Sometimes NFTs Are Smoke & Mirrors
The hardest thing to do in the world of NFTs is evaluate a project based on its creativity, merit and potential. The opportunities are seemingly endless and every day we see a new project that sells out immediately. It can become paralyzing, daunting and dangerous.
But, every now and then a new project can be discovered that just has it, that just makes sense immediately, that excites you and fills you with so much passion and clarity that you want to tell everyone about it.
Two projects recently triggered this wave of emotion, one will be mentioned and focused on today, and the other will be discussed at a later date (spoiler, it’s Coolman’s Universe).
If you’ve been in the NFT space for a while, and have been dedicated to learning as much as possible, you’ve heard of Twin Flames by Justin Aversano: the healing journey of a photographer who lost his fraternal twin in the womb, who set out to find catharsis in photographing 100 pairs of twins.
If you’re familiar with Twin Flames, you’re definitely familiar with Twin Flames #49, which is the fifth highest selling photograph of all time, checking in just under $3.8M. #49 is an unbelievable photo that shows a woman staring into a mirror while holding her sister’s death certificate. It focuses on the pain and struggle that surrounds the death of not just a loved one, but a twin, which ties the project completely together, offering a level of synchronicity that is reflected in Aversano’s work and personal life.
I personally came to NFTs too late and by the time I learned about Twin Flames, it was well out of my reach and beyond the budget that I am willing to allocate toward NFTs, so I left it for what it was and moved on. Recently, however, I came across a Layer 0 episode of the Bankless podcast that featured an interview with Aversano. I typically skipped Layer 0 episodes since they focused on the personal lives of developers, but since Justin was a successful NFT artist who was launching his own curation company, I was curious to see if any alpha can be taken away from this experience.
While the episode focused primarily on Justin’s journey and his career from the early days of his life until now, his struggles with the pain that came from his grief and sorrow resonated with me, creating a connection that I normally never felt when listening to a complete stranger speak. This drew me to him as a person and an artist, which when investing, is something that should exist. A certain level of admiration and respect is needed before committing large sums of money to someone in hopes of them achieving or creating something special.
Aside from feeling a connection to his story, it was his vision for the future, that focused on personal and creative growth, that drummed up a sense of security for me in a world full of grifters. Aversano mentions briefly the roadmap he has laid out for himself over the next few years that eventually culminates in him hopefully embarking upon full length feature films.
I grew incredibly bullish on the brand that he was creating, alongside the future opportunities that his art would possess, which led me down the rabbit hole to one of the projects that I have personally loved most in the NFT space which I believe will have grail potential for many collectors for many years to come: Smoke and Mirrors Physical Tarot Scrolls.
Composing the Scrolls
Smoke and Mirrors will be broken up into two collections. There are the black and white photos which each scroll is based on that have been presold to collectors and will be listed on OpenSea under a separate contract in February, and there are the Physical Tarot Scrolls.
Each photo in the collection is meant to be a representation of a tarot card found in a deck. The photos are then developed, scanned, silkscreen layers are created and screen printed on Egyptian papyrus, photographed again, edited and minted as NFTs. Collectors buying a piece for the first time are able to claim a physical copy of the project in conjunction with their NFT.
The scrolls are one of the few pieces of art in the NFT world that give primary owners the ability to take physical custody, alongside digital ownership on the blockchain.
If collector’s decide not to take custody of the physical version, they could leave that option unclaimed for future buyer’s on OpenSea down the road, when the NFT is relisted. This could in theory boost the value of the NFT since buyers would get access to two copies as opposed to one. However, collectors will need to verify with Jason Ostro at Gabba Gallery to determine if the physical copy has been unclaimed.
Although there could, theoretically, be a multiplier for Tarot Scrolls listed on OpenSea that allow for physical redemption, it hasn’t affected floor prices much for those scrolls that are NFT only. In the recent wave of new buyers that have entered the market, numerous scrolls have been purchased in the 5-8 ETH range without there being a physical copy attached to them. This shows the sudden demand that is rising for this project while it lies dormant during its stealth minting phase.
So how does someone get their hands on one for the first time, if purchasing on OpenSea isn’t an option for them?
The Scroll Chooses You
Currently the scrolls are under a stealth mint phase and only being distributed to private wallet sales. These sales are comprised of Quantum.Art Discord members who are genuine art lovers that are consistently active in the Justin Aversano channel, and early actors who signed up for the Greenlist when it was posted in Discord in 2021, before the sudden influx of attention to the project occurred.
Active members of the Discord channel who are verified as Quantum collectors receive priority over unverified members, but are at the mercy of random selection over time. If a user is unverified but a valued community member, there is the possibility of being assigned an opportunity to buy one, otherwise, unverified users could find themselves at the mercy of random raffles to have a chance and mint one.
For the lucky few who are selected and able to mint, the price is .21 ETH, which, when considering the floor is currently 7.5 ETH, is a tremendous steal and a life changing opportunity.
Although this creates an amazing chance to make $20,000+ for people, very few scrolls are actually being listed for sale on OpenSea, with very few people willing to part ways with them for prices beneath the floor. There have been sales, of course, in the 2-4 ETH range, I personally was fortunate enough to grab mine for 2 ETH, but the latest wave of buying has been at the 5+ range which, potentially could become the norm moving forward as a new wave of higher end collectors begins entering the mix.
The lack of say here really mimics the celestial uncertainty and synchronicity that this project embodies. Collectors are at the mercy of the universe which determines whether or not they will receive an opportunity to mint. If gambling on the universe isn’t the thing for you, users can take their chances participating in the 1/1 auctions for a scroll if desired.
The 1/1 auctions are slightly different from the 1/5s that I have been talking about above. Each of these pieces follows the same formula of photograph and color choices, but the differences between each one are based on the execution of the colors and the type of papyrus used.
1/5s are printed on a light Papyrus from Egypt, and each edition of the 5 are slightly different in terms of where the colors are located and the way they are presented on the scroll. With the 1/1s, the same principles of color apply, however, they are printed on a darker papyrus that was dipped in the Nile River, which adds an extra layer of mysticism and supernatural power to these beautiful works of art.
The 1/1s, however, have seen a sudden rise in demand with auctions ending in the 8-9.9 range in the past few go arounds, which is something to watch and consider as the project matures and mints out in its entirety.
More importantly than money, however, this project is about art that vibes with your spiritual connection to the universe. If there is a connection that is meant to be made, it is likely that it will occur at some point in this journey. And like having a tarot card reading, the scroll that links with you does tell an interesting story about your current spiritual location, or your future opportunities.
This is a project I’m most bullish on not because of the money, which I do think will be rewarding and could be generational, but an appreciation for the artwork and narrative that develops when analyzing each individual piece.
Instead of giving a breakdown for what makes this project super amazing from a financial perspective, like I normally would when writing about NFTs, I want to take this next section to break down some of the pieces I enjoy the most, some of which are available for sale on OpenSea, owned by me, or locked away in someone’s vault. Let this be a rare time of reflection and appreciation for art, rather than investment.
Reading the Cards
Each of these is purely a work of art that belongs in a museum somewhere, and I wholeheartedly do believe that at some point, someone will have these displayed in a gallery in NYC, probably something like the Guggenheim if I had to guess.
They just work so well as multimedia constructions that reflect the new and the old, with the composition of something mystic, surreal and supernatural.
We’ll start with the one that chose me, which was the Ten of Staffs 4/5.
In tarot the Ten of Staffs typically represents someone who is carrying an incredibly heavy burden that is struggling through challenges ahead of them. But through perseverance, understanding and acceptance, that challenge can be completed with a new beginning being bestowed in the near future.
We see this idea of struggling through the burdens we carry and the need to push forward and persevere through the photo that Justin has chosen for this card.
Here we see the subject standing at the gravesite of his brother, the use of blues covering the tombstone and the world in front of him and around him acts like a border of his sadness and despair, a border of his burden that he has had to carry throughout his life. The use of red in the back symbolizes the anger that is behind him, but still occasionally rears down on him, the anger of loss that no one can ever truly transcend beyond, but only grow to accept. While standing over the grave of his brother, we see a green shadow emerge, an ephemeral symbol of his brother’s spirit alongside him, walking through and with him alongside this journey, delivering the subject through their most difficult times and giving him the assistance and guidance to push forward and enter upon a new world full of new challenges and opportunities.
The Empress 5/5 is another scroll that I adore, which stands out to me visually. In tarot, the Empress is typically a symbol of power over the years and all growing things. She is the symbol of creation, whether it is life, art or new ideas, she is the embodiment of the force that looks beyond and at home simultaneously, aware of the future and the present while using her force to reign in nature.
We see this idea delivered through the placement of the subject and her shadow casted outward. Here we have a dichotomy that is developed. The subject is staring intently at us, into our souls, into our third eye, into our present, showing us the dominion she has over the growth that represents us, while simultaneously her shadow looks out into the ether to see where we’ve been and where we are going. The shadow in white shows the purity of her intentions, her goal to to provide us with new opportunities and new blessings. The use of the gold symbolizes the bounty that is consistently bestowed upon us each day with the pinks beneath her symbolizing her maternal nature. It is a beautiful piece that as one focuses closer on, one finds a deeper meaning and understanding.
The newest scroll to be minted, which is currently still in auction at this moment of writing, tells a wonderful story of humanity and the architect that constructs our consciousness and living embodiment: The Three of Coins 1/1.
The card displays an architect that is building, the powers of masonry are present and the card in its upright manner symbolizes the wealth and potential, it is symbolic of the genius one possesses and the opportunities that are being built each day by the individual fulfilling the creator’s wishes.
We see this reflected in the scroll through the choice of subject. Above we have a shaman who is known for his work with mushrooms. He is centered perfectly in the scroll. He is holding mushrooms on their stem above his head as he pixelates his consciousness and enters the realm that transcends time and space, the realm of reality’s purest being. The subject is adorned in blue here to represent the uniqueness of his abilities to advise people through their journeys and help them be architects of their reality the same way that Terrence McKenna posited that magical mushrooms were the architects behind the evolution of human consciousness. We see the green behind him as a force, a vortex, a split in the matrix that consumes reality as typically known and delivers the reality that is uncorrupted and part of the universe’s intentions. It’s a lovely image that embodies the creative and spiritual journey that people and this project has set out to embark upon.
There are many other images that stand out at me, the scrolls are truly masterful works of art that deserve to be hung up in museums and homes.
Whether or not these scrolls are attainable for everyone remains to be seen, but the reality is they are composed to be appreciated by all and used as a guide into one’s spiritual and creative journeys.