Crafted at the cutting edge of fashion, technology and art, Purity Dolls is a multifaceted online exhibition and live performance that seeks to challenge the conventional value system associated with female bodies.
Presented by Sam J and OONA – renowned performance artists who work with blockchain – this project explores how technology can deepen our understanding of gender, identity and self sovereignty. Each iteration of the project – a live performance, a dynamic series of NFTs and a curated exhibition of digital fashion pieces – are united by a desire to disrupt prevailing notions of femininity and examine fashion’s role in constructing ideas around gender and sexuality that continue to shape our world today.
From the Artists
“this is the beginning of an exhibition text which says very little and makes you think we are very smart. this is a peer to peer curation, called Purity Dolls, we asked artists we like to make art they like. in doing so, we push the definitions of avant garde because we have only asked weirdos to participate. the end result is a curation that a) positions nails, handbags, and bodies as art b) includes performance art, artificial intelligence, and sculpture. we are not sure the end result, but we presume it will blur the lines between art and fashion. prompting original and internal dialogue in regards to the value we ascribe to art objects and bodies treated as objects. participating artist include: OONA, SamJ, Glitch of Mind, Fantastic Planet, Olga Fedorova, Tyler Givens, Jisu the exhibition is one night only – February 15 – during London Fashion Week and will feature a live performance at 20:00 sharp. Unit. this is the end of the exhibition text. this is the beginning of an exhibition text which says very little and makes you think we are very smart. this is a peer to peer curation, we asked artists we like to make art they like. in doing so, we push the definitions of avant garde because we have only asked weirdos to participate. the end result is a curation that a) positions nails, handbags, and bodies as art b) includes performance art, artificial intelligence, and sculpture. we are not sure the end result, but we presume it will blur the lines between art and fashion. prompting original and internal dialogue in regards to the value we ascribe to art objects and bodies treated as objects. this is the end of the exhibition text.”
Get in touch to learn more, including pricing and minting information.
Stage One: Purity Dolls. Live Interactive Performance. Feb 15th, 8pm GMT.
Purity Dolls, is a live, interactive performance art piece that uses physical fashion garments to examine, and subvert, the commodification of the female form and challenge our collective understanding of purity and value. Through meticulously crafted dresses – made up of 500 $1 painted bills – Sam J and OONA invite audience members to dismantle these societal ideas through an active dismantling of the dresses themselves. At first, the artists appear on stage shrouded in paper money, embodying a kind of living sculpture or monetary ready-made. But their dresses are slowly deconstructed as viewers are encouraged to pull the paper money off their bodies, demanding reflection on the ways in which femininity is constructed, valued and undermined.
To deepen the conceptual underpinnings of their performance, the artistic duo invites audience members to perform with them, taking the role of blockchain hackers. Each piece of paper money that comprises their dresses has a single word printed on it, intended to represent part of a unique seed phrase, or cryptographic password. If the 24 words that make up the password are arranged correctly, the audience can unlock a hypothetical virtual vault that would typically contain a unique artwork. The artistic duo intends to engage their audience through this theoretical promise of being able to acquire, or steal, an artwork from the collector, thereby connecting its (hypothetical) monetary value to the audience’s participation and patronage.
RSVP is essential, so please confirm your attendance here.
Its a hyper visceral commodification of the female form - people not only have to get their hands dirty and take the money, they have to choose which one to take it from. Then we make them choose again when they realize that each bill has one word (of twenty four) written on it. If they were to all work together they could figure out the password and gain access to the device safekeeping the digital artwork
OONA
Stage Two: Degenerate Sluts: A Dynamic Series of NFTs.
To accompany their performance, Sam J and OONA have created a dynamic series of works based on a bespoke blockchain contract. Titled Degenerate Sluts, each work in this collection is created from 3D Lidar Scans of the artistic duo’s nude bodies. These abstracted, moving-image nudes visually degrade over time according to the on-chain activity of the tokens; the more the works are traded and transacted, the greater the visual glitch becomes. Understood as a metaphor, these works speak to the perceived corruption and degradation of female bodies. This collection employs renowned digital artist XCOPY’s CC0 glitch and can be degraded a total of 24 times each.
This is a limited edition of 24 at 0.001 ETH.
“Female sexuality and female purity operates from a scarcity mindset: the less the {object} is touched or used, the more value it has. With these editions, we wanted to recreate this perceived degradation of value. The artworks feature lidar scans of our nude bodies. Each time the images get transacted, the image quality degrades.”
– OONA
OONA x SAMJ Studios
Degenerate Sluts
2024
NFT video
24
0.001 ETH
Stage Three: A Curated Exhibition of Digital Fashion Pieces.
In addition to their own artworks, Sam J and OONA have carefully selected an array of digital fashion pieces from an innovative group of five artists: Fantastic Planet, GLITCHOFMIND, Jisu, Olga Fedorova and Tyler Givens. In a similar vein to Sam J and OONA, these artists address human physicality and emotion through the lens of digital media, demonstrating that the integral role that fashion and art play in self-identity and expression continues more resolutely than ever in the digital realm.
Fantastic Planet
In Dominance, again, Fantastic Planet explores the connection between fashion and sexuality, speaking to the powerful role of costume and performance in embodying fantasies, desires and longings. As male bodies overlap and blur together, the work becomes a celebration of homosexual desire, a visual form of resistance to the historical underrepresentation of the LGBTQ+ community. In this work, presence is protest; playful notions around fashion and performance can be understood as radical demands for identity freedom.
Fantastic Planet
Dominance, again
2024
NFT Video
Unique Original
1.5 ETH
Fantastic Planet is a queer Los Angeles-based artist whose practice blurs the lines between reality and imagination. Inspired by Surrealism and the rich historical canon of queer art, they explore the profound connection between their subconscious and the creative potential of AI. With a background in fashion and video glitch art, Fantastic Planet focuses on thoughtful prompt-writing techniques to investigate cultural biases via machine learning systems. Their artwork seeks to spotlight the resilience and beauty of the queer community to foster connection and understanding in an ever-evolving world. Fantastic Planet earned a BA from the Art Institute of California, San Francisco. Their work has been exhibited at international venues, including in Australia, Tokyo and Los Angeles.
GLITCHOFMIND
Gaze Ambrosia is a powerful 3D editorial composition featuring garment design by the artist. Through a convincing illusion of spatial depth and physical materiality, GLITCHOFMIND at once conveys a sense of human vulnerability and defiance. Frozen in time, the protagonist stares straight ahead with a confidence that undermines the chaos that seems to have taken place around her. The work is inspired by ancient Greek mythology; ambrosia is the food and drink that confers longevity or immortality upon the gods. As such, a dangerous omnipotence is evoked by the toppled chalice of black liquid.
GLITCHOFMIND
Gaze Ambrosia
2024
NFT
Edition of 15
GLITCHOFMIND is a photographer and 3D visual artist from the Dominican Republic, currently based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Deeply influenced by his heritage and personal experiences, his artwork celebrates the power of digital storytelling. Employing a range of technological tools, from traditional photography to artificial intelligence and 3D/VR sculpting, he seeks to explore notions of identity, whilst providing glimpses into fantastical settings. Combining character and costume design with nuanced strains of editorial digital fashion, his works embody the cutting-edge of digital fashion today. GLITCHOFMIND’s digital fashion pieces have been exhibited at Art Basel Miami, London Fashion Week, and showcased internationally, including in Montreal, Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Beijing, Korea and New York.
Jisu
As the title suggests, Y3K is a speculative exploration into the nature of fashion and beauty in the year 3000. Inspired by anime and digital beauty trends, the fluorescent piece reflects the increasingly dominant role of digital technologies in defining beauty standards. For Jisu, beauty in the future will continue to be shaped by influencers and creatives online who riff from popular aesthetics on novel social platforms.
Jisu
Y3K
2024
NFT
Unique original
3.58 ETH
Jisu, also known as Jacqueline Choe, is a self-taught Korean-American artist whose practice seamlessly blends technology, art and culture. With a background in eSports, entertainment design and web3, she combines technical virtuosity with a passion for innovation, continuously experimenting with new tools and techniques. Whilst colourful, her digital illustrations are often imbued with iconoclastic, subversive narratives; unique worlds governed by unruly characters provide a subtle sense of unease. Jisu has won numerous accolades, including an award in the Digital Category from Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. Her work has been exhibited in physical and digital galleries, including Haven Gallery and MoCDA and has been published in ImagineFX magazine and Pixiv: Artists of Korea I and II.
Olga Fedorova
the universe in me is a deeply personal piece for Fedorova, an exploration into the multitudinous emotions and experiences that have characterised her life, brought together in a single enigmatic composition. Through blurs and textures she conveys a sense of dynamism that aligns with the multifaceted and unsteady nature of our internal worlds. Unsettling, yet relatable, this work invites contemplation and reflection on our own personal histories which have shaped who we are today.
Olga Fedorova
The universe in me
2024
NFT
Unique Original
0.2 ETH
Olga Fedorova is a digital artist whose figurative works shift between hyperrealism and surrealism. Her mysterious characters are often portrayed with blurred effects and deep colours, evoking an uncanny and eerie atmosphere that is as much associated with our material reality as it is our psychological journeys. The interiority of her compositions compel viewers into a state of contemplation, yet remain focused on depicting the strange and wonderful through a range of digital illustration techniques. Fedorova received an M.A. in painting from ENSAV in Brussels. In 2016, she had a solo exhibition, The Inevitability of a Strange World, at Liebaert Projects, Belgium. Her artworks have also been featured in numerous group exhibitions across Europe, including at the Kunsthaus Zürich Museum, Switzerland; In De Ruimte, Ghent; Pulsar, Antwerp and Galerie Annka Kultys, London.
Tyler Givens
Futuristic metamorphosis is explored in Given’s Caterpillar, vA (Innocence). The human form is replaced with fragmented robotic body parts, representing the posthuman, or more than human. Vibrant displays of colour and dynamic movement are intended to present springtime as an associated technological space. Crafted using Stable Diffusion, this work is emblematic of the technologically-driven transformations of human creativity and self-identity in contemporary culture.
Tyler Givens
Caterpillar, vA (Innocence)
2024
NFT Video
Unique Original
1 ETH
Tyler Givens is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist whose fantastical domain is an unapologetic departure from the ordinary, a realm where figures morph and stories unravel beyond conventional bounds. Weaving traditional mediums with emerging technologies, he explores the power of escapism as a means of deliverance and invites the viewer to confront and interrogate the foundations of our shared realities. Inspired by anime’s philosophical depths, the flamboyance of ‘00s fashion imagery, and a Christian upbringing, his creations evoke themes of sex, freedom and the apocalypse. Their work is simultaneously a tranquil escape and a confrontation — a journey into the uncharted territories of self discovery and liberation. Givens received a BA in Photography & Imaging from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His artwork has been featured in exhibitions including Body Dissolve at DUPLEX, New York; Teaser 03 at The Fairest, Berlin and The Flower Breaths a Second Life, online at James Fuentes Gallery, New York.
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SAMJ
is a visual artist, performer and fashion designer inspired by the anthropology of the self. Their work concentrates on how we express ourselves, subconsciously communicate and choose to find our place in a multimedia world through various boundaries and labels. Since earning a BFA in Graphic Design in 2019, they have been exploring gender, beauty and fashion through the lens of digital media and posthumanism. Recently they have began their own fashion brand Anon Binaire in 2024.
SAMJ’s artworks have been featured on renowned platforms and in internationally acclaimed publications, including Givenchy Beauty (2023); Christie’s 3.0 (2023); Vogue Business (2023); SCOPE Art Basel Miami Beach (2022); Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam (2022) and Gucci Vault (2022).
OONA
is an anonymous conceptual artist whose practice explores the intersections of technology, finance, gender and identity. Through moving image and performance art, she exposes the collision between progressive technologies and socially regressive ideas, offering a critical perspective on the contemporary cultural landscape. OONA holds an MFA from Central St Martins, University of the Arts London.
OONA’s performances and exhibitions have been presented globally at prestigious venues, including Milking the Artist (2022) at Art Basel Miami; Sex and Speculation (2023) at Vellum Los Angeles; A Heist, A Nude and Butter (2022) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Artist is Present (2022) at Vertical CryptoArt London.