Today, Russia’s political protest art collective Pussy Riot announces Drink My Blood, a new artwork to be auctioned on Thursday December 2nd, starting at 7pM EST for a 24 hour period. Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova’s very personal artwork is dropping with Friends With Benefits (FWB) at Miami Art Basel, crafted using the freedom papers she received upon her release from prison in 2013. The piece is a follow up to her previous 1 of 1 Virgin, Mary Please Become A Feminist, which was created using her prison sentencing documents and sold for 40 ETH on SuperRare in September. Pussy Riot is the first female artist to mint on the new FWB Gallery platform.
Drink My Blood is based on real events: when Pussy Riot served their time, Nadya Tolokonnikova was forced to sew police uniforms and she’d frequently injure herself due to the prison not maintaining safe labor conditions.
Drink My Blood consists of 3 pieces:
#1 Freedom certificate issued to the artist upon her release after 2 years in prison, stained with the blood of the artist.
#2 Blood of the artist, bottled.
#3 Digitized freedom certificate stained with the blood of the artist and set to the unreleased Pussy Riot song “Anthem”, minted on Ethereum blockchain.
Pieces #2 and #3 belong to the collector(s) who own the artwork. Blood of the artist, bottled, will be shipped to an address of the collector(s) choice. Additionally, a digital representation of the artist’s blood vial will be issued as an NFT to every individual bidder on the auction. #3 will be transferred to the collector(s)’ wallet. #1 will be kept by the artist due to the legal reasons: once convicted, according to the Russian law she needs to present her freedom certificate when traveling outside of Russia to confirm that the artist did properly serve her jail time.
Nadya Tolokonnikova states:
“I spilled some blood on the freedom certificate I was given upon release on xmas eve of 2013, after spending 2 years behind bars. I was injured multiple times as the result of being conditioned to slave labor while serving my time in a camp – I was forced to sew police uniforms. I wanted to make this freedom certificate to reflect the pain every prisoner goes through. The collector quite literally will be sent a physical bottle of my blood, and an NFT.“
PUSSY RIOT’S ARTWORK DRINK MY BLOOD AUCTIONED AS A 1/1 NFT VIA FWB GALLERY ON 2nd DEC: HERE
3D & digitalization is performed by the Berlin-based female artist Ksti Hu.
About the artist
Conceptual artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnika, founding member of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest art movement. Today, hundreds of people identify as a part of the Pussy Riot community.
Was sentenced in 2012 to 2 years’ imprisonment following an anti-Putin performance. Went through a hunger strike protesting savage prison conditions and ended up being sent to a Siberian penal colony, where she managed to maintain her artistic activity and with her prison punk band she put together to tour around Siberian labor camps. Published a book “Read and riot: Pussy Riot’s guide to activism”.
Co-founder of independent news service and media outlet, Mediazona. Has spoken before the US Congress, British Parliament, European Parliament, appeared as herself on season 3 of House of Cards, performed at Banksy’s Dismaland exhibition.
Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer was named by The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century (“feminist, explicitly anti-Putin, protesting the banning of gay pride and the Orthodox church’s support of the president”), collaborated with Bansky on his Dismaland exhibition, endorsed by Marina Abramovic and Ai Weiwei, created an immersive experience in Saatchi gallery in London. Pussy Riot joined the NFT community in early 2021, PleasrDAO member, a supporter of a stronger female representation in the NFT space.
Pussy Riot stands for gender fluidity, inclusivity, matriarchy, love, laughter, decentralization, anarchy, and anti-authoritarianism.
ABOUT FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS:
Friends with Benefits is the ultimate cultural membership powered by a community of our favorite Web3 artists, operators, and thinkers bound together by shared values and shared incentives ($FWB). It is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) built on the Ethereum blockchain. Friends With Benefits started as the brainchild of Trevor McFedries, a veteran of the music industry and tech entrepreneur known for co-creating CG personality Lil Miquela. Members of FWB represent a diverse pool of thought leaders, tech innovators, and culture builders, from Mike Shinoda and Holly Herndon to students of Central Saint Martins, who converge and collaborate on various creative endeavors including DJ sets at cultural events like Art Basel, specially-commissioned NFT projects, and more. Friends With Benefits is building a new kind of culture on-chain that models how existing institutions, artists, and communities can leverage decentralization and blockchain technology to push things forward.
