Beginnings are hard…
It was a typical Tuesday morning in Pretoria, South Africa, when a group of students walked into their first period class and were met with a shocking sight. The desks and benches across the school were covered in intricate drawings of phallic symbols, each one more detailed and artistic than the last. The students were in disbelief as they tried to process what had happened, and many couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Who dunnit?
As it turns out, the culprits behind the drawings were none other than a group of close friends who had been bonding over their shared love of art and mischief. They had spent the previous few months carefully creating the phallic symbols with the utmost artistic integrity. But little did anyone know, the inspiration behind these symbols was an inside joke that had been going on for years among the friends.
What is WOOD?
The friends had noticed that the word "wood" had two O's and the two O's became the two balls of the phallic symbols. They found this funny and the idea just stuck.
Their intentions were not to be vulgar or disrespectful, but to push the boundaries of what was considered "acceptable" art and to see if they could get away with it. They never thought their prank would be discovered so soon and that they would end up repainting all the desks and benches in the entire school.
The friends and Person X
One of the friends and person X were called to the principal's office, where they were met with a stern expression and a lecture on the severity of their actions by the vice principal. She was not impressed and the assumed outcome was dark. During this time person X - who was caught red handed trying to impersonate the friends and copy the WOOD technique - proceeded to urgently shift blame onto the friends, hoping they’d get a lesser punishment by ratting out the original artists. To the surprise of both, the principal looked over the drawings and couldn't help but be impressed by the level of skill and creativity on display. He recognized that the artists in question had a genuine passion for art and that their intentions were not malicious. He also had a fat laugh as soon as the vice principal had left the room, he was a chill dude.
Person X, well... fuck, ok.
The penalty is… more WOOD?
After some deliberation, the principal decided to let us off with a warning, but not before assigning us a task. He asked us to create an art installation in the school using the same techniques and materials we used in the prank. This was done to channel our energy in a productive manner and also to cover the cost of cleaning the desks and benches.
And so, we started working on our assigned task which seemed like a never-ending cycle of painting, cleaning, and sanding as we were also tasked with repainting all the desks and benches in the entire school and it took weeks for us to complete. It was a tedious and tiring job, staying after school for weeks on end. It was also quite embarrassing as everyone knew about our prank and were watching us repaint the desks and benches.
"Hey, do you remember that inside joke we had about wood?"
"Oh yeah, I can't believe it actually inspired us to do this prank"
"What is wood?"
We all asked each other, bursting into laughter.
Finally, after weeks of hard work, the benches and desk were good as new, the art installation was complete and it was truly a sight to behold. We had created an awe-inspiring masterpiece that captivated the entire student body and faculty. It was a true testament to our artistic talents and our ability to turn a negative situation into something positive.
As we walked across the stage in our final days of school, the group of friends couldn't help but look back on that fateful Tuesday morning with a sense of pride. They had pushed the boundaries of what was considered "acceptable" and had come out on top. It was a true testament to the power of friendship, creativity, and the ability to turn lemons into lemonade. The incident and the inside joke is still something that we fondly look back on and it has stayed with us, inspiring the story of Mindfolk and our decision to use WOOD!
Fast forward to 2021, and it just so happens that most of the original WOOD gang were still close friends and had become interested in starting their own NFT project. Once they saw the first rough sketches of what is now Mindfolk’s lumberjack style, it didn’t take long for them to remember their funny High School antics and decide to name Mindfolk’s native token WOOD.
In conclusion, the incident serves as a reminder that sometimes the most unconventional and rebellious actions can lead to the most beautiful and meaningful outcomes. The artistic integrity of a group of high school friends will be remembered as an iconic moment in the school's history and now in Mindfolk as well.
Amazing art and story, good luck with beginnings!
LFWOOOOOD 🪓
So excited to bring that OG feeling back to Solana ❤️