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Year of the Tiger.

Four tigers, four mythologies, one Lunar New Year.

A 2022 collection of dynamic NFTs made in celebration of Lunar New Year, minted with Manifold.

Year of the Tiger, digital tigress figure in vivid red, still from the dynamic work

Overview

Year of the Tiger is a collection of dynamic NFTs that were made in celebration of Lunar New Year. 2022 was the Year of the Tiger, and the series was created to celebrate and usher in the year ahead.

Each work pairs the tiger with a different mythology. Vietnam's Phạm Nhĩ, reincarnated as the god of the mountain and forest. The Chinese tiger claw amulet that wards off fright and gives courage. Korea's Mountain Spirit and the tiger that accompanies him. And Sang Nila Utama's sighting on the shore of Singapura, a lion that many historians believe was really a tiger.

The works were minted with Manifold as dynamic NFTs, coded to transform rather than sit still. The live versions can be viewed through their mint pages and on OpenSea.

Works

Year of the Tiger, still of the tigress figure against red silks
01.

Year of the Tiger

2022Dynamic NFT · single-channel digital video · 1/1
Unique · sold

“In Chinese folk tales, tigers kill evil men and protect good men. Tiger charms are used to keep away disease and evil, and babies are given colourfully embroidered tiger shoes for protection. The tiger claw (hu chao) amulet is believed to ward off sudden fright and give the wearer the courage of the tiger. Because the tiger wards off disasters, it is popular as one of the nine gods worshipped at the New Year Festival.”

Provenance: View on OpenSea → · Chain: Ethereum

Year of the Tiger 2, Prince of the Mountain, still of the figure with the tiger of the Mountain Spirit
02.

Year of the Tiger 2, Prince of the Mountain

2022Dynamic NFT · single-channel digital video · 1/1
Unique · sold

“The Mountain Spirit (Sanshin), Korea's most important indigenous deity, personifies the veneration of mountains, also manifested by the powerful tiger that accompanies him. The Mountain Spirit is considered a protector of Buddhism and most Korean Buddhist temple complexes include a shrine dedicated to him.”

Provenance: View the live dynamic work → · View on OpenSea → · Chain: Ethereum

Year of the Tiger 3, Nila, still of the figure with the tiger of the Singapura legend
03.

Year of the Tiger 3, Nila

2022Dynamic NFT · single-channel digital video · 1/1
Unique · sold

“Legend has it that when Sang Nila Utama, a prince of the Srivijaya Empire, landed on the island in the 13th century, he named the settlement he founded Singapura, 'Lion City', after an animal he spotted while hunting and took to be a good omen. Lions were never native to Singapore, however, and many historians believe it might, in fact, have been a tiger.”

Provenance: View the live dynamic work → · View on OpenSea → · Chain: Ethereum

The fourth tiger

A fourth piece, Year of the Tiger, The God of the Mountain and Forest, was made for holders of Love is Love and given away through a collector raffle rather than sold. It retells the Vietnamese creation myth of the tiger. “In Vietnam, the tiger is also known as Chuá Sơn Lâm (The God of the Mountain and Forest). The creation myth of the tiger tells of a mutinous heavenly deity by the name of Phạm Nhĩ. While Phạm Nhĩ was remarkably strong and talented, he plotted against the Jade Emperor as he thought he would be a more worthy ruler of the Heavens. Buddha intervened and captured him, and he was reincarnated as an animal on Earth, still retaining his extraordinary strength and hearing.”

View The God of the Mountain and Forest on OpenSea →

Details

2022
Four dynamic NFTs, minted with Manifold on Ethereum, January 2022. Three works sold at auction; the fourth was gifted through a Love is Love collector raffle. Related project: Love is Love.