A Nod to Paper Dolls: Connecting the Past and Present
Eliza Blakemore
The inspiration for our mermaids can be traced back to paper dolls. Dolls hold a significant place in the lives of many young girls, whether they are physical dolls, paper dolls, or even online dress-up games. These characters and dolls often serve as a source of inspiration and motivation, allowing individuals to fully immerse themselves in new worlds and explore their aspirations.
As an artist who prefers to make physical objects, I was excited to make something that shows every single stroke of ink in the end result. This process of making these dolls mirrors the way we used to create them as children—colouring, striving to stay within the lines, cutting out, and assembling. However, by combining these traditional methods with digital technology, we unlock countless possibilities for dressing up the dolls in unique and imaginative ways.
What truly excites me about the mermaids is the duality they represent. On one hand, they provide the tactile experience of a physical artwork carefully crafted by hand. On the other, they harness the power of technology, seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds to create something even more extraordinary. This amalgamation allows for greater freedom and flexibility in altering the mermaids' appearance. There is a duality in the fact that paper dolls, often associated with childlike, feminine aesthetics that may not always be taken seriously, have transformed into crypto mermaids. The mermaid has endless combinations of outfits but she always clutches her crypto by the pool, ready for Beach Club Book Club at any moment.
Paper dolls and dress-up have been important in an art historical context. Cindy Sherman has most well-known work of her performing as many different characters. One of her early works titled Dolls Clothes a big inspiration to my collage practice that combines dressing up, taking photos using a photobooth and using online real estate listings
Weaving together the nostalgia of paper dolls with computer-generative art creates a fusion that resonates with both physical and digital art audiences. By investing in a mermaid, you are not merely acquiring a digital one-of-a-kind collectable, but a piece of art that hopes to fund the Crypto Mermaids.
What are Crypto Mermaid PFPs?
When you purchase a Crypto Mermaids you fund crypto, NFT, and Web3 educational programs
Since becoming disillusioned with the culture of silicon valley artist Gretchen Andrew has been using her increasingly visible art practice to increase popular understanding of new and important technologies. In 2021 she formalized her internet activism and efforts in internet literacy into By The Pool. By The Pool is an open community demystifying male-dominated knowledge topics in a fun, female, and approachable way.
The Crypto Mermaids fund crypto education in 3 primary ways:
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Supports the Beach Club Book Club: Monthly gatherings encouraging crypto education hosted by Monique Leong at pools all around the world with a home page at Barbican Beach Club.
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Writing and promotion for the Crypto By the Pool book publication: Read the full Crypto By the Pool book proposal (under contract).
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Production of Video & Multi-Media Content: We bring new people into Web 3 by meeting them where they are with a focus on Instagram, Tick Tok, YouTube.
NFT PFP Crypto Mermaids give the existing Web3 community the chance to support the growth of the Web3 community through funding the By The Pool outreach efforts.
Gretchen talks about the Crypto Mermaids on Tez Talk Radio
Why Crypto Mermaids Matter
An Accenture study found that 50% of women abandon tech careers by the age of 35.
In 2021, only 5% of crypto entrepreneurs were women. This imbalance needs readjustment.
Gretchen Andrew left the world of Big Tech to become an artist where she believed more people are celebrated and rewarded for being themselves. It is a heartbreaking journey to leave a place you love but don't feel you belong. Changing technology and the demographics of those who benefit from it have always been part of Gretchen's mission as an artist.
Crypto mermaids is a female-led NFT collectible project that supports empowerment by funding tech education.
Crypto Mermaids Fund "By The Pool"
What is "By The Pool"
An open community demystifying male-dominated knowledge topics in a fun, female, and approachable way. We have communities focused on Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, and general finance. Crypto By The Pool is our primary focus at this time because we believe everyone should know how this works, whether or not they engage with it. We use fun education and events with the following guiding principles:
By The Pool Principles:
The confidence to shape the future
Male-dominated knowledge topics, especially in technology and finance (crypto), are often presented as more complicated than they really are to preserve the powerful people who profit from them. It’s, like, totally unnecessary. The world needs more women who have the confidence to discuss and shape the future of technology. We are a wide open door to that process.
It can't be difficult if you can discuss it while sipping on a Piña Colada.
Requires no prior training in computer science, programming, finance or mathematics. Its only prerequisite is curiosity. Its dress code is a bikini and sunglasses.
The topic is always you and your confident ability to thrive in today’s world.
The subject is always self-empowerment. At its core identity, the By The Pool is about self-help, and self-improvement for women seeking personal or professional growth through the empowerment of knowing what the hell is going on. The By The Pool community is not defined by crypto as much as it is by the resulting empowerment that is the byproduct of this knowledge and enablement.
Crypto Mermaids Specifications
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250 Unique PFPs
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Drop price approximately $200 USD
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Attributes originate in hand-drawn paper doll style dress up by Gretchen Andrew
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Feels like playing dress-up à la Cindy Sherman Paper Dolls
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Supported by Tezos, a carbon-neutral blockchain for artists, crypto mermaids are part of a broader ecosystem determined to demystify male-dominated topics of knowledge.
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Dropping on fxHash in 2023
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Branded attributes with a variety of rarities and colors
Why?
Crypto mermaids are a fun and feminine collectible NFT project with a cause.
Collecting a mermaid allows crypto natives and novices to join a community of individuals with shared values.
It’s also an investment in the by the pool community that empowers women through increased tech literacy.
Crypto Mermaid Concept Presentation
Collect Crypto Mermaids
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Join a community of like-minded individuals with access to events and education
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Actually, support women in crypto (put your money where your tweets about feminism are)
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Invest in the By the Pool Community that provides tech literacy for those who feel isolated by the primary Web3 communities.
Meet the team
A Macao/Hong Kong native and educated in the UK and US, Monique Leong, is a Gen Z collector that has taken every opportunity to immerse herself in the art world. Her experience refined her focus on supporting and advocating for young, emerging artists - by sharing her frequent studio visits and curatorial projects. At the age of 22, Monique serves on UCCA’s International Circle, X Museum’s Board of Trustees and Palais de Tokyo’s International Board.
Mia Stern is a French-American aspiring curator with a BA in art history from the University of Cambridge and an MA in cultural policy from Sciences Po Paris. Her main topics of interest are new media arts and the structures underpinning contemporary digital visual culture at large. Before joining the mermaid team, Mia worked on a publication on NFTs for Taschen and at the Centre Pompidou's new media department in Paris.