Did you know that there is now an NFT (non-fungible token) that was inspired by IONS? Paper artist Yulia Brodskaya was invited by Time Magazine to participate in their “Slices of Time” project, a collection of NFT art representing specific moments in time. The idea behind the project was to look at what has happened in the past and what the future may bring.
Nearly 40 artists participated – they got to choose a specific year and event from that year for the creation of the NFT. The artists worked in pairs, where one person looked at a year in the past – during TIME’s 100 years of existence – and the other one at a point in time 100 years ahead. Yulia Brodskaya chose 1973 and the foundation of IONS while her partner created a vision around year 2073.
NFT collectors who mint an NFT from the project are welcome to hold – or trade and burn – their piece for the original artwork.
We were honored to have the chance to have a chat with Yulia about this exciting project.
Why did you choose IONS for your project?
The mission of IONS resonates with me deeply. I have a burning feeling that bridging together science and spirituality is what humanity so desperately needs at this stage of our evolution. Even on an individual level I’ve always felt a conflict between my logical/mind-driven self and another part of me that is creative, artistic, and always connected to something beyond the visible material world. I believe there is no need for such conflict (or separation and need to choose either this or that); there is a way for a harmonious coexistence of science and spirituality on a collective and individual level… I like IONS message that says that science and spirituality can allow each to inform one another, weakening neither, but rather strengthening our understanding of reality.
Can you put words on how your NFT captures the essence of IONS?
This NFT is the part of the Time magazine project called “Slices of Time”: the task was to select a specific year that needed to be tied into an event or moment in time that “has impacted who you are or the world you live in”. I’ve chosen 1973 and the founding of IONS. My artwork is a visual representation of Dr. Edgar Mitchell’s transformative experience that happened on his way back to Earth. The motifs of an eye and a spiral represent spirituality, and science is represented by an atomic structure symbol: I’ve incorporated all the elements into one composition with Earth becoming the central focus connecting them all (it’s also the most prominent part of the paper sculpture). I placed the rocket on the intersection between the moon-to-Earth trajectory and the spiral to illustrate that exact moment of revelation that later on led to the establishment of IONS.
What do you like about creating with paper compared to other methods?
I get this question a lot, but somehow this is the one that I can never put properly into words. I’ve always had a special fascination with paper, it is flexible yet so strong and versatile… Or perhaps I can feel a subtle energy of paper connecting me to trees and nature: perhaps this energy can still be felt regardless of the number of manufacturing processes that took place in order to transform the raw natural material into the sheets of paper that we buy in a store.
Any other comments that you’d like to share with us?
I can’t wait to see what new horizons we will discover once more and more scientists and researchers will fearlessly open their minds and hearts.
