Artist Brendan Murphy Launching Bitcoin 'Spacemen' via Ordinals

Famed artist Brendan Murphy is bringing his work to the Bitcoin blockchain, releasing a new “Frozen With Desire” collection using the Ordinals protocol. The collection consists of 3,100 Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions featuring “Bitcoin Spacemen” illustrations inspired by Murphy’s real-world "Frozen With Desire" sculpture.

The four-foot-tall “Frozen With Desire” astronaut piece—which contains 6,200 diamonds totaling 517 carats described as “responsibly sourced”—was listed at Saks Fifth Avenue for $25 million in 2021. This project follows Murphy’s previous “Boonji Project,” a collection of 11,111 unique NFTs that launched on the Ethereum blockchain in 2021.

The Bitcoin Ordinals Frozen With Desire (FWD) launch is set for July 18 and will take place on the popular Ordinals and NFT marketplace Magic Eden for 0.00144 BTC each, or about $92 at time of writing.

“I like to think that I'm a first mover now in Bitcoin Ordinals—it's just an awesome space to live in,” Murphy told Decrypt. “Regardless of anything else, any of the tech aspects—from an artist's standpoint, to be able to reach a new audience and continue to connect dots, it never existed, so I'm really fired up.”

According to the project website, the FWD inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain will range between numbers 72,221,454 to 72,226,059. Along with the pixel profile picture (PFP), owners of the Ordinals will be access a digital 3D recreation of the real-world statue.

“It's been scanned so that all the diamonds, all the fittings, everything looks exactly as is, and that's the file that we're going to be putting on the Bitcoin blockchain forever,” pseudonymous project team lead SpaceCat added. “That's a huge part of this, documenting one of the most expensive pieces in the world, on one of the strongest blockchains in the world.”

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SpaceCat noted a steady progression in the view of digital art within the broader art industry in the last five years, as NFTs became more mainstream.

“Initially, [art galleries] were doubtful and uninterested,” SpaceCat said. “However, recently, these same galleries have become open and curious, even willing to display digital artworks in their physical galleries. That is such a positive change.”

For each spaceman minted, holders can claim one of 3,100 3D FWD Bitcoin Ordinals. Owners can then redeem their Ordinal for a physical piece of fine art from Brendan Murphy at his 13 global gallery locations later this summer.

"FWD also means 'to move forward,’” Murphy said. “If you ask us now, it seems more relevant to think of it as ‘moving forward’ rather than being ‘Frozen With Desire.’ So, it has a double or even triple meaning."

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Holders of the FWD 3D Ordinal will also get first access to Ordia, a new application that lets FWD holders vote on the future of the physical Frozen With Desire sculpture.

While the images in the Frozen With Desire collection are “spacemen,” the image is not really about space exploration, Murphy explained. Rather, it's about the positive energy that stems from creativity, religion, and the emotional process and inner experience of someone jumping out of a spaceship.

"I believe the spacemen and the dreaminess of galactic travel resonate strongly throughout Web3,” Murphy said. “It feels like a natural progression from Boonji to FWD and Bitcoin Ordinals,” he said, noting his desire to keep the space vibrant and iconic. “Overall, the spaceman is a fun and memorable figure in the Web3 space."

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.