Beeple's first physical art sale fetches US$29 million at auction along with NFT

Beeple 首件NFT藝術品實物拍賣在拍賣會上以 2900 萬美元成交

Dynamic sculpture 'Human One' and NFT light up art market


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — American digital artist Beeple released his first-ever physical artwork titled “Human One” along with its non-fungible token (NFT), earning US$29 million (NT$807 million) at Christie’s 21st Century Art Evening Sale in New York on Tuesday (Nov. 9).

Beeple’s video NFT of “Human One” earned him 6103 ETH (US$29 million), the second-highest sale on platform CryptoArt.Ai. The highest record remains intact for Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” which sold for US$70 million earlier this year.

Collected by a Switzerland-based bidder, “Human One” made its debut at the Rockefeller Center saleroom on Oct. 30. According to the press release, there were more than 1,600 visitors who came to the pre-sale exhibition and interacted with the artist.

During an interview with Christie’s Head of Digital Art Noah Davis, Beeple said the project came to his mind last summer when he was rolling around a bunch of televisions in the studio. After he and his friends boxed them into a unit, they realized the configuration of screens was a powerful canvas.

According to the auction house, “Human One” features four interconnected video screens that serve as walls and provide more than 24 hours of dynamic visual information programmed to adapt to the viewer’s current experience of day or night.

“The work offers a different framework to express things that I’m really excited about,” said the artist.

Manifold Studio wrote the smart contract for the NFT, which contains virtual elements and can be accessed via the Ethereum blockchain.

Before the sale, the bidding price was expected to achieve in excess of US$15 million, but the final price nearly doubled when it reached US$29 million.

Beeple said the design of “Human One” allows the video in both the physical object and the NFT to be remotely and seamlessly modified from the blockchain — enabling the message and meaning of the piece to continue to evolve over the course of his life.