Mothership by Jonathan Monaghan

This work is considered to be a prototype for contemporary NFTs, as it is one of the earliest digital artworks to use a blockchain as a decentralized ledger. As for the work itself, Mothership is a video installation engaging in a 15-minute loop of dreamlike visuals and sound. The work navigates the realms between myth and reality, past and future, while humorously intertwining pop culture, anticipating hallmarks of future “NFT art.” Mothership also explores themes of authority, opulence and the pervasive impact of technology in our consumerist culture, with the sardonic work proving to be quite prescient with blockchain as a medium. For our story, Mothership is significant as the first work minted on the beta version of ascribe, the Bitcoin-based registration service, setting a precedent for what would evolve into what know of now as NFTs. This piece, limited to three editions and one artist’s proof, integrates the innovative use of blockchain as a decentralized ledger to authenticate digital art, while presciently commenting on the medium. As both a work and historical artefact, the piece is relatively understudied in the realm of historical NFTs.