Six months ago he had not sold any work — but yesterday one of his creations was estimated to exceed US$13 million at auction.
The US artist Beeple is at the vanguard of an exploding virtual market, feverishly fueled by digital collectors.
Beeple had never sold any work until recently, when a new technology made him one of the world’s most fashionable artists.
Photo: Christie’s Auction House / AFP
NFTs, or “non-fungible tokens,” are collectible digital assets that use blockchain technology to turn virtual work into something unique, with a documented provenance that cannot be altered, guaranteeing authenticity and turning it into something ownable.
Naturally, the amounts make him smile, yet at 39, Beeple — whose real name is Mike Winkelmann — is keeping his feet on the ground, even though he admits that it is all “a little head-spinning.”
Beeple, from Charleston, South Carolina, is the artist behind the first-ever 100 percent virtual piece sold at Christie’s auction house: his Everydays: The First 5,000 Days, a collage of digital images, was to be sold yesterday.
By Wednesday evening, the bidding had passed US$13.2 million.
At the end of last month, another of his works, Crossroads, was resold for US$6.6 million on the platform Nifty Gateway, which specializes in virtual works.
An animation that he himself sold at the end of October last year for a symbolic dollar was recently acquired for US$150,000, but Beeple, with his penchant for foul language and his unpretentious glasses, is no flash in the pan.
Everydays is based on a long-term project: Beginning on May 1, 2007, when he was still a bored Web designer, he sought to create a work of art every day to progress in drawing and graphic design.
Now, 5,062 consecutive days later, Everydays brings together in digital form his first 5,000 pieces, beginning with a simple image of his uncle Jim and ending on a detailed graphic portrait of characters from former US president Donald Trump to Buzz Lightyear.
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