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From a soldier in Afghanistan to NFT artist: this is the story of Bran Symondson, a British soldier who is about to launch his first collection of non-fungible tokens on DropSpace.
The NFT collection of soldier Bran Symondson
Bran Symondson’s collection is called Kalash 47 – The Art to Disarm. It consists of 2,047 NFTs combining physical sculptures of AK47s with others created for the occasion.
The subject is the AK47, an assault rifle that is considered one of the world’s most lethal weapons. But in Bran Symondson’s NFT, the AK47 becomes the canvas for butterflies, money and other symbols.
The aim is to demonstrate the damage that war can do to the environment, not only in terms of waste but also deforestation and even the reduction of bees.
The collection was made, not surprisingly, with the support of Greenpeace. By tokenizing his works, Bran Symondson wants to reach a wider audience, that of NFT enthusiasts, and raise awareness of global issues such as environmental devastation.
The physical works have handmade glass bullets inside them that contain raw materials related to Bran’s story. All of the rifles come from war scenarios, and many have scars showing their former lives.
The Kalash 47 drop
NFTs will be minted on DropSpace on 19 December at 8:47 PM GMT. It will be dropped by the buyers themselves. Those interested must join the whitelist and pay 0.28 ETH.
The physical works will be on display from 26 November to 9 December 2021 at The House of Fine Art (HOFA) gallery in Mayfair, London.
It took six months to design the entire collection, which was necessary to make sure that each NFT was as exciting as the physical artwork, which is transacted on the blockchain.
Bran Symondson explains:
“Kalash 47 is a representation of many personal things that have a deep resonance with who I am, where I’ve been, and what I’ve seen. It’s the same as applying patches to a uniform, decorating a school bag with badges that have meaning, or plastering your laptop with stickers that denote what you believe in; the subjects you are projecting are those close to your heart. That’s how I have treated this collection. It’s more than just a JPEG. It’s personal”.
NFTs and environmental protection
Bran Symondson is not the only one to use art, and NFTs in particular, to raise awareness of environmental issues. The point is that even NFTs, particularly those based on Ethereum, have costs in terms of energy and therefore environmental impact. Solutions are being studied.
DigitalArt4Climate is the name of the collection of NFTs created by the UN to raise awareness of the risks of climate change. In this case, Unique Network, which uses the blockchain of Polkadot and Kusama, was chosen as a partner.
It is clear that NFTs are increasingly becoming a vehicle with which artists, creators and influencers want to reach the masses, particularly with impactful messages.