005

THE STORY BEHIND #005 MESMERA (animation opens in new tab)

“Some skilled in the arcane choose to persue a more specialised path, obtaining mastery over the ability to weave their will into The Atomic Ballroom through the illusionary arts…”

My 5th piece in THE ATOMIC BALLROOM collection, Mesmera, takes inspiration from English medieval history and, of course, a little snippet of video game goodness!

The history of the Jester is marked with fascinating contradictions. One one hand they were considered to be the jokester and the fool of the party, but on the other, they were often immensely skilled in the art of music, dance, performance, story-telling, entertainment, acrobatics, but most importantly to this 1/1 NFT, magic!

There is a sense of contradiction in their profession, to be both rediculed and lauded at the same time, as well as being an absolutely essential element of any noble ‘parties’ of the rennaiscance and medieval era. It almost seems ironic that the entertainer would so often be more skilled in life than the entertained…

I want to bring this frequently misunderstood profession of history a powerful twist, creating the first specialized class in the collection, the Illusionist. (besides #001’s unique class, Metamorph) Surpassing the ranks of their Sorcerer compatriots, Illusionists focus their energy on their ability to win, difuse, and bend any situation to their will through the mischevous arts of dreams, visions, and hallucinations! Any that cross an illusionist find themselves lost in a spiral of confusion and deception, losing any advantages they might without even realizing what truly occurs around them.

Borrowing some key imagery from the historical Jester, namely the unusual hat, I decided to add some fashionable flare, with a large, dramatic collar, fitting the lavish clothes of the rennaisance and tudor periods.

When it came to the colors and naming the class, my mind drifted to a popular MMORPG, Guild Wars 2. This game features one of my absolute FAVORITE classes in any RPG video game EVER – The Mesmer. This very flamboyant, pink n’ purple queen of classes relies on mimicry, illusions, flashy sword play, and unique specialist classes that made the perfect inspiration to bring this piece to life.

Property of ArenaNet: https://www.guildwars2.com

The next lore-drop will be on a very unique piece in the collection, #006 SOUL FRAGMENT.

Till next time my lovelies <3!