The Alpha:
- In a series of now-deleted posts on Instagram and Twitter, David Bowieās estate announced the September 13 launch of an NFT collection celebrating the rock iconās legendary career that famously explored gender and performativity.
- The NFT collection, entitled āBowie On The Blockchain,ā will feature the works of nine NFT artists whose works will reflect some of Bowieās masterful life work.
- Headlining the collection are crypto artists FEWOCiOUS and Pussy Riot Co-Founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, among others. Proceeds of the sale will go toward the nonprofit organization CARE.
Why it matters:
Unfortunately, as with prior projects bearing the names of late pop culture icons, the buzz surrounding this upcoming NFT project has been largely negative amongst Bowieās core fandom members. A particularly biting piece of criticism levied towards the project is how it supposedly betrays a core piece of Bowieās legacy ā namely, his futurist tendencies.
Notably, among disappointed members of Bowieās fanbase is a self-proclaimed āweb3/nft aficionadoā ā if even Web3 optimists arenāt too thrilled with this announcement, then who would be happy to hear this? Perhaps it would be worth looking through the socials of the artists slated for inclusion in this project.
Amidst the negative Twitter commentary directed towards the Bowie account are congratulatory messages for the artists involved, who are understandably excited about honoring the late rock legendās life and career through their work. Adding to the prestige of this commission is how Bowieās estate granted artists permission to use items from Bowieās personal archive in their work. For instance, FEWOCiOUS prepared a sculpture for the collection thatās set to wear one of Bowieās āoriginal outfits.ā
Whatās next:
Regardless of this upcoming projectās reception, one thingās for certain: Should it succeed, it would further demonstrate the power of NFTs in fundraising efforts. As it stands, proceeds from the upcoming sale of these NFTs will benefit CARE ā an anti-poverty nonprofit organization that features Bowieās widow Iman as its first-ever global advocate.
Would Bowie himself have approved of this collection? Or even Web3 as a whole? Some of Bowieās closest associates believe so. In an interview with Billboard, Bowieās business manager Bill Zysblat stated that āanyone who knew him knows he would have been one of the first adopters of [Web3].ā Given Bowieās status as one of the internetās earliest advocates, that might not be too unreasonable of an assessment. Letās hope more of his followers open their minds in a similar fashion.
But wait, thereās more:
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