Burning War
What is art?
I want to tell you a story of how a transaction on the blockchain was actually one of the most powerful forms of artistic expression. How the transaction itself, which sprouted from within the Genuine Undead (GU) NFT project, told a story of love and war. A truly historic moment, not only for NFTs, but digital art and traditional art mediums as well.
Allow me to give you some context, because context is always critical. Context provides us with an understanding if something was intentional or not, whether an action or a thing has any particular meaning or the lack thereof. Not every brushstroke is art, but in the right context, even a single drop of paint can convey an artist’s vision to the beholder. I suppose, the context of anything is the deciding factor on how it is received, understood and appreciated.
Many well-known artists’ work can be identified by the brushstroke techniques they used. The movement of the paint across the canvas can tell a detailed story, from a technical perspective, but more importantly, by conveying the artist’s impressions and feelings. Memories are evoked and similitudes are drawn through visual stimulation. The consequence of this is art that touches the viewer emotionally, on a personal level.
I would argue that blockchain transactions, in the right context, can also elicit thoughts, feelings, discussions and beauty. They too are able to tell a story, leaving their own ‘brush strokes’ immortally on the blockchain.
Would that not be art too?
Love and War
Within the Genuine Undead collection there are eight legendary 1/1 PFPs, entirely unique and powerfully symbolic. They are Faith, Love, Nature, Power, Strength, Chaos, Life and War.
The ‘Story of Burning War’ chronicles how two Genuine Undead (GU) community members, inspired by this collection, caused what can only be described as one of the most beautiful blockchain transactions in the history of NFTs and Crypto. Individuals, behaving intentionally, in ways that defeat rational explanation, did things that are pure expressional art, when the context is understood. Much like the respected & famous artists of the past and present who have defined artistic expression for many.
The story involves two of our GU community members, Skel_eth (Skel) and Veryseriousinvestor (Veryserious), both fiercely passionate about the GU art and project as a whole. In the nascent days of our project, Skel acquired four of the 1/1 legendaries, namely, Chaos, Faith, Love and Strength. Veryserious owned the 1/1 War.
On September 3, 2022, Skel (through Metawin_xyz) purchased War from Veryseriousinvestor for 8 ETH.
Later that same day, Veryseriousinvestor bought Love from Skel for 8 ETH.
Fast forward to the next day, in the early hours of the 4th of September, 2022, whilst Genuine Undead was holding a Twitter Spaces. Somebody commented that Skel had sold War on OpenSea for a minuscule $.02. The transaction was from Metawin_xyz (Skel_eth’s business wallet) to Skel_eth, his personal wallet. How strange. People in the Twitter Spaces commented that this was ‘very weird’, because the transfer could have been made without selling the NFT on the open market. It was thought that the low price had degraded the artwork, since it had just been bought for 8 ETH a day earlier. I now realise, this was a warning shot. A flare of sorts, in order to grab the attention of the community, the ‘wallet watchers’ and to set the stage for the final act.
Moments later, the unthinkable happened. The legendary 1/1 War NFT was burned. Sent to a wallet address from which it can never be retrieved. Delivered to an abyss from where nothing can ever return. Removed from the collection, indefinitely.
I felt a shock and chaos in my mind. The Twitter Spaces died instantly and silence settled in as we all wondered what had just happened. One of our core community members, tMaison, said “this adds to the lore”. But I didn’t believe it at the time. We ended the Spaces. I needed to find out what had just happened, and why.
I spoke to Skel. He told me he had a disagreement with some others in our Discord server, and although this wasn’t the reason for his actions, it was a catalyst for what had just happened. He explained to me that it was no ones ‘fault’, that he is a collector of art who thinks about his art on a deeper level, and that he had the idea to burn War all along.
He went on to say that at some point, he was speaking with Veryserious, who at that time, owned War, but who didn’t like having it in his wallet, because he felt it had “bad energy”. This set the stage for Skel to trade Love for War!
It turns out that Skel’s family has familial ties to Ukraine. This gave him a direct connection to the war there and reminded him of the war and atrocities committed globally. Skel felt that “no one should own war”. He explained to me that he could have traded any of the legendary 1/1s for War, but he specifically chose Love. He wanted to give love and burn war, so that only love remains.
This was his artistic expression. That these are not just JPEGs; they are symbols. Symbols immortalised on the Blockchain, along with their transactional dance from wallet to wallet.
I did not sleep at all that night. Instead, I considered what had just happened and fell into it. It all started to become clear to me. This was magical. At that moment it felt like I had just witnessed the first instance of Banksy’s self shredding artwork of Girl with Balloon. The chaos and confusion that reigned immediately after the burning of War was gradually replaced with an awe inspiring sensation of greatness and beauty. I was elated when I realised I had just witnessed the first act of Transactional Artistic Expression on the Blockchain™.
The emotions I was feeling and the lack of sleep combined into a dizzying swirl. Despite this, I wanted to record this momentous occasion, claiming it for the history books and not to allow it to go unnoticed or to slip away into the darkness. I ran over to Discord and in a flurry I began typing away to explain to the Undead what had just happened, lest I forget it. All I could manage to do, at that moment, in order to let the world know that something special had just happened was to tweet out from the Official Genuine Undead Twitter account, my own interpretation (link, here):
“Love was traded for War today! The collector burnt war. War has negative energy. No one can own war! These aren’t jpegs. These are symbols! Don’t you get it! The WAR is OVER. LOVE remains! So love your fellow man! Love your fellow Undead. For this day! WAR has been Abolished!!”
In the days and weeks that have passed since the burning of War, I have told the story to many that I have encountered. It has become even more profound and thought-provoking with the passage of time. It has inspired a new generation of Web3 enthusiasts that see this as a powerful and deep expression of art. It brings into sharp focus some of the oppressive and barbaric traits of men and women all around the world. But it also shows that love can reign supreme, creating genuine hope in the heart.
A Rare Event
Every so often, something profound occurs. It changes the rules and the ways in which we, as human beings, express ourselves. Mediums of art and modes of expression have metamorphosed over the course of human development. Art is not limited to a single dimension. It is composed of layers, one above the other, utilising several mediums at a time to elicit a reaction in the beholder.
A feature of Blockchain technology is that every transaction is recorded forever. The freedom to transact on the blockchain as a sovereign individual has inspired a variety of performances involving burn addresses. But none have been as profound and meaningful as The Burning of War for Love.
The Renaissance period was a profound moment in our history. It changed the way people thought, as they rediscovered classical philosophy, literature, and art. It showed that art is not confined to the canvas. Art can be expressed through the careful planning of actions, intentions and placement of words, musical notes or droplets of paint.
And now, we can add Transactional Artistic Expression on the Blockchain™ to the list of “what is art”.
Stay Genuine.
Boom 💥
Special thanks to Literature Council @GenuineUndead
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