Imogen Heap and the Carbon-Neutral NFT

CAMILLE DANIELICH can be counted on to bring intriguing reimaginings of visual culture to a weekly aha. Look no further than this INVERSION OF THE NFT by Imogen Heap. Here’s one controversial outcome of NFT art auctions: most non-fungible tokens are bought and sold with Ethereum, a cryptocurrency that pumps in energy and pumps out greenhouse gas emissions. A counter-climate crypto coin? It complicates this new kind of cultural patronage.

Which makes Imogen Heap’s NFT drop all the more notable. With the release of music she titles The Firsts Collection, Heap settles among the first artists using their craft to invert the impact of crypto. Each track, an improvised song made with friends and fans on a live-jam platform, is packaged with custom visualizations and sent to the crypto market. And the result is carbon negative: Heap’s collection reinvests its profits into carbon removal via a startup named Nori. Contemplative and resolute, the project tells us that we can harness the movements of the moment — and with unconventional creative thinking, we can remake them in the image of our own values.