Art Police — Genesis
If art imitates life, who or what does life imitate?
What is art, anyway?
How about a star named Sonny in sun-glasses, chillin with his friend Clowd, smoking weed out of some Treacherous pipes?
Or what about a gecko with an eyepatch named Argos, wearing a tiny pirate hat?
You are the creator. Your purpose is what you make it.
What is this?
Art Police began as a low-effort critique of those that police others’ art skills.
The original image (as seen on Twitter as my background @birding777) took me 2 minutes to make in Paint.
But then I had a thought — what if I could make Art Police into something more?
Something that’s fun, tongue-in-cheek, and promotes good vibes all around…
Who are you?
I’m Mike, aka Birding777.
I’m just a guy that bought CryptoPunk #5002 for 49 ETH on June 1, 2020.
49 ETH was worth $11,500 at the time, and it was more money than I could afford to lose.
I spent a lot of time researching CryptoPunks and NFTs, and realized I needed exposure to this emerging asset class.
I bought my first bitcoin in 2014 for $300, and my first ether in 2017 also for $300.
I had little to lose, and already felt late to the party.
But the reality is — if you own BTC, ETH, LINK or blue-chip NFTs, you are ahead of the 98% of people that don’t.
As cliché as it may be.
The $90,000 NFT Sale
In addition to punk #5002, I bought 8 other cryptopunks with the intention of selling some of them to make back my initial investment.
One of them was punk #3392, which I bought for 2.5 ETH, or $617.
#3392 is the private-investigating twin of #5002.
He was purchased by Alex, founder of community-owned NFTX (@alexgausman on Twitter) on February 16, 2021 for 50.02 ETH, worth $91,762 at point of sale.
I was speechless.
Did I really flip an NFT for $90,000?
It felt surreal.
Art Police (April 1st Edition) Is Born
Once punk #3392 sold, I posted about it on Twitter and asked artists without a lot of sales or recognition to post some of their work and I’d buy some of their pieces.
After spending some profit on a bunch of cool new artwork, I received messages from a lot of people who couldn’t believe there was someone out there that would pay money for their art.
I really liked the art I bought, but here was a good number of artists that were so grateful, but also shocked that their art was good enough to be purchased.
Their art was always good enough.
They just needed someone to believe in them.
Some of them even opened up to me about their own personal struggles and hardships.
I didn’t expect any of this to happen, but it was a really heartwarming surprise.
I decided on that day that I would make my own NFTs, and that regardless of what my wacky brain came up with, it would be affordable and fun.
I chose April Fool’s Day for the Art Police launch date because I want this to be playful, relaxing, and community-oriented. :)
While some people might see this industry as a joke, it’s the people who put in the time, money, and effort that will have the most positive impact on others.
How To Get Involved
There will be 42 copies of “Art Police (April 1st Edition)” available to purchase for ~$42.69 each in my Mintable store, which you can find here:
https://mintable.app/u/birding777
There may or may not be a small, extra reward planned in the future for holders of the “Art Police (April 1st Edition)” NFT so stay tuned. ;)
All proceeds from NFT sales will be donated to NORML.
NORML is a nonprofit public-interest advocacy group whose core mission is:
“To move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient and affordable.”
If you’d like to help pay it forward:
Donate or volunteer for a cause you care about, listen and ask questions, and always try to be kind to others.
We’re all human. (except for those Aliens, Apes, and Zombies!)
Breathe deep. Smile wide. Laugh out loud.
Life is too short not to.
Disclaimer:
I purchased several exclusive licenses from Shutterstock for some of the images used in the creation of “Art Police” to make sure that artists got paid and that I wasn’t infringing on any copyrights.
However I am not a legal expert and all profits and proceeds will be donated.
