The multichain NFT protocol Holograph dropped its latest collaboration on Tuesday, bringing together a recognizable, “blue chip” NFT with one of the most iconic memes in history.
Titled “KilroyPunk,” the collectible is a riff on CryptoPunk #8527owned by the pseudonymous Delegate Cash creator and Crypto Twitter personality foobar, who has long used NFT as his profile picture. It combines the famous NFT of foobar with the work of Eric Elmsfeaturing the California-based artist’s take Kilroy.
The collaboration comes as Holograph tries to find a foothold in the NFT space, and it marks the third offering of the multichain protocol through a consumer-facing application. Released as part of an open-edition mint—meaning the collectible can be owned an unlimited number of times—it costs $15 and is available for 48 hours.
“It’s a great remix on top of classic Punk,” said foobar Decrypt, noted that CryptoPunk 8537 has played a significant role in enhancing brand recognition over time. Foobar boasts about 133,000 followers on Twitter.
From the 1940s, “Kilroy Was Here” emerged as an American symbol on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific, often in the form of graffiti. And created a cultural commentary with character for yearsElm’s entry into the NFT space is filled with a different subtext.
“Kilroy has a rich history dating back to World War II and has evolved culturally through different eras,” Elms said. Decryptsaying that it is similar to CryptoPunks because the collection contains “such an OG history of the NFT space, in concept and style.”
Elms says her work often centers around printed materials that are transformed through collages to create new meaning. So, as an artist from outside the NFT space, he thought it was important to pay homage to the pixelated style of CryptoPunks, which is essentially digital.
“For me, there’s a lot of history in indigenous art at NFT,” Elms said. “It’s important to not only use the technology but also have a conversation with the rich visual and conceptual history of the sub-culture.”
Ahead of NFT’s launch, the collaboration was teased on the streets of New York City in a way inspired by counterculture trends seen in streetwear and skate circles, said Holograph CEO and co-founder Jeff Gluck. Decrypt.
Despite Holograph’s focus on culture, Gluck says Holograph is ultimately rooted in technology.
Created by the CXIP Labs team, Holograph takes a multichain approach to digital collectibles, allowing users to mint NFTs on their chain of choice or swap them between multiple networks. Currently, the protocol supports Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Optimism.
NFTs are unique digital tokens that equate to ownership of something, usually digital art, and those assets usually exist on a blockchain—initially, at least.
Known projects like DeGods and Doodles branch out over time from the chains they create, expanding into new networks. Foobar says Holograph addresses some of the pain points inherent in this process.
“I’ve long thought that we need a unified first-user experience rather than each project re-creating their own cross-chain mechanisms,” foobar said.
The previous Holographic mint featured the work of artist Jasmine Monsegue, also known as Spacebrat, and her free NFT—which was also the first of his career—was played more than 300,000 times in a 48-hour window. The majority of NFTs are produced by Polygon, the Ethereum scaling platform.
Gluck says that many people who make their Holograph NFTs on Polygon are probably trying to avoid high gas fees compared to other networks like Ethereum, which shows an advantage of a multichain approach.
“Having an asset siled and locked in a singular blockchain makes no sense,” he said. “Consumers and creators are beginning to understand the need for a multichain approach.”
