Love the Earth with NFTs! Absurd Arboretum connects digital and physical tree-growing social experiment

In Taiwan, the NFT creative team Capsule Vault is planting 3,333 physical trees in New Brunswick, Canada through the "Absurd Arboretum" project, which originates from 3,333 digital NFTs. This is just the beginning, as Kevin Chu, co-creator of Capsule Vault, stated, "We hope to gradually showcase a mindset of post-humanity through a trilogy."

Generating Art NFT: Exploring the Future Form of Life from Capsules to Trees

The NFTs of Absurd Arboretum are themed around trees, consisting of 14 species, 28 types of tree trunks and branches, 28 leaf patterns, 71 plant embryos, 16 backgrounds, 7 filters, and 11 background music options, generating 3,333 unique NFTs randomly.

Interestingly, these trees start from capsules instead of seeds and rapidly take shape in different colors and surreal dynamics. Kevin Chu explains, "Choosing capsules as the starting point is because I believe that the chemical substances in drugs actually imply the possibility of people experiencing another world physiologically. However, I must clarify that what I mentioned is not about drug abuse, but rather the nature of drugs and their potential effects." He further elaborates that it can also be imagined as "transforming oneself," not only in the external form like cyborgs or bio-hackers, but also approaching the future world from within.

The Absurd Arboretum team, based on this concept, explores how to use real-life trees as carriers in the virtual world, incorporating various materials, forms, movements, music, and collaborating together.

First Episode of the Project: Planting Trees and Giving Away Beeple's Preferred Digital Frames

The NFTs of Absurd Arboretum from the initial release have all been sold out and are now circulating on OpenSea. The first step after the complete sale is to donate to the non-governmental tree-planting charity organization One Tree Planted, deciding through community discussions on Absurd Arboretum's Discord to plant 3,333 trees in Canada equivalent to the number of NFTs sold. However, due to the operational difficulties of One Tree Planted, these trees are collectively planted, and individual growth records for the NFT collectors are not yet available.

This project also offers digital frames as gifts to buyers who purchased 3 or more NFTs during the initial release, and these frames are from the well-known brand "Infinite Objects" that Beeple often uses. Kevin Chu recalled, "We tried various methods to contact them, and some collectors even mentioned that they had never seen a project that sends gifts and actively reaches out." However, Absurd Arboretum aims to infuse more human touch in community building.

Second and Third Episodes Coming Soon: Ecology and Society

What Absurd Arboretum seeks to convey seems to go beyond just a tree NFT; digital collectibles are just one of the media it interacts with society. So, what exactly is the "Capsule Vault Trilogy"?

Absurd Arboretum states, "We hope to gradually showcase a post-human thought process through the trilogy."

They believe that the imagination of post-humanism is actually an elevation of thinking. They imagine standing at the intersection of an old and new era, where the physical body and our past cognition naturally remain in the real world; however, our consciousness and spirit continuously extend and enhance towards the virtual world. They intend to focus on two aspects: virtual NFTs and creating a real impact in daily life.

They reveal that they are currently preparing for the second and third episodes, which are related to ecology and society, although details cannot be disclosed yet.

In the future, collectors will have more interactions through NFTs. The "BONFIRE Festival" will offer three interactive modes - bloom, burn, and build - extending from NFTs, providing benefits such as sustainable environmental protection, raffles, and rewards to collectors.

A Rising Star Team from Taiwan: Capsule Vault

This project, aiming to convey various consciousness, is quite different from traditional NFTs that emphasize earning money, memes, and social status. All team members behind Absurd Arboretum are from Taiwan. According to interviews, they formed the team in April of this year, and none of them had dealt with cryptocurrencies before January. Perhaps this is one reason they see NFTs more as a "medium."

Kevin Chu tells us that he works as a strategic designer. Choosing the environment as the project's theme is because he believes that in contemporary design, it is a missed opportunity if environmental factors are not incorporated into design or business.

I have been searching for a project that not only meets aesthetic requirements in design but also truly impacts the environment around us.

Other team members come from different professional fields intersecting on environmental issues. Co-founder apeinacoupe is a bio-architect who has been experimenting with presenting works in a more organic way in the field of architecture. Another co-founder, Jannie, is a former installation artist from Quality Matters, specializing in organic plant-based artworks and is also deeply involved in environmental conservation. Kevin Chu states, "Choosing this topic felt like a perfect fit!"