The Sex Pistols star has entered the world of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, with a collection of 100 intimate pieces of art that have been digitized and minted on the Ethereum blockchain. He recently published a number of crypto artworks in the new series Mr Rotten’s NFTs. A percentage of the sale of each NFT goes to The Spitz Charitable Trust in Islington to help people living with dementia.
Lydon addresses the carbon emissions associated with the minting of every significant NFT and is the only artist in this space to take the issue of offsetting seriously.
The carbon emitted by the minting of each NFT is offset by The Phantom Planters of Ireland.
This is a group of ‘guerrilla gardeners’ who plant orchards in communities across Ireland, restoring landscapes depleted by years of intensive farming.
The goal is to plant 40 trees for every NFT sold across the island of Ireland, north and south.
More than 4,000 new native fruit trees will be planted by the time the last NFT is sold.
Lydon has been accused of hypocrisy about the project because of his past criticism of “greenwashing” tree planting.
But The Phantom Planter, who Lydon is working with to plant the trees, says he’s absolutely correct in his stance, saying “he’s right, there’s a lot of greenwashing going on right now”.
He added: “Big companies are planting thousands of monoculture trees to offset their carbon emissions, but these are bad for the environment and will be cut down for firewood in 20 years.
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“This process is completely counterproductive and ends up generating more carbon!
“We need more native trees, especially fruit trees like the one John just planted. People will be nibbling on Mr. Rotten’s plums for generations to come!”
Lydon’s collection of 100 NFTs, hosted on Rarible, was created from a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
Speaking of the range of NFTS, he said, “Most of them are quite abstract, a piece within a piece. Each extraction is a work of art in itself. This is my art. broken apart. Not everyone will get it.
“I’ve been asked by several people to do something in the NFT space pretty much since day one so I’m doing this now to support the Phantom Planting campaign and raise some money for The Spitz Charitable Trust.
“They are a brilliant charity based in Islington, North London, bringing professional musicians into care homes and day centers.
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“They use live music to improve the well-being and cognitive function of people with dementia.”
Lydon also alluded to the idea of hosting a PiL performance in the Metaverse to be broadcast around the globe for those who can no longer make the journey to perform.
“Yeah, why not?! It’s a damn good idea! Music really helps people with dementia unlock parts of their brains that the disease is taking away from them.
“My wife Nora loves music and you can see her face smile when she hears a tune she loves. It would be great to do a live performance that people from all over the world could attend.”
Herr Rotten’s NFT Collection is now available on the Rarible NFT Marketplace.
And for every copy purchased, John sends an autographed printed copy of the original.
