Recently, I learned it was possible to interact directly with a Rodeo’s smart contract. Being the tinkerer I am, I couldn’t resist diving in. From past experience, I knew that the tokenURI function could allow me to modify the metadata tied to my uploaded content.
Naturally, I wanted to push boundaries and make the experience my own. In that effort, I succeeded. Before diving into the specifics—which I’ll share in another post—it’s worth noting: this isn’t my first rodeo (pun intended) with a platform’s contract.
Back in 2021, I minted two forbidden tokens directly through SuperRare’s V1 contract while banned from their app.
SuperRare banned me from their ecosystem in late 2020. This meant no more minting, no Discord support, no participation. By 2021, and still operating under the pseudonym Second Realm, I couldn’t capitalize on my earlier presence on the most prestigious NFT platform. Locked out and at a disadvantage during the bull run, I started to wonder: had their contract migration left a door open?
To my surprise, I was still whitelisted on the original V1 contract. SuperRare’s first contract supported whitelisting but lacked the ability to blacklist or remove addresses. That loophole was the exploit I was looking for.
Some might question the ethics of my next move. But as McLuhan famously said, “the medium is the message.”
Minting directly through the V1 contract—rather than the app tied to the V2 contract—wasn’t just a workaround; it was an act of rebellion. At a time when "trash artists" were being censored for not conforming to the tastes of influential whales, the mint itself became the art. Tokens #4435 and #4436 exist on-chain as evidence of that performance.
What does it all mean? These tokens occupy a strange liminal space, their IDs tied across two active SuperRare contracts. Yet, the ones I minted remain invisible in SuperRare’s app appearing only as tradable assets on third-party platforms. Ghost artifacts with a quiet nod to Second Realm in the footer. Subtle reminders of the tension and disruption of that era.
