On the early morning of May 31, digital artist Nina Chanel Abney’s “Super Punk World” NFT series completed its airdrop and opened for trading on Magic Eden. The series consisted of 500 randomly airdropped NFTs that were given for free to holders of her first PFP NFT series, “Super CoolWorld”. As of 10 am on May 31, the floor price for the Super Punk World series was 0.85 ETH, with a total of 470 holders.
Initially, “Super Punk World” was highly anticipated by the community as a project based on the CryptoPunks series and developed in collaboration with the official team. However, due to controversies surrounding it, the project had to separate itself from CryptoPunks, with only its name still retaining traces of punk culture.
In February of this year, Yuga Labs launched the “Punk in Residence” artist residency program. The program aimed to promote innovation and expression in digital art by welcoming and amplifying the voices of the next generation of artists and collectors in the web3 space. Artists participating in the “Punk in Residence” program would engage in artistic experiments and creations centered around the question, “What does punk mean to you?” Yuga Labs also announced Nina Chanel Abney as the first artist to participate in the program and gifted her Punk #72, which later became her Twitter avatar and is still in use today. Abney is known for exploring identity in her art and addressing various themes such as race, gender, popular culture, sexuality, and politics. In the digital art world, Abney gained more recognition for her “Super CoolWorld” NFT series, which was launched in July 2022. The PFP series consisted of 5080 pieces and featured vibrant colors and collage-like designs. As of May 31, the total trading volume for the series exceeded 9100 ETH, with a floor price of approximately 0.1 ETH.
The initial plan to create digital art using the CryptoPunks IP did not receive much attention or discussion from the public, and the community mostly showed support and approval. As a leading blue-chip NFT, the community had high expectations for the first collaboration between artists and the CryptoPunks IP. When CryptoPunks revealed the Super Punk World series in mid-May, stating that it reimagined Abney’s art experience from a punk perspective using 3D media, the anticipation grew even stronger.
However, when Abney returned after more than three months with works that merged her unique artistic style with CryptoPunks features, the entire NFT community erupted, especially among CryptoPunks holders, who almost unanimously mocked and criticized the series.
On May 21, CryptoPunks officially unveiled the true face of the Super Punk World series through a video showcasing multiple NFTs from the series. In terms of artistic concept, CryptoPunks claimed that the series blurred the boundaries of race and gender and reflected identities in the virtual and real world. However, when community members saw the rotating paper cutouts with distinct appearances and outfits but only curves in the hip area, their anticipation turned into disappointment. Onlookers joined in the laughter at the expense of those who came with high expectations.
Apart from the lack of sincerity in the design of the artworks and the difficulty for the general public to accept the artistic style of Super Punk World, many “old punks” also criticized the series for being too “woke”.
The term “woke” originally referred to a heightened awareness and concern for social injustices, describing individuals who are highly sensitive to issues such as racism, gender discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights, and other minority group rights. However, due to its overuse and misinterpretation, it is now used to accuse others of being overly politically correct. The most prominent characteristic of punk spirit is rebellion and anti-authority, emphasizing unconstrained freedom and independence. The punk culture often questions and challenges social and political authorities, opposing mainstream culture and traditional values. Therefore, adhering to the politically correct notion of blurring the boundaries of race and gender is considered not punk enough.
Due to these two reasons, Super Punk World not only dilutes the original value of CryptoPunks but also risks undermining the most important cultural concepts and core of the punk IP. The community was infuriated, and some CryptoPunks holders even sold their holdings in anger after the Dutch auction announcement. Sensing the negative sentiment, CryptoPunks immediately canceled the Dutch auction for Super Punk World and instead conducted a random airdrop to holders of Abney’s original work, Super Cool World. Yuga Labs also declared that it would no longer be involved with CryptoPunks, which will be fully decentralized and preserved on the blockchain. CryptoPunks did not release any further information about the Super Punk World series and passed the responsibility to Yuga Labs.
In reality, Nina Chanel Abney has long been a highly acclaimed artist. The slightly rough and simplistic artistic style of Super Punk World perfectly combines the characteristics of CryptoPunks and Super Cool World. The controversies surrounding Abney’s exploration of CryptoPunks may be more attributed to a lack of proper communication with the community. In today’s PFP art landscape, as community standards and expectations continue to rise, marketing strategies may also need to be more carefully considered.
After the hype of the NFT boom, the NFT market has entered a bearish phase. OpenSea, which was once a top market, has seen a significant decline in users, from 187,000 in June 2022 to less than 10,000 currently. The market value of a memecoin newcomer, PEPE, has already surpassed the combined market value of the top 30 NFT projects.
After the turbulent times, only the remaining blue-chip NFTs are considered precious gems. The damage caused by the Azuki Elementals incident last year and the criticism faced by CryptoPunks this time indicate that both sticking too closely to established rules and lack of innovative concepts are difficult to be accepted by the community. For these premium NFT collections, project teams may have to follow CryptoPunks’ approach and treat them as cultural heritage, fully decentralized and preserved. In the exploration of the NFT space, these blue-chip projects face a dilemma where staying silent is both a choice and a challenge.
