Mike Parisella's Crusade Against Worthless NFTs
Mike Parisella, a digital artist known as @slimesunday in the NFT community, has noticed a surge of low-quality NFTs flooding the market. His aim? To revive the original spirit of digital artistic expression.
Parisella has introduced a groundbreaking project to cleanse the digital space from "trashy" images, naming it "The Great Purge."
“If you've ever felt scammed or taken advantage of by bad actors, i'm giving you an opportunity to participate in a symbolic cleanse on the space. Next week on BASE i'm allowing you to BURN literally anything from your wallet to redeem one of my works,” shared the artist on X.
“I suggest you read below to see what this project is all about :) Art to be revealed soon,” he added. Mike's detailed statement transported us back to 2020, a significant year for him. It was during this time that he delved deep into the world of non-fungible tokens. He associated himself with a trailblazing set of NFT creators that included luminaries such as Pak, Coldie, Trevor Jones, Hackatao, Josie Bellini, and the brains behind CryptoPunks, Matt Hall and John Watkinson. These pioneers were not just riding the NFT wave; they were shaping its course. They perceived the game-changing potential of NFTs long before they became a mainstream buzz. Together, they celebrated the distinctive attributes of NFTs, captivating a broader digital audience.
Yet, as the tide of NFT popularity swelled, with the limelight increasingly trained on various Profile Picture (PFP) ventures, the contours of the market started to shift. The essence of artistic merit was blurred by hasty transactions, the rush for quick profit, and a drift away from appreciating NFTs as genuine artistic endeavors. This period also saw a rise in questionable projects and outright scams, leading many astray from the original vision of NFTs.
Mike insightfully observes a transition. A realm, that once radiated with innovation, creative passion, and collective spirit, suddenly found its core values overshadowed by a surge of greed, deceit, and shortsightedness. Yearning to recapture the essence of the golden age and driven by a vision of its renaissance, Parisella introduces "The Great Purge." This isn't just a project; it's a symbolic endeavor. He calls upon collectors to rid their portfolios of 'worthless NFTs.' In a gesture of commitment, he proposed that for every ten tokens burnt on ETH or BASE, he would offer one of two NFTs exclusively crafted for the 'The Great Purge' initiative.
NFT The Great Purge Source: X
The results of the artist's campaign seem to have pleased both Mike and his followers. User @CryptoForager81 commented, “Was such a pleasure to take part. Burned 20 should’ve burned so many more.”
“The Great Purge has resulted in 43480 NFTs burned so far. Ending in 10 minutes. WOWWWWWWWWWW,” Parisella marvels.
However, there's a lingering fear that in the rush to clean up, we might be discarding valuable pieces. Perceptions of beauty, harmony, and composition are deeply personal. Notably, avant-garde or impressionist masterpieces that are celebrated today were once ridiculed. Now, those once-undervalued artworks command prices in the hundreds of millions at auctions. So, deciding which NFTs should be burned and which shouldn't is a matter of contention. Time will be the judge.
Additionally, art historian Oleg Nasobin highlights a common misconception that NFTs are solely about traditional art. This encompasses images, snippets of paintings, movies, GIFs, and so on. Nasobin stresses this isn't the case at all.
“Today's AI capabilities allow for the replication of any voice or image. This presents a challenge: how does one verify the authenticity of a voice or photo? By issuing it as an NFT. Its genuineness will be automatically vouched for in the most reliable way and at a low cost. This, in essence, captures the true spirit of NFTs,” asserts the art historian.
