Drop Date: June 16, 2022
Platform: SuperRare
Featured Artists: Kyle Gordon, Tomoro Kinoshita, Riniifish, Ceren Su, Siyuan Tan, Thisisarobot
“Our competitive, service-oriented societies are taking a toll on the late-modern individual. Rather than improving life, multitasking, “user-friendly” technology, and the culture of convenience are producing disorders that range from depression to attention deficit disorder to borderline personality disorder.”
~ Byung Chul Han, The Burnout Society
The pandemic changed how we communicate with each other. We had to build new personas as avatars, express our voices through discord channels, recognition had to be earned, and our existence itself had to be acknowledged virtually regardless of physical presence. In the Web3 space, this phenomenon was greatly magnified as we have all been enthralled with the ever-changing, high-paced evolution of art NFTs, NFT projects and the communities that sprung up around them. There have been many triumphs as creators from all corners of the world have been able to stake their claim within this new space, but at the same time, the biases and imbalances of the ‘Web2’ world continue to manifest themselves.
Many are exhausted of the fight to be relevant, of not being regarded a certain way, just because of how it translates digitally. The pressure to always be online, to always be generating new content and engaging with your audience — this is not sustainable. It leads to burnout, and we are seeing it stifle true creativity. How can we address this issue? We want to provide a safe space, where people can express themselves as they wish, a space where there is more dialogue surrounding mental wellness, a space where we can truly support one another. We are all different, full of emotions and longing to be accepted, with big dreams for a shared, sustainable future. This vision starts with accepting ourselves the way we are, the messiness, frustration, anxiety, loneliness, and all other negativity included. The creators in this drop show significant strength and courage through expressing their vulnerability. With this drop we aim to further the conversation on mental health in the creative Web3 space, and we hope that it serves as a step toward the collective healing process we all need.
