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By @cryptokid901

PRØHBTD‘s first SuperRare drop, Control Couple, explores how life is becoming more and more like a game where static society fights to collect controllers and press other people’s buttons. The artist chose to make this their first minted piece because it reflects their view that crypto art is rooted in liberation. Control Couple also showcases PRØHBTD’s outlaw art mindset and commitment to social cause. 

As seen in Control Couple and on their IG feed, PRØHBTD creates art within two central themes, FACE It and ESCAPE It, that both contradict and complement each other. Within these themes, the works challenge the viewer to see beauty in contrast and defy false notions of normalcy. Here’s what the artist had to say in their introduction to the SuperRare community. 

Control Couple is your first minted work on SuperRare. Tell me about it. 

Some crave control. Others feel comfort in being controlled. We all have buttons that can be pressed. If Control Couple has a message, it’s that life’s a game, make sure you have the 🎮. 

We have two more drops this week. Freedom of Choice takes the retro arcade route with a message about being yourself, and then we travel a 🍄-inspired route with our third piece, Reject Routine, about finding what you’re not looking for.

What do you have coming up next?

These are the first PRØHBTD drops from the archives, so they have extra special meaning. Don’t want to say too much, but there’s more here than meets the eye. It will become more clear with future drops. 

You categorize your art under two themes, ESCAPE It and FACE It. What do these themes represent for you? 

Escape It and Face It are the Yin and Yang of the PRØHBTD universe. In Chinese cosmology, Yin and Yang were born from chaos at the start of the physical world, and they represent seemingly opposing forces that are actually interconnected in bringing harmony and balance. It’s like daylight and darkness. They might seem like opposites, but each has its benefits, and together they complete a 24-hour day of knowns and unknowns. 

What it’s not is a play on fight or flight. To face something doesn’t mean you have to fight it. You might actually be fighting for it. Same way, escape doesn’t mean running away from something. Maybe flight works if you’re soaring above something, but escape could be anything from shutting out the 📢 to escaping inside yourself. 

How does your art connect to the events occurring in our society today?

We connect through visual representations that preserve the emotions and feelings of events shaping society. Let history junkies scribble the books about what happened, we’re just translating what it felt like. 

You donate a portion of each sale to nonprofits. Which ones? 

We linked up with Propeller to give 3.14% of all sales to three organizations. The first org is called The Trevor Project, and it provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ teens and young adults. Reforming the criminal justice system and rooting out systemic racism are other important causes that we care deeply about, so we’re also giving to Colors of Change. The environment should matter to all of us, and we want to offset some of the carbon from minting NFTs, so we’re giving to Global Inheritance. This org works with artists to create environmental campaigns and promote activism at events like Coachella, the X-Games and Art Basel Miami. 

What are your inspirations?

Chaos Theory. Punk. Protest. DeFi. Psychedelics. Hugs. Transformation. 

Life has many monarchies even if they don’t wear physical 👑s. We’re inspired by anyone who breaks down the castle gates and agitates the artificial equilibrium. 

LSD or shrooms? 

Ayahuasca. Art is our shaman. 

Who exactly is PRØHBTD? 

We’re just tagging blocks on the chain in our own chaotic way. 

Follow Cryptokid on Twitter @cryptokid901and PRØHBTD @prohbtd