Key takeaways
- Undercurrent uses NFTs as units of attention to redirect focus and resources from the crypto space back to climate action and the physical world.
- Wavelength NFTs visualize ocean buoy data from 1,300 buoys worldwide, creating unique fingerprints of the top 20 U.S. surf breaks using NASA satellite data.
- Each Wavelength NFT sale donates 10% of profits to Heal the Bay, a Southern California climate charity, offsetting the environmental impact of the project.
- The project approaches NFTs from a fine art perspective rather than as speculative assets or motion graphics, aiming for long-term cultural significance.
- Monthly wave telemetry data visualized in each NFT reveals seasonal ocean patterns that could serve as historical climate change documentation over decades.
Flipping crypto's attention economy
Ashton Addison: What is Undercurrent Army, where did the idea come from, and what problem does it solve?▶ 00:22
Tim Shea: We saw the NFT space emerging and were very intrigued, because it lets creators have a direct relationship with their fans and customers. But there's a big problem. A lot of the NFT, crypto and blockchain world siphons attention and resources away from the physical world, and it's damaging to it. There's plenty of literature on the electricity it takes to keep a blockchain running. So we wanted to flip the script. We recognized NFTs as a unit of attention, and we wanted to siphon that attention back to the physical world, tell stories about the planet we live on, and redirect a lot of this newfound wealth to climate action organizations. Undercurrent is a blueprint for NFT and blockchain projects to use the viral mechanics built into the products, and to set a standard for giving back and offsetting their impact on the climate.
Ashton: What guided the design of your first set of NFTs?▶ 03:24
Tim: We decided early on to come in as a creator rather than a speculator, although we recognize the two are somewhat intertwined. Our core skill set is data visualization, data integration and building technology. We saw a lot of NFT activity as trolling and gimmicks, and there's an oversupply of motion graphics and a lot of junk out there. CryptoPunks and Autoglyphs really grounded that conversation for me. I instantly recognized that in 20 years CryptoPunks will be hanging in the MoMA next to Basquiat, Rothko and Pollock. And NFTs have stolen the mantle from Banksy, the original publicity-stunt artist, because they're so good at grabbing attention. So we wanted to approach this from a fine art perspective, while knowing that at the end of the day an NFT is a unit of attention.
We recognized NFTs as a unit of attention, and we wanted to siphon that attention back to the physical world
From ocean buoys to fine art
Ashton: What do the Wavelength NFTs represent, and how were they built?▶ 05:46
Tim: Wavelength answers the question: what is the frequency of the ocean? There are 1,300 buoys floating in the ocean. They take 20-minute samples and send them to space, to one of 17 satellites orbiting the earth. Those signals are relayed back to Wallops Island, Virginia, where NASA collects, cleans and archives the data and sends it on to the National Weather Service for a variety of uses. It's also available to download. We pulled it in through an API and a Python algorithm we developed. It tells the story of the unique fingerprint of the top 20 surf breaks in the United States, in many cases drawing on 10, 20 or 30 years of wave data. It was quite a technological challenge to pull off. We listed them on OpenSea, which has been a great partner, and for each NFT we make a donation in the buyer's name to Heal the Bay, a climate charity here in Southern California.
Ashton: If these NFTs last for decades, would they show the ocean changing over time?▶ 08:34
Tim: I hadn't thought about that when we were building them. We were thinking more about the sentimental value many of these breaks have for surfers, with a lot of memories tied up in riding them. But it is a data visualization exercise too. Each line on a piece represents one month of wave telemetry data, so you can see seasonality, summer to winter. The larger lines toward the right of the x-axis represent larger waves. On the left they're zero to two meters high, and toward the right they're massive. The thesis of climate change is that some areas are getting hotter, some colder, and storms are getting more intense. Breaks in the northern parts of the globe, like Alaska, Montauk on Long Island and Oregon, are rougher, with more storms. Southern California is more placid and consistent. If you saw major aberrations in those patterns, that would matter. Places close to sea level, like Florida, would see lots of problems, and you don't want a 20-foot wave off the coast of Miami. So it's a good point that you might be able to closely monitor the effects of climate change with the pieces themselves.
Who it's for and what comes next
Ashton: Who did you have in mind as buyers: crypto investors, art collectors, surfers, wave scientists?▶ 11:16
Tim: Once we found the idea, you become obsessed. You live on these buoys, hundreds of miles out in the ocean. We think a lot of data geeks will be interested, and there's a fine art community thinking about art hanging in their living room. We know the data visualization community will react well. And surfers, because the surf community is closely tied to the climate community, and these breaks have sentimental value for them. Anyone who wants to own a unique piece and make a donation to climate action in their name, we'd love to work with. We released in the context of Earth Day, and no reasonable offer or bid will be refused. We'd love to sell the whole collection and look back and say we made a measurable impact.
Ashton: Are you planning further tranches or other projects?▶ 13:25
Tim: We've seen a lot of inbound interest, both from people who want to make other variations of the project and from traditional advertising agencies, brands and publishers trying to figure this stuff out. We've also talked about commissioning specific breaks. Some are gorgeous but were very difficult to get data for. Biarritz in France is a legendary surf break, with a buoy about 70 miles off the coast, but we couldn't find the data. Fiji and Tahiti have buoys 200 miles offshore, and some aren't managed by NOAA in the US. We're keen to see what the market asks for. We're also interested in a broader application of the Undercurrent blueprint, helping other people roll out similar projects in the future.
in 20 years CryptoPunks will be hanging in the MoMA next to Basquiat, Rothko and Pollock
Getting involved, and what blockchain still lacks
Ashton: How can readers follow the project and get involved?▶ 15:42
Tim: Visit undercurrent.army, follow us on Instagram at undercurrentarmy, or find us on OpenSea under Wavelength NFT. We're also interested in collaborating with others in this industry. NFTs are a new form of e-commerce and a new way of engaging with brands, and building a brand in 2021 is hard work. An average brand has data living in between 10 and 30 different databases. The blockchain and NFT space has only about five percent of the technology needed to support modern commerce, marketing and attribution, rights management and copyright. We want to make an impact there and work with others to move blockchain technology forward, so it can capture all the promise it holds.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Recorded April 2021.
