Dubbed as the virtual medicine for a sick society, Crypto-Pills – based on Micha Klein’s Pillman- are making a splash in the NFT Collectible Space. Five days after going live, the total traded volume on OpenSea has hit $1100 ETH or around $4.2 Million based on today’s rate.
The Collection features the work of iconic contemporary artist Micha Klein, with artworks in museum collections worldwide. He has been a trendsetter since the 1980s and a pioneer in computer graphics. So in this Collection, he brings along his music and digital art career spanning 30 years.
Meet the Crypto-Pills, the NFT Collectible for your weary pandemic heart.Credit: Twitter(@pills_crypto)
Meet the Crypto-Pills
Crypto-Pills are multi-gender, multi-color avatars that are algorithmically generated from 37 categories and 504 traits. Each of 10,000 collectible tokens is a unique work of art revealed at the time of minting. To generate his collection, Klein created 500 illustrations by hand.
For his first NFT Collection, Klein adapted his most iconic 90’s character as inspiration. Credit: Twitter (@pill_crypto)
Additionally, when you buy a Crypto Pill, you’re not simply buying an avatar or a probably-rare piece of art. You are gaining membership access to a club whose benefits and offerings will increase over time. So your Crypto-Pill can serve as your digital identity and open digital doors for you.
Designed by one of the early pioneers of digital 3D animation, Crypto-Pills is the latest and arguably the greatest generative fine art collection of our time.
The inspiration for Micha Klein’s Pillman
Klein’s inspiration in this NFT Collection is actually a throwback to a computer animation that he popularized. This was way before going digital was a thing. With his iconic character “Pillman”, Micha Klein breathed life into a pill using computer animation. The Pillman, a pill capsule with arms and legs, is dancing cheerfully in the spotlights on a stage, with a broad smile on its face and dilated pupils. Klein clearly alludes to the 1990’s MDMA culture dominated by dancing and drugs, particularly ecstasy.
If you happen to be a fan of rapper Eminem, you’ll definitely recognize the image of Pillman by Micha Klein. This is due to Eminem using the character on his Anger Management Tour 21 years ago.
The Pillman character resonated with Eminem because of its theme so he decided to use it as a background during his tour. Credit: Vimeo
Pillman is one of the first optical ray tracing animations. This technique by simulating actual light rays. Then, using an algorithm to trace the path that a beam of light would take in the physical world. So aside from the artistic side, it also represents advancements in the history of 3D Animation.
Crypto Pills are coming to Asia
What makes each Crypto-Pill NFT unique is the artwork itself and the fact that this NFT project has been 30 years in the making. Moreover, Klein is launching the NFT Collection with a gallery. Crypto-Pills is the first major NFT avatar collection to be launched in Hong Kong and Klein’s first major project in Asia. The NFTs will be displayed at Start Art Gallery starting today, September 5.
Crypto-Pills are the first NFT Avatars in Hong Kong. Credit: Start Art Gallery
Crypto-Pills costs 0.07ETH, with no bonding curves and fair distribution. Given his art’s caliber and reputation, Klein could have charged more, but he has an aversion for ETH-laden opportunists who are violating the fair minting process.
Micha Klein decided that the solution is to give the NFT community early access to the Crypto pils presale. The process was actually simple. Firstly, the team asked community members to send a DM and state their request to purchase up to 20 Crypto-Pills NFTs by late evening PST August 25. Then, Each Metamask address was added to the smart contract to enable the collector to initiate their own minting during a 12-hour presale window of opportunity.
This is a huge win for the crypto community, which has felt powerless to leverage its ability to acquire NFTs from any of the high-profile drops. Convinced to get your own Crypto-Pill NFT? You can check out the available items trading on OpenSea.
