Part 3 of 3
This Seize and Share Memes article continues the deep dive on the Seize and Share collection Part 1 by MintFace revealing the narratives behind the seized and shared memes released over the last six months. Each meme was seized and shared permission-lessly thanks to CC0; the most permissive of all intellectual property copyrights.
Seize and Share collection is the most comprehensive set of memes by a single artist, minted often within hours of the original meme.
This Seize and Share Memes article is part 2 of 3 that document the Seize and Share memes, reveal the artist narrative behind each piece and encourages the reader to go deeper on what could be the most fascinating, tokenised communication medium of the 2020s.
Seize and Share memes featured in this article are:
My Precious Card [32] 8 editions
FTX Card [34] 8 editions
Winter Shade Card [35] 88 editions
Convoy Card [38] 19 editions
Nights Dawn Card [40] 69 editions
Surreal Dreamooor Card [41] 46 editions
XDecal [bonus] 100 editions
Don’t Trust Clowns [42] 21 editions
TRASHYAD [43] 69 editions
!Vibe Card [44] 25 editions
GrifterCity Card [45] 105 editions
MintFace Says Card [46] 88 editions
AccessDenied.mp4 Card [47] 104 editions
The Seize and Share collection was borne out of the objectives of The Memes by 6529…. and an idea MintFace had to remix, reinterpret and reimagine the memes by documenting moments of historical note during 2022. You can read more about The Memes by 6529 in Seize and Share collection Part 1 and Seize and Share collection Part 2.
The following article offers the reader a front row seat into some of the details of each of the meme derivatives in the Seize and Share Collection. You can read about the first 11 cards re:memed in Seize and Share collection Part 1 and the second set of 11 cards re:memed in Seize and Share collection Part 2. We continue the story here in Part 3.
Let’s begin.
My Precious
8 editions
‘My Precious ☑️’ is a MintFace derivative of ‘You Can’t Touch This’ by Natalie Shau. The new Twitter owner bathes in the blue glow of the algorithm while admiring its most visible status mark…the blue tick.
My Precious offers commentary on how enticing a status mark can be to those who project self image digitally. The title ‘My Precious’ references a line by Smeagol in Lord of The Rings. Smeagol calls the Ring “my precious.” It illustrates how completely the Ring has consumed him.
A similar risk awaits Musk as Twitter has become a part of him, or perhaps more accurately, he is a part of it. It is a warning for all of us as the borders between our Web3.0 identity and our true identity break apart or blur together.
FTX
8 editions
FTX is a MintFace derivative of ‘GM Indonesia’ by Jord Hammond. On the day of the original meme release, the fate of FTX was not fully known. Some were saying Binance would save it, but ultimately this was not the case.
The FTX meme derivative had to speak to two timelines. One where it was saved via a Binance acquisition and a second where it disappeared from sight. Zoom in closely on the bags of sand and you will see the Binance logo, a saviour of sorts for the centralised exchange.
The third meaning, that FTX would be a coverup operation by traditional media, was not intended at the time of making, Yet here we are, the sands being scraped over and forgetton about to all except those who are native to blockchain data.
Winter Shade
88 editions
Winter Shade is a MintFace derivative of ‘Max Pain’ by XCOPY and ‘Meet Summer Glasses’ by Neonglitch86. Winter Shade documents the fallout from FTX and the associated loss of funds for those who were allegedly stolen from by the FTX founders.
The Seize and Share meme remixes two elements of work by XCOPY. Max Pain forms the majority of the Winter Shade character. The glasses originate from summer.jpg minted in August 2021. The ‘Meet Summer Glasses‘ seemed so counter to the emotions of the NFT space at the time of the meme release, that a counter message needed to be documented.
Winter Shade ended up being the most sought after meme from the Seize and Share collection having attracted the most secondary sales.
Winter Shade is also the inspiration for the XNouns collection deriving the 0 0 glasses and x x glasses into a more Nounish context.
Convoy
19 editions
Convoy is a MintFace derivative of ‘Seize the Carpoolers’ by Alejandro Cartagena and Adrian de la Garza. The message here is “in rough conditions, it is safer to travel together.”
It is the first video in the Seize and Share series where original art from the MintFace Roads and Rivers collection becomes the highway for Alejandro’s Carpoolers convoy.
The original Roads and Rivers #4 artwork is listed on Foundation.
Nights Dawn
19 editions
Nights Dawn is a derivative artwork of ‘Morning’s Eve’ by Dolce Paganne. The message here is “It is always the darkest before Nights Dawn.” On first reading, the description is optimistic, almost beckoning the viewer to believe that the bear market is almost ending… and another bull is just around the corner. That is not the true meaning however.
The flash of light hits from a nuclear source in the distance as a reference to ‘being nuked’ in the market. The apples on the original meme, Morning’s Eve, now patter across her chest to resemble bullet marks or radiation burns from being nuked. The g and m apples stay motionless as there was no time to react or prepare for the market nuke.
The clouds above catch fire, thanks to some inpainting from AI. The mouth droops down and the eyes are crossed out with the x’s from Winter Shade.
In my pursuit to improve on the original meme, I feel Nights Dawn is approaching the technical level I am aiming for.
GM GN GE GA! 😍
So happy to have been airdropped this amazing piece from my fren @mintfaced!
Stunning piece and want to praise the original artist of this derivative piece @DolcePaganne!https://t.co/Fq65PumKsw— Paul Moon (@PaulMoonPhotos) November 30, 2022
Surreal Dreamooor
19 editions
Surreal Dreamooor is a MintFace derivative of ‘Cereal gm’ by Klepikovadaria and Cryptoarte (#4971, #8443 and #8599) by Sebastián Brocher. ChatGPT was released the same day so the message had to be ‘don’t let the machines win frens.’
The fruit loop cereal found in the original meme is now just a single frame, amongst similarly brightly colored repeating patterns. These panels are from Cryptoarte artworks acquired by MintFace that include a commercial licence.
Through their placement, they became a high water mark for the main protaginist in the meme, Klepikovadaria. Her optimistic outlook, endevours to continue shining despite the AIs best efforts to subsume her below the surface. The winking eye, becomes an eye blinded by AI. The skin momentarily gives way to its skeletal structure, perhaps casting doubt on whether the face was ever human to begin with.
For those with good eyesight, you will notice a golden ant moving from where an errant fruit loop was located on the original meme. It is a reference to the beauty in Klepikovadaria’s more sensual artworks and a reference to Surrealism. A golden ant was often used by Dali to represent sexual desire. So now we go full circle and the title ‘Surreal Dreamooor’ tells us that maybe we are all living in a simulation.
XDECAL
100 editions
XDECAL is not part of The Memes by 6529. It is an example of seizing and sharing another collections artworks under the power of a CC0 license. Deca released their logo under public license for anyone to create or remix from. MintFace was fortunate to win three Decals in raffles during 2022.
The XCOPY is a static image not a glitched out animation as we would expect from his grail 1/1s. I wanted a glitch version. Then it hit me. Why not combine each of the slightly different XCOPY Decals. An idea was born.
The resulting animated artwork brought new life to the XCOPY Decal.
Why create a derivative of a Web3.0 business logo? Because you can. Create your own grails. DIYGlitch is a MintFace derivative of ‘Decal by XCOPY’. It connects an OG artist with a platform I love through art I created in a way that feels true to all three.
“CC0 frees art… to become a canvas… to create your own grails.” MintFace
@XCOPYART X on X on X pic.twitter.com/zTg4GRHcU4
— MintFace 🍒 (@mintfaced) December 15, 2022
Don’t Trust Clowns
21 editions
Don’t Trust Clowns repaints the hero is as the dunce in the crypto story of 2022. Diamonds blind the vision of the protaginist while the colorful bombastic hair distracts the viewer from the darkness lurking in the bushes. The original Pepe lips remain intact reflecting the sadness of community of being deceived.
Overall, this derivative is about reputation and that while the outlines may be clear, sometimes once the pictures is painted in, the reality is much different.
TRASHYAD
69 editions
TRASHYAD is a MintFace derivative of TRASHOR by ROBNESS. The artist is renowned for his caps lock approach to communication on Twitter. You are not being SHOUTED AT. It is simply part of his narrative. TRASHYAD imitates Robness beyond the title. The derivative riffs on the ‘Toter’ trash bin that is central to art by ROBNESS aka TRASHART.
MintFace has interpreted the trashart in a more literal way. 90’s heavy metal chicks posing for polaroids with their favorite rockstar… except its a Toter trash can. The overexposed filter fun reminds us of days before Instagram refinement wen video filters were low fi fashion.
Of course, depicting women in sultry poses in advertising is now frowned upon to sell rockstars (or toters)… so a warning was added ‘TRASHYAD’. The ‘MintFace’ logo was added on the bottom right to signify that we are looking at a billboard advertisement and MintFace is the metaverse billboard owner. A nod to having inspired the first ever placement of a billboard in the open metaverse (OM).
One more detail… these girls are not real. The actors are DALL-E generated. No photoshoots… no license fees or talent contracts required. The Toters? That is a different story entirely. ROBNESS faces some legal pushback from the Toter company for his adulation of the humble bin. In contrast, MintFace suggest that Toter has a potential creative hit on their hands with ROBNESS. Imagine the bins of America adorned with licensed ROBNESS art instead of blank panels of dull stench. We fully support ROBNESS AND HIS CAPS LOCK CAPTAINING ARTISTIC MISSION.
!Vibe
25 editions
!Vibe isn’t what you think it is. It documents the dark side of the climb before reaching the summit. The words are lifted from the New York Times article that first shared Drift’s climbing as a way to deal his time in the military.
There are three creative elements at play here. The world has turned gray reflecting the depressive nature of trauma on the human psyche. The Hudson River that separates New Jersey from New York is lifted from Tony Sellen; another pro CC0 artist and a king of minted black and white photography.
The Freedom Tower is central to the original imagery and is maintained in !Vibe. Drift is seen contemplating in the foreground momentarily before entering the night… in the form of a superhero. Not a superhero you recognise… but one his heart and body does and holds in the highest regard. Drift feels the most at peace wen climbing in stark contrast to the ‘Can I get a !vibe check real quick?’ tweets he would send during 2021… along with a behind the scenes vid of his latest climb. As our collective stomachs churned, his heart soared to hearts we have only experienced behind panes of toughened glass.
So the message of !Vibe is clear. Keep climbing through the darkness no matter how far away freedom may seem. The best way to deal with trouble is go right through out and Drift may be regarded as the highest form of hero Web3.0 has for modelling positive behaviours in the face of insurmountable odds.
Grifter
City
105 editions
Grifter City doesn’t mince its words by positing that we are all grifters in Web3.0. That it is not about the ‘art’ as we like to pretend… that it is really about flipping a profit and buying a lambo to drive around the buildings of our metaverse dreams.
The bright lights of GrifterCity are synchronised together, representing the coded conversations that occur behind closed Discords so the NFT Twitter audience can simply marvel at the bright lights. The billboard adulates two of the biggest villains in Web3.0, at least for 2022. SBF and Caroline of FTX infamy.
GrifterCity was available to Seize and Share hodlers in a series of three different color variants to memoralise a recent ‘red amber green’ infographic faux pas of a whale collector.
Red GrifterCity was Al only for Seize and Share holders of 1-2 memes, Amber GrifterCity for 3-9 meme holders and Green GrifterCity for 10+ meme holders.
The colors are a cynical expression of how we assign status in Web3.0 for what we may have that is rarer or more expensive than someone else. Because art must say something… it must give a point of view. Art that is merely beautiful avoids the hard topics by presenting a veneer of ‘everything if fine’ without the grit. GrifterCity shows another side.
In true ‘grifters gonna grift’ style, the Blue GrifterCity artworks was airdropped to the biggest Seize and Share holders, representing the way that conviction get rewarded and those rewards can inevitably generate even more rewards.
MintFace says
88 editions
‘MintFace says’ is a self deprecating outwards look at ‘influencers’ and what they say. Just because MintFace says… should you listen? Here we see MintFace saying ‘gn’ wen everybody else in the Northern Hemisphere is saying ‘gm’. Who is right? Who can you trust in this embryonic Web3.0 world?
I could tell you who the original artist is here… except the CC0 doesn’t require it so MintFace can say that ‘MintFace says’ is his own work. That is only part of the truth however, like much of what we hear influencooors say on Twitter.
The real credit should go to participants who treat reputation like it matters all gm and gn.
Sidenote: MintFace says is the second use of the MintFace logo in the collection. This artwork is the first use of the full color logo version originally created by MintFace and then refined by 6529er who placed the leaf over the ‘ce’ to represent the cherry emoji. Few.
MintFace says was an open edition of 88 to let anyone have their say.
AccessDenied.mp4
104 editions
AccessDenied.mp4 depicts a common Web3.0 scene, of an office worker who checks an allowlist and realises mint access has been denied. No gas war or game of chance… simply not on the allowlist to begin with.
AccessDenied,mp4 is the first video meme by MintFace drawing on three separate cryptoart thematics from XCOPY, Alpha Centauri Kid (ACK) and OSF. The appending of .mp4 to the artworks title represents the performative aspect of The Memes by 6529 as a movie where each of us decides whether to be an active participant or an entertained bystander.
‘Traitors by XCOPY‘ is playing on the screen of the office worker. Traitors was originally released March 25th 2021.
The flooded office a nod to ACK’s ‘Right Click Print‘ minted August 7th 2021.
Two OSF artworks appear on the workers screen after Access is Denied to The Memes allowlist; 2021.gif minted on Jan 1st 2022 and ‘greed‘ an OSF edition of 42 (1 of 7 in the Deadly Sins collection) minted on July 21st 2022.
AccessDenied.mp4 replaced the placeholder artwork titled ‘XHolder’ minted 12 hours before the official drop, giving Seize and Share holders time to mint before it was released to the public.
The End of Seize and Share 2022
We have come to the end of Seize and Share 2022. Many memes were seized. Many meanings were remixed and given a fresh perspective reflecting moments of our Web3.0 journey in 2022. Seize and Share is a visual diary of historical moments painted with the pigments of CC0 and signed with the immutably of blockchain technology.
Will Seize and Share continue in 2023? The answer is no, not in its current form. There will be something. For now, Seize and Share is complete.
Thank you for collecting, for sharing and for the memories.
Read Seize and Share memes recap I and memes recap II.