Pace Verso, the Web3-powered art division of Pace Gallery, is collaborating with multidisciplinary artist Peter Saville, musician Stephen Morris, and the Joy Division Archive to launch an astrologically-infused NFT project called CP1919. This project commemorates the 44th anniversary of the English rock band Joy Division’s seminal album “Unknown Pleasures.”
CP1919, set to debut on October 9th during Frieze London, pays homage to Joy Division’s iconic album cover, which features the visual pulse of the collapsed CP1919 star. CP1919, also known as “Cambridge Pulsar 1919,” was the first pulsar, a rotating neutron star, ever discovered. The collapsing star’s signal was transformed into the album cover’s visual representation, which Sumner of Joy Division discovered.
The CP1919 NFT project includes two distinct digital artworks: CP1919: Sweeping Sun White 2023 and CP1919: Sweeping Sun Black 2023. The former is an open edition NFT with auditory components featuring recently uncovered Joy Division sound and vocal samples, while the latter is a one-of-one edition auctioned exclusively through Pace Verso, featuring an immersive artwork and soundtrack with unreleased Joy Division vocal fragments. The auction winner will receive the artwork on a commemorative hard drive in a bespoke slipcase.
A portion of the proceeds from CP1919 artwork sales will be donated to the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), a UK-based nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention, in memory of Ian Curtis, Joy Division’s late frontman.
The CP1919 NFT collection is set to be released on October 9th at 12:00 pm ET through Pace Verso.
