Red Hong Yi, the Malaysian artist who was recently in the news for creating a cover for TIME magazine, has just sold a non-fungible token (NFT) artwork after a two-week auction on the Binance NFT Marketplace for 36.3 ETH, worth roughly a little over RM320000.
The digital artwork titled “Doge to the Moon” is the first in her “Memebank” collection, which comprises six spoofed and redesigned banknotes from different countries. The series is a reflection of how meme assets, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs have disrupted industries, including traditional banking and art galleries.
Doge to the Moon, based on the Chinese Yuan and featuring the popular Doge meme, is a nod to China being at the forefront of the cryptocurrency landscape, and being the first in history to issue paper money during the Song Dynasty.
The winning bidder of the NFT will get the physical silk print banknotes as well as the accompanying copper plate that has been etched with the design. Red has encouraged the winner to print as many copies of the banknote as they want, saying that it’s a critique of central banks and fiat money because continual printing of paper money leads to inflation (looking at you, Weimar Republic in 1923).
“NFTs may still be a novel concept to many, but I do believe in its potential to create a more transparent and efficient world. NFTs have been gaining prominence in the arts industry in recent times and have allowed artists to create digital certificates of ownership for their valuable work, ” says Red.
Some of the references in the Doge banknote include the Dogecoin logo, “WOW” phrase, and 06122013 — the date dogecoin was created, 6 December 2013. She mentioned that part of the proceeds will be donated to Mercy Malaysia’s COVID-19 Pandemic Fund, and a portion will also go into social and art projects to support the local community.
The other Meme Banknotes in the series — based on the US Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Malaysian Ringgit, and Japanese Yen — will be minted and made available on the Binance NFT Marketplace over the next five months. There are plans for a Memebank Exhibition to be held later this year in Kuala Lumpur to showcase all the physical Meme Banknotes in the series.
