A couple of days ago I shared some insights on the term avant gay https://x.com/matto__matto/status/1962679386764665009 and how it captures a loose but vital movement bubbling up on Solana https://x.com/Sonoflasg/status/1961558716987355390 Whatโs clear is that this isnโt just about NFTs or aesthetics... ๐๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐.
One of the contributors to this movement is @jimspindle, the artist behind Little Fellow and Scarecrow. These projects caught my attention because they embody two things I love: the culture of PFPs and the world of art. I asked him a few questions and his responses highlight why the avant gay scene feels different.
๐โ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐
For JS, Little Fellow isnโt just a character or a brandable PFP template.
Itโs an inner self. A โhomunculus.โ
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด.โ
This ambiguity, somewhere between puppet and passenger, gets at what PFPs can be when they move beyond modular โMr. Potato Headโ aesthetics. Little Fellow isnโt simply an arrangement of traits. Itโs an attempt to create an avatar that feels vulnerable, uncanny, alive.
๐จ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐ ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐
JS is frank about PFPs. He calls them a โdebased genre.โ But his goal has been to prove that even within that genre, thereโs space for emotional impact. He points to Milady and Mifella as projects that achieve that tenderness. Works that in their own way feel poignant and intimate.
This ethos is echoed across the avant gay canon. From Little Swag Worldโs playfulness, to Drilady and Drifellaโs campy inversions. Each brings its own flavour, but all share the drive to create avatars that feel emotional, ironic and strangely alive.
๐ต๐ญ๐ป๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐
Perhaps JS's most powerful insight is about the nature of NFTs themselves:
โ๐๐๐๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆโฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ดโฆ ๐๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐น๐ต.โ
Thatโs not just an observation about Solana. Itโs a reframing of what art looks like when itโs native to blockchains. Instead of static objects in white cubes, these are living entities co-authored by holders, memes, and communities.
Figureheads like @bis__cut, @supermetalx and @CreamyDreamy have amplified this multiplayer spirit, whether through prolific production, community provocation or relentless experimentation. Together with JS, theyโre shaping a lineage that feels unmistakably Solana.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐
And then thereโs the secret. Little Fellow hides a literal, discoverable puzzle within the collection:
โ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต.โ
It took over a year before anyone noticed. That act of embedding hidden layers (playful, simple, but also profoundly connective) feels emblematic of the avant gay scene, where camp, irony, sincerity and mystery all overlap.
๐พ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐?
When asked โwhy Solana,โ Spindle doesnโt point to liquidity or institutional adoption. His answer is simple:
โ๐๐ฐ๐ซ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ฏโฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ.โ
Itโs a reminder that culture often follows vibe before infrastructure. Solana became the playground, and avant gay grew out of that.
๐ป๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ป๐ฏ ๐๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ณ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Some critics have argued that Solanaโs avant gay scene is nothing new... that trait maximalism or schizocollage aesthetics already flourished on ETH and even trad art. And theyโre right... to a point.
๐ต๐ข๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ. ETHโs eccentric projects existed, but they were drowned out by the noise of PFP hype, oversaturated generative art, AI art... Solana provided a new stage where those instincts, queer, intimate, irreverent, could crystallise into a movement.
It isnโt about who did it โfirstโ (you'd have thought we'd learned by now ). In this instance itโs about what happens when culture evolves ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. Adjacent but independent, shaped by different economic and social contexts. On Solana, negligible fees, fast minting and a sense of fun created a space where the avant gay could flourish as its own canon.
To say otherwise is not critique, ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐.
๐ป๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐
JS resists easy categorisation. He doesnโt theorise about movements or ecosystems, preferring to stay, in his words, โmyopic.โ And yet, Little Fellow embodies so much of what makes avant gay art compelling: selfhood as mask and mirror, play and tenderness in equal measure, and a deep awareness of NFTs as social games as much as visual ones.
Alongside Little Swag World, Drilady, MiFella, DriFella, Squishy Drifters, and the many works by Biscuit, Bosch, Parker and others, Little Fellow belongs in the story of how Solana incubated one of the strangest, funniest, and most culturally resonant movements NFTs have yet produced.
If ETH has historically hosted the monumental and the canonical, Solana might be remembered as the chain where queer play, irreverence and tenderness found their avant-garde.