OONA! So great to be chatting with you here today. To begin, can you introduce yourself to the ALLSHIPS community?

I was born at NFTNYC 2021 and since then I have been making art which embodies the ethos of cryptoart: self-sovereignty.

I am entirely anon in real life and online. My medium of choice is performance art. And I’ve been known to be rather fearless in my approach to performance art.

I’ve auctioned off breast milk and butter. I’ve been kicked out of MoMa and the Met. And most recently I’ve been touring a performance which sutures breasts and blockchain.

So ya know, just subtle stuff.

Quite subtle indeed :) Tell me more about self-sovereignty. What does that phrase mean to you and how does the tooling of cryptoart enable artists to be more self-sovereign?

To be self-sovereign by my definition is to be responsible for onesself entirely. I think that this notion of self-definition and self-regulation is incredibly critical now as we approach a cultural landscape dominated by misinformation and control.

I am critical of how far from neutral the algorithms that we increasingly use to navigate our lives are. I experience first hand in my own practice that these algorithms are tools for censorship and surveillance.

I believe each technology is a reflection or extension of those who program it. I want to address the issues of societal programming by insisting and pursuing a clear eyes approach to the practical, artistic and sovereign application of technology.

Really wordy way of saying: I do me. No one controls me. So you do you and lets meet in the middle. This is my art. Show me yours!

What a beautiful definition, so well explained, thank you for the thoughtful answer. I fundamentally agree with every word you spoke right there. That is a wonderful lens to look at this new world through.

What is coming up in the world of OONA? What can we expect to see from you and how can the community here get involved in your next efforts?

I’m suturing breasts and blockchain with Look Touch Own.

I used to have 235cc silicone implants inside my breast. I got them removed.

Now I invite people one by one for maximum 60 seconds to touch my breasts and the implants that used to be inside them.

And then I track every single every bit of data of that interaction. it’s as much of a performance art piece as it a social experiment.

In a lot of ways performance art and generative art are very similar. I create the script for this interaction to happen, but the artwork relies on chance of the individual. Each person engages with this performance different - I have had people cry, get naked, confess secrets, and grope me. It truly is a range from transcendence to terror.

For this exact reason, this performance is a mirror that reflects both my lived experience and a critical telling of how we (as a culture) see women and the female form.

I'm about to release a series called Private # which are a series of 100 artworks - each image tells a story from the private previews of Look Touch Own in London, Los Angeles and New York City.

The data and artworks from the public performances (ie: Paris) will be unveiled later in the year.

Wow, what a beautiful interaction between artist and audience, technology and connection, I can't wait to see what art comes out of this and the stories that accompany the work. Fascinating.

I always like to ask artists- what is some advice you'd have for a creative who is earlier on their creative path?

I’m still a baby myself as OONA is only 2.5 years old!

I make art that is radical and necessary. It’s not safe. It requires so much emotional and spiritual fortitude. It is undermined by an algorithm. And yet, it has resonated with so many brilliant people.

So my advice to any artist that wants to make work that isn’t “easy” - make friends along the way & know your truth. Both will stand the testament of time.

Amazing. OONA, thank you for sharing a bit of your world with us today. Wishing you all the success on this next endeavour and I eagerly await the next steps here. To the reader, keep up with all things OONA on Twitter.