EXCLUSIVE: The President Of The UFC, The War in Afghanistan and NFT’s: Bran Symondon’s and Greenpeace’s journey into digital art

Bran Symondson, the man taking the leap into the wonderful world of NFT’s with his new collection entitled ‘Kalash 47 – The Art To Disarm’. Symondson’s story begins in 2004 when he began the selection process to join the British army. After completing his training in 2007, Symondson was deployed to Afghanistan, Helmand Province.

Symondon’s tour involved working with the local Afghan National Police and it was during this time that the seed for Symondson’s future projects was sown. During his patrols, he began to notice ‘the feminine side’ of those involved in the area. A point of particular interest for Symondson was the decoration of their weapons. From roses to stickers, their AK47 came to be more than just a killing weapon, but an object through which they could express themselves.

Since his inaugural visit to the Helmand Province, Symondson has returned to the region as a civilian photographer and journeyed back to the UK to create his – arguably – most notable and career-defining artwork which culminated in his 2012 exhibition ‘Art Of Peace’. The exhibition consisted of pieces inspired by the decoration of the weapons in the Helmand Province.

The weapon focused upon within the ‘Art of Peace’ exhibition and current ‘Kalash 47’ collection was the AK47, picked out for numerous reasons including its notoriety, its reputation as the most mass produced gun in history and harrowing status as the weapon to have taken the most lives throughout history. Yet it was its dark past that Symondson took inspiration from, decorating them with butterflies, evoking the same sense of decoration that was seen in Afghanistan. Later works have remained focused on the AK47 but what it has been covered in has changed with several AK47’s being coated in dollar bills to reflect how war and weapons of destruction such as the AK47 are a resultant by-product of capitalism.

This message was further evoked through the open magazine displaying bullets containing blood, gold, oil etc. or better understood as some of the most common motivating factors of war. Alongside these guns stands Bran’s one of a kind AK47 covered in unique ‘crypto notes’ reflecting the societal shift into the digital age.

Crypto notes is not where the digital age’s influence stops as Symondson’s latest ‘Kalash 47 – The Art To Disarm’ collection is being converted into a set of NFT’s. The collection as a whole consists of 2,047 NFTs made up of the reinterpreted AK47’s with this particular project’s intention being to highlight the damage that war can do to the environment with a focus on waste, deforestation and even the reduction of bees. The project has garnered significant interest within a range of different communities with Dana White, current UFC President, having one of Symondson’s ‘one of one’ AK47’s in his Las Vegas office. As well as support from A-List celebrities such as Sir Elton John, the Prince of Bahrain and the Chapman Brothers, Symondson has obtained support from Greenpeace from his aim of raising awareness of global issues such as environmental devastation and will thus be be sharing a percentage of the proceeds with them in favour of ecology.

When speaking about the ‘Kalash 47’ project, Symondson said that “Kalash 47 is a representation of many personal things that have a deep resonance with who I am, where I’ve been, and what I’ve seen. It’s the same as applying patches to a uniform, decorating a school bag with badges that have meaning, or plastering your laptop with stickers that denote what you believe in; the subjects you are projecting are those close to your heart. That’s how I have treated this collection. It’s more than just a JPEG. It’s personal”.

The personal nature is what makes the project what it is; the meaning behind each piece and the discreet attention to detail expressed through minor details such as the hue of each butterfly being scrutinised before placed makes for a truly unique and inspiring collection. Symondson’s decision to venture into the digital space of NFTs is not the first and certainly not the last, but very well may be one of the most impactful ventures we see in a while.