Parker Day and Casey Rodarmor’s FUN! Assortment is an unprecedented synthesis of photographic maximalism and protocol-level innovation—a piece that stands alone throughout the panorama of Bitcoin-native artwork. Saturated with Day’s daring shade palette, surreal personas, and layered id play, the gathering is anchored by Rodarmor’s foundational position because the creator of the Ordinals protocol. Most notably, the sequence is inscribed straight beneath Inscription 0—the primary inscription ever made utilizing the Ordinals Protocol—marking it as an ontological outlier within the digital artwork canon. No different assortment occupies this identical foundational location on-chain, making FUN! a conceptual and technical landmark in Ordinals historical past.
Now expanded with new reflections from each collaborators, this interview explores the venture’s deeper ideological dimensions—from the mechanics of trustless auctions to the ethics of creative compensation, from professional wrestling and portraiture to capitalist generosity and the social roots of worth. Collectively, Day and Rodarmor type a uncommon inventive pairing: artist and dev, photographer and protocol architect, equal components absurdity and rigor.
One of many assortment’s most iconic works—that includes Rodarmor himself—is ready to headline the Megalith.artwork public sale, a Bitcoin-native sale construction that concludes on June third and can be showcased at each Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas and its satellite tv for pc occasion, Inscribing Vegas. The piece anchors a broader lineup that features standout contributions from main digital artists corresponding to Publish Wook, Coldie, Ryan Koopmans, FAR, Rupture, and Harto.
It’s much less an interview than a glimpse right into a high-voltage collaboration:
Parker, your images is understood for its daring shade, eccentric characters, and fearless exploration of id and persona. How did this collaboration with Casey come about, and what visible or cultural influences helped form The FUN! Assortment?
PARKER: Casey and I’ve recognized one another since highschool. You possibly can even say he was one in all my first fashions—I shot his portrait for my sophomore 12 months darkroom images class. We stored in contact over time, and in 2017 he inspired me to show my ICONS sequence into crypto artwork. I handed on that on the time, however in 2021 I did launch an Ethereum NFT assortment of ICONS. Proper after that, Casey known as me and stated, “Yo! You should go even greater! Do 10k!” And I’m like, “You already know these are all unretouched and shot on movie, proper?” However together with his encouragement and funding, we discovered the best way to produce 1,000 distinctive portraits.
The visible and cultural influences behind FUN! are too quite a few to call—only a mishmash of popular culture that’s been stewing in my mind since childhood.
The FUN! assortment was launched beneath a CC0 license, that means anybody can reuse, remix, or recontextualize the work with out restriction. In a venture so rooted in persona, authorship, and efficiency, what led you to make that call—and the way do you consider authorship or creative management within the context of open licensing on Bitcoin? What would you discover attention-grabbing to see performed with the gathering past your unique images methodology? What sorts of reinterpretations or mutations of the gathering would genuinely intrigue you?
PARKER: I adore it. As an artist, when you create one thing and it leaves the studio, it’s out of your palms. The viewers shapes the work in their very own interpretations. You don’t have any management over it. It appears foolish to say “that is my IP, you may’t do something with it.” We dwell in a world of memes, of copy advert infinitum. It appears anachronistic in in the present day’s world to clutch copyright with an iron fist. And it’s completely in step with the ethos of Bitcoin to make the work CC0. When it comes to worth, the inscriptions are the scarce collectibles. Much more so than any editioned prints will ever be. Their inscriptions’ provenance is on chain, straight descended from inscription 0.
There’s nothing specifically that I’d prefer to see or not prefer to see performed with FUN! I simply hope individuals discover that means in it, and make that means from it.
You two have an uncommon inventive relationship: artist and protocol dev, patron and co-conspirator. Casey, you principally invented a brand new medium to assist Parker’s work. What does it imply to construct one thing enduring collectively in an area that usually prizes individualism?
CASEY: I adore it. I imply—I actually adore it. Parker and I are tremendous complementary. We every have our personal sturdy wheelhouses, and we’re all the time partaking with one another’s work, however on this very chill, supportive method.
Like, once we’re capturing, I’ll inform her what I feel seems cool or what would possibly work effectively within the assortment—nevertheless it’s by no means directive. It’s extra like, “Hey, right here’s some knowledge. Do with it what you’ll.” And identical goes for the technical stuff. We’ll speak about metadata, domains, the web site format—she provides me her ideas, and it’s simply… enter. Take it or depart it.
We’re each so stable in our personal lanes that it makes collaboration simple. There’s no bizarre insecurity. She’s the inventive drive behind the gathering—I do know that. I’m the technical spine—and she or he is aware of that. That sort of readability makes it enjoyable.
And truthfully, I’m simply actually pleased with this partnership. We’ve been in one another’s lives in a optimistic method for thus lengthy—since highschool. Parker’s given me Bitcoin haircuts. I used to be bugging her to do NFTs in 2017. Even once we’d go lengthy stretches with out speaking, we all the time checked again in.
“Hey, how’s it going?”“Noticed you on Twitter.”“Noticed you on Instagram.”
It’s simply a type of nice, long-running collaborations that’s rooted in mutual respect—and a shared willingness to go bizarre.
Casey, did you draw on any previous modeling expertise—or take notes from Raph? And what was it like working beneath Parker’s course: extra Kubrick or camp counselor?
CASEY: I feel I used to be fairly self-directed for the shoot. I wasn’t drawing on previous modeling expertise precisely—extra like theater child power. I’ve all the time liked skilled wrestling. It’s extremely cool… and likewise extremely formulaic, so I get bored if I watch an excessive amount of. However each couple of years, I test again in, see what the storylines are.
For this shoot, I knew precisely how I needed to ham it up—like knowledgeable wrestler. That wild, sweaty, insane power. The spiked ball pressed in opposition to my face. All of the bizarre faces. American professional wrestling is tremendous operatic, truthfully.
The character I used to be channeling? Largely Final Warrior. Parker actually nailed the eyes—these traditional, intense Final Warrior eyes. He wore wild make-up and had that jacked-up look. Ric Aptitude was one other affect—primarily for the hair. He had this lengthy blond hair, and when it obtained bloody within the ring, it regarded insane.
As for Parker—positively extra camp counselor than Kubrick. She units the scene: every thing prepared, hair and make-up dialed, wardrobe laid out. We talked by way of the costumes a bit. She’ll give course, just a few hints right here and there—nevertheless it’s actually as much as the mannequin to carry it.
You’ll be able to embody that (Casey snaps his fingers.)
Yeah. You already know? You already know.
The FUN! assortment options an interactive web site the place guests can filter portraits by temper, prop, background shade—even astrological signal. What impressed that sort of performance?
PARKER: Earlier than FUN!, I had been enthusiastic about an exhibition that grouped pictures primarily based on emotional expression. Regardless that the personas could seem wildly totally different, the core humanity is similar. I’ve all the time tried to equate disparate identities by capturing individuals in the identical method—with easy cloth backdrops that strip away time and place.
The FUN! web site (enjoyable.movie), displays this concept: distinction in sameness, or sameness in distinction. It’s a instrument for play—but in addition a method to mirror on id in a fragmented age.
Casey, you’ve described your self as a capitalist—however you’ve additionally given away instruments without spending a dime and pursued an nearly obsessive magnificence in your work. How do you reconcile market perception with this ethic of generosity? And what does that pressure imply for the way forward for Ordinals?
CASEY: There’s completely no pressure—and that’s as a result of most individuals simply don’t perceive what capitalism is. Like, I can’t even start to unpack what individuals assume capitalism means.
Capitalism merely means the technique of manufacturing are privately managed. That’s it. That’s the entire definition. The options? You’ve obtained two: both (1) violent chaos, or (2) the federal government owns and allocates all capital. That’s it. These are your three choices.
So when individuals say they’re “anti-capitalist,” what they normally imply is: “I need the federal government to regulate who will get what.” I’m not about that. I’m a staunch capitalist. I allocate my very own technique of manufacturing—my computer systems, my sources, my power—how I see match, not how the state tells me to.
And generally? That allocation consists of giving issues away. That’s not anti-capitalist. If the federal government confiscated my stuff and handed it out? Certain, that’s anti-capitalist. However me selecting to make one thing—generally promoting it, generally not—is 100% aligned with the spirit of capitalism.
Individuals must get with this system.
You requested concerning the pressure between generosity and revenue in Ordinals? There isn’t one. We’re social creatures. It’s nice to generate income—cash’s enjoyable. However the true magic is the individuals you meet alongside the best way. You’re not gonna be in your deathbed wishing you made extra money. You’ll want you spent extra time with individuals who matter.
The fantastic thing about capitalism is that it provides us a lot productiveness that we will afford to be beneficiant. You construct a lot surplus, you may lastly do issues that aren’t transactional—mentorship, gift-giving, bizarre inventive stuff simply because it feels good. That’s the bounty of capitalism. It allows non-market pleasure.
Actually? One of the best moments on this house haven’t been about cash. Yeah, the uncommon occasions I’ve made some have been enjoyable. However the really nice stuff? The enjoyable tasks, the bizarre experiments, the buddies. That’s the soul of it.
Like, if I needed to dwell in some crummy little place—however had healthcare, sufficient to get by, and this unbelievable community of individuals and concepts—I’d take that any day over ten occasions the cash and no associates.
So I hope the degens are listening.
Megalith.artwork’s public sale mannequin introduces a novel strategy by leveraging atomic swaps for settlement. May you elaborate on how this mechanism ensures trustless, on-chain finality for high-value digital artwork transactions, and the way it contrasts with the delayed, custodial settlements typical of conventional public sale homes like Sotheby’s or Christie’s?
CASEY: So, usually, if you swap items—say you stroll right into a pottery retailer and need to purchase a pot—you hand the man a greenback. Now he’s obtained your cash… however you don’t have the pot. He might simply yell, “Get out!” and poof—you’re down a buck, no pottery.
Or perhaps he provides you the pot first, however you don’t hand over the greenback. You run out the door. Identical downside. That is what we’d name a non-atomic swap—one get together has to belief the opposite to comply with by way of.
Bitcoin adjustments that. With Bitcoin, you may arrange atomic swaps. That means: the artist provides up the artwork and the customer provides up the bitcoin, and both each issues occur or neither do. Totally trustless.
It doesn’t assure the artwork will promote, but when it does, the artist positively will get paid. And the customer positively will get the piece. No middlemen. No bizarre escrow.
What’s even higher is that on this setup—like the best way we’re doing it with Megalith—you may actually see the platform’s lower. It’s all baked in and visual. Tremendous clear. No humorous enterprise. It’s simply… a good way to do issues.
Megalith.artwork implements fast, protocol-level cut up funds to artists and collaborators, minimizing KYC publicity and decreasing reliance on centralized intermediaries. How does this method improve transparency and effectivity in artist compensation in comparison with the standard post-auction invoicing and payout processes?
CASEY: Yeah, the issue with conventional auctions is that they’re simply tremendous opaque. Each artist finally ends up negotiating a unique cope with the public sale home. In case you’re promoting a high-value piece, perhaps you may negotiate a greater lower. However when you’re a more moderen artist—or your work sells for much less—you’re in all probability giving up a much bigger chunk.
What we’re doing right here is far more clear. It doesn’t imply you may’t do variable preparations in idea—however on this case, everybody’s getting the identical lower, and you may see that they’re getting the identical lower. I feel that issues—loads.
I’ve performed occasions earlier than, normally VJing, and generally I’ve performed it without spending a dime. Then I’d discover out later that a number of the DJs obtained paid, and I didn’t. That sucks. It simply places a foul style in your mouth. Both everybody will get paid, or nobody will get paid—particularly if it’s imagined to be a volunteer factor. I really feel fairly strongly about that.
Identical goes for auctions. Some artists will promote for greater than others—that’s fantastic. However they need to all get the identical share lower. That needs to be enforced on-chain, and it needs to be totally clear.
With this method, you may really see what every artist is getting from every public sale. That’s the way it needs to be.
See extra from Parker and Casey at Inscribing Vegas on Could twenty seventh, and the Bitcoin Convention Las Vegas Could 27–twenty ninth. Bidding for all Megalith.artwork public sale tons concludes June third.
Wish to expertise it in individual? The Bitcoin Week go provides you full entry to each Bitcoin 2025 and Inscribing Vegas—plus top-tier afterparties: https://b.tc/convention/2025/bitcoin-week
