where the film is set. Red and blue are what classical statues actually wore: Greek and Roman marble was painted in bright colour, and white was only the canvas. Black is the street pair. All four come from the same mould.
Colour sources: the Colosseum’s travertine · painted classical sculpture, the Met’s Chroma exhibition
05 · On foot
Back on the street.
Off the pedestal it’s a mule you’d wear for a coffee run, with sweatpants and a long coat.
06 · Outcome
A statue you can wear.
A one-piece EVA mule where every reference (face, laurel, lettering, meander) is relief in the same foam, so the story needs no prints, patches or extra parts. The experiment also answered its question: starting from my own base sketch keeps the silhouette and proportions mine, and Vizcom takes it from there to views, colourways and film. Next, if I take it further: a 3D model with real relief depths, and a sample to test how the face and the lettering hold up in foam.
DesignJordan Groskamp: concept, base sketch, render and film
ToolsVizcom, Photoshop, Premiere, CapCut
MaterialOne-piece EVA foam (concept)
Year2026
Next project · 05 / Footwear
The moment before something is madeAfter Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel, 1508 to 1512