Madonna is stepping into the world of NFTs.
The singer, 63, just released an NFT that features an animated version of her giving birth to a tree while nude.
She created the video, which contains graphic imagery, in partnership with SuperRare, a crypto art marketplace.
“My journey through life as a woman is like that of a tree,” Madonna says in a voice-over to the video. “Starting from a small seed, always pushing against the resistance of the earth, the endless weight of gravity, the scorching heat and pouring rain and punishing winds. I’ve taught myself to be supple so I won’t break. While predators pick at my fruit and scrape my bark, saw off my branches, chop me down, burn me to the ground, they will never destroy my essence nor take my glory, nor extinguish my soul.”
An NFT is a kind of digital asset, such as a photo or video. While NFTs can be freely viewed and copied online, they also contain unique identification codes. This means they can have individual owners, and thus can be bought, sold and collected.
Madonna’s video NFT appears to be the first in a three-part collection, or triptych. The singer explained that each video is about the process of birth, both literally and metaphorically.
“We set out to create something that is absolutely and utterly connected to the idea of creation and motherhood,” she said in a recent Instagram video.
“Whether I’m sitting on a tank in a post-apocalyptic city or I’m in a hospital bed in a very sterile laboratory environment, I’m doing what women have been doing since the beginning of time, which is giving birth," she said. “But on a more existential level, I’m giving birth to art and creativity, and we would be lost without both."
Madonna will be auctioning off her three video NFTs, titled Mother of Nature, Mother of Evolution and Mother of Technology, in a two-day auction. Each NFT has an opening price of $1, or 0.00035774 Ether, a cryptocurrency.
She noted in another Instagram video that all proceeds from her NFT sales will go to three charities, including City of Joy, an organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo that helps women rebuild their lives after undergoing trauma.
Proceeds will also go to the Voices of Children Foundation, which helps displaced Ukrainian families, as well as the Black Mama’s Bail Out initiative, which helps bail out mothers and caregivers from jail before Mother’s Day.
To create the NFTs, Madonna worked with graphic designer Mike Winkelmann, who, according to his website, has also produced concert visuals for artists including Justin Bieber, One Direction, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj.
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