The legendary conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović is gearing up to launch her first-ever NFT later this week in collaboration with Circa. The NFT is based on her iconic personal performance piece, “The Hero (2001).”
The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Art (CIRCA) based in London, commissions and streams a monthly programme of art and culture across a global network of billboards in multiple cities.
The Hero (2001) will be shown on a network of screens from Piccadilly Lights in London, Times Square in New York, COEX K-Pop Square in Seoul, South Korea, from June 13 to August 13.
In “The Hero,” Abramović sat atop a white steed with a white flag waving elegantly in the wind which was set against a vast panorama of trees and sky in Spain.
The composition which got turned into a film is a homage to her father, who was a Yugoslavian war hero during World War II.
The artist will utilize Tezos Blockchain, environmentally friendly and energy efficient blockchains. “It is important to me that these NFTs were affordable and environmentally-friendly,” Abramović noted.
In Fact there will be a “Chance Encounters in New Mediums: Generative Art” exhibition from June 16-19, 2022 at Art Basel in Basel which is officially presented by Tezos.
Abramović is set to reveal the details of her first-ever NFT in a conversation with CIRCA Artistic Director Josef O’Connor at Art Basel on June 18th.
Also Read: Tezos Displays NFT Exhibit in Art Basel Hong Kong
Even though Abramović was initially skeptical about NFTs as she thought people only used it to make money and it was not about art, she now believes that NFTs are the future as she is studying more into Web3.
“I can barely type an email and they’re raising millions to help people and save the rainforest. They are heroes. They are pioneering in a way that is similar to how I was pushing boundaries in the ‘70s with my performance art. Everyone called me crazy. Very few people believed in what I was doing at the time,” she noted.
Rather than donating a portion of the proceeds to charity, Abramović will award grants to a set of people who are working in this new field as in Web3 and NFTs.
She added “I want to see what other ideas people have in this Web3 space to help save the planet. The grants we will award from The Hero NFT project is my small way of contributing to this future.”
Along with “The Hero” (2001) NFT, Circa is also releasing a special time-limited edition lenticular print of the same, which will be only available to purchase throughout the duration of her CIRCA presentation.
Each limited edition of the print priced £120 each, comes with a stamped and dated certificate of authenticity.
“The Hero, a global call for courageous new heroes at a pivotal moment in our collective history. Set against today’s backdrop of global instability, rising tensions and climate breakdown, the figure of a steadfast woman astride a white horse holds symbolic charge on a world stage dominated by masculine power and escalating conflict,” the description notes.
