Order of the Egonauts just sold out of the third in a series of twelve “Egonauts” paying tribute to the most influential figures of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. As in the two previous series characterized by symbolic traits surrounding Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin and Binance’s CZ, the Elon Musk Egonaut series continues to build on that tradition, in full blown fashion.
The Elon series features over 55 unique traits spread across 12 trait categories. The series places Elon on Mars, at a Texas SpaceX launch site and in the hyperloop tunnel while donning outfits like a tuxedo alluding to his recent Met Gala moment, footwear resembling a Tesla cyber truck, eyewear reflecting his past Canadian citizenship or a head trait inspired by what an AI cyborg version of Elon may look like.
The series is further enriched with references to Elon’s personal interests as well as cameos by fellow industry moguls. The project’s illustrations take the storytelling from literal iterations, such as drawings of a Roadster, into a more surreal and esoteric realm. Take for example, the “Precious Creature” background image trait where a Gollum-like figure, ala Lord of the Rings, sits holding a Bitcoin or an Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series that finds its way on a t-shirt as a sci-fi graphic; both allusions to some of Elon’s admired literary works. Other background traits incorporate living tech icons such as Twitter’s Jack Dorsey sitting on a park bench reading a Dogecoin paper or PayPal’s Peter Thiel prepping a couch; a tongue-in-cheek reference to the idea that Elon often “couch surfs” at friends’ homes when traveling; the series even has Ark invest founder, Cathie Wood pushing a shopping cart full of diamonds to riff on her diamond hard conviction (and hands) on disruptive companies like Tesla.
These playful pop culture references, albeit abstract and loose at times, all seem to have a common purpose: to tell a story that both educates and entertains its audiences by means of illustrative traits associated with the past, present and (potentially) future lives of the Egonaut to whom the series is paying tribute.
In some ways, the project could be seen as some form of historical record. However, the creative team doesn’t take itself so seriously as to believe Elon has ever played the mythical Bitcoin guitar or that any respectable crypto investor would buy a Do Kwon inspired clown balloon…twice. Then again life does tend to imitate art more and more in modern times and Order of the Egonauts seems to just be getting started with 9 of the 12 series collection still yet to be released.
