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WE HATE ARTISTS BUT WE LOVE THE ART. THIS IS WHY ART IS MOST EASILY MONETIZED AFTER AN ARTIST’S DEATH. ARTIST’S ARE AN OBSTACLE TO THEIR OWN LIQUIDITY - THEY HAVE OPINIONS AND POINTS OF VIEW AND STORIES - NOTHING BUT FRICTION FOR THEIR COMMODITIES. IDEALLY, AN ARTIST MAKES ART UNDER THE MOST TORTUROUS CIRCUMSTANCES IMAGINABLE, DIES, AND THEN THEIR WORK CAN BE CELEBRATED WITHOUT THEIR CORPOREAL SELF GETTING IN THE WAY.
WITH EACH INSTALLMENT OF OPTIMISM’S “WE LOVE THE ART” AIRDROPS WE GET TO LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HOW DEEPLY THEY HATE ARTISTS. INITIALLY THEY DECIDED THAT ARTISTS SHOULD COMPETE FOR FUNDING. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOU WOULD STRUCTURE AN AIRDROP IN A COMPETITIVE FRAME BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID. OK.
THE HANDFUL OF ARTISTS WHO RECEIVED FUNDS EXCHANGED THOSE FUNDS FOR FIAT SO THEY COULD LIVE IN THE WORLD. AND HONESTLY, HOW FUCKING DARE THEY? DIDN’T THEY GET THE MEMO THAT WHEN SOMEONE GIVES YOU A TOKEN YOU NEED TO COVET THAT SHIT LIKE YOUR NAME WAS GOLLUM? OPTIMISM WAS UNDERSTANDABLY DISGUSTED WITH THE WINNING ARTISTS WHO NEEDED THINGS LIKE FOOD AND SHELTER TO LIVE, SO THEY TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.
OPTIMISM DECIDED THAT THEY SHOULD STREAM OP TOKENS TO WINNERS LIKE ANIMALS FEEDING AT A TROUGH. THE OP TOKEN WAS VALUABLE, THE ARTISTS WERE JUST TOO STUPID TO REALIZE THIS, SO THE TOKEN WOULD NEED TO BE DOLED OUT TO THEM LIKE LUNCH MONEY. WE CAN’T TRUST ARTISTS TO MAKE DECISIONS. WE LOVE THE ART, WE JUST HATE THE ARTISTS. THE ARTISTS NEED MONEY. THE ART MAKES MONEY. WHY CAN’T THE ARTISTS BE MORE LIKE THE ART?
THEY LOVE ART SO MUCH THAT THE BRANDING FOR THEIR CAMPAIGN WAS OUTSOURCED TO THE MOST MISERABLE FIVER TYPE GRAPHIC DESIGNERS THEY COULD FIND AND LOOKS LIKE ABSOLUTE SHIT. THEY LOVE ART SO MUCH THAT THEY REFUSE TO INVEST IN EVEN THE MOST PASSABLE TYPE BRANDING FOR THEIR CAMPAIGN ABOUT LOVING ART. BECAUSE THEY ARE GENIUSES AND THE TOKEN IS VERY VALUABLE. YOU’LL NEVER SEE THE FOUNDER’S FEET TOUCH THE GROUND IN AN INTERVIEW. JUST THINK ABOUT THAT.
THEN OPTIMISM ANNOUNCED THEY HAVE MORE AIRDROPS, FOR BUILDORS. NO, NOT FOR ARTISTS, BUT FOR REAL BUILDORS. THE KIND THAT USE NUMBERS INSTEAD OF PICTURES AND SOUNDS. UNFORTUNATELY, ALL THE TALK OF LOVING ART AND SUPPORTINGS ARTISTS CONVINCED SOME ARTISTS THAT THEY MIGHT QUALIFY FOR THESE RESOURCES, AS THEY THINK OF THEMSELVES AS BUILDORS. WHAT AN EMBARRASSING MIX UP FOR THE ARTISTS. DON’T THEY KNOW THEY DIDN’T EVEN DEPLOY THEIR OWN CONTRACTS?
THE PLATFORMS GOT A LITTLE EMBARRASSED, BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN TELLING THE ARTISTS THAT THEY DO DEPLOY THEIR OWN CONTRACTS. IN FACT A FACTORY DEPLOYS THE CONTRACTS, SO THIS WAS AWKWARD. SINCE THE PLATFORM OWNS THE FACTORY, AND THE FACTORY DEPLOYS THE CONTRACTS, SO THE FACTORY IS THE REAL BUILDOR (NOT THE ARTISTS WHO MAKE STUPID USELESS THINGS LIKE ART, THAT WE LOVE OF COURSE, BUT IS NOT ACTUALLY USEFUL AND DOES NOT MAKE THEM BUILDORS) I GUESS THE FACTORY CAN JUST GIVE THE TOKENS TO THE ARTISTS. PROBLEM SOLVED, RIGHT?
SO A FEW MONTHS GO BY, AND ZORA (THE PLATFORM IN QUESTION) GETS SEVEN FIGURES WORTH OF TOKENS FROM THE ART LOVERS BECAUSE ZORA IS THE REAL BUILDORS AND NOT THE ARTISTS. AND THEY LOVE THE ART, WE ALL LOVE THE ART. BUT THE ARTISTS… IM NOT SURE WE ALL LOVE THE ARTISTS. AND GIVING AWAY SEVEN FIGURES OF TOKENS TO ARTISTS… I MEAN THEY ARE NOT EVEN REAL BUILDORS. WHO WILL THINK OF THE REAL BUILDORS? IT JUST SOUNDS HARD.
SOMEHOW, MOST ARTISTS WHO USE ZORA DO NOT QUALIFY FOR THESE RESOURCES. I COULDN’T TELL YOU HOW OR WHY BECAUSE NONE OF THAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE. I MEAN, SOME OF IT IS, IN THE SENSE THAT ZORA TWEETED “THANK YOU FOR CREATING, COLLECTING AND BUILDING ON ZORA” AND THEN TWEETED A LINK TO THE AIRDROP. BUT NOBODY I KNOW WHO CREATES, COLLECTS OR BUILDS ON ZORA QUALIFIED. CONFUSING!
I THINK THERE IS A LEGITIMATE CASE TO BE MADE THAT OPTIMISM’S “WE LOVE THE ART” AIRDROPS AND THE ASSOCIATED MARKETING ARE WHAT BROKE ETHEREUM’S BRANDING. THE CORPORATE FED CHAIN THAT IS BASE SAYING “CULTURE” OVER AND OVER DIDN’T REALLY HELP, BUT WHO CARES. WE KNOW BASE IS A FED CHAIN THAT IS MADE TO FACILITATE THE PURCHASE OF COFFEE WITH STABLE COINS AND HONESTLY THAT’S FINE. GOOD FOR THEM. THAT IS CULTURE MAYBE, WHO KNOWS. IT’S THE FUTURE. EVERYTHING IS CULTURE. BASE IS CULTURE. WHY NOT.
BY THE WAY IF YOU WERE AN EARLY USER OF THE HYPERLIQUID PROTOCOL AND YOU HELD THE MINIMUM ALLOCATION OF THEIR INITIAL AIRDROP YOU ARE NOW A MILLIONAIRE. CONGRATULATIONS. THIS IS THE AIRDROP CLIMATE THIS ART LOVING IS HAPPENING AMIDST.
THE OPTIMISM AIRDROPS WERE AN ABSOLUTE TRAIN WRECK. MOST OF THE ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS I KNOW WHO WERE ACTIVE ON ETHEREUM L1 & L2S BEFORE THE OPTIMISM AIRDROPS NO LONGER PARTICIPATE IN THE SPACE. THE FEW THAT DO MINT ON BASE. DO WITH THAT INFORMATION WHAT YOU WILL, JUST DON’T SELL IT FOR RESOURCES YOU CAN USE FOR LIFE. ONLY AN ARTIST WOULD DO THAT.
