Ep. 35 Power to the Beeple

This week on the Carolina Snowflakes Podcast we’re giving a nod to Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, who used something called NFT technology to sell the most expensive piece of digital artwork in history. This recent sale was a first for digital art, a first for Christie’s Auction Company in London and a first for Beeple himself.

Why does this matter? Well, because it’s interesting for starters. Especially considering digital art has been a difficult market to monetize and track in the way that other art is handled. Plus, an NFT or Non-Fungible Token is a brand new system of buying and selling media in a way that has never been done before. This could very well change the way art, in particular digital art, is bought, sold and how records of provenance are maintained.

What makes it even more interesting is the story of the art that was recently sold as well as the artist himself. Beeple hails from Charleston, SC and has designed works for a variety of famous musical acts, plus a slew of big name brands such as Coca-Cola.  His work has been described as sci-fi meets pop culture meets politics. Additionally, for the last 13 years, Beeple has created a new and original piece of digital art each day. This monumental task became known as his “Everydays” collection and at the end of 13 years, or nearly 5,000 days, Beeple combined each piece into one larger mosaic.

Just a couple weeks ago the mosaic was assigned an NFT and sent to Christie’s Auction where the opening bid began at $100. No one knew what might happen and it was a risk for all involved. But boy did that risk pay off. To the tune of $69 million.

Tune in to learn about this new NFT technology and to discover more about the South Carolina artist called Beeple.

 

References:

White, Avery. (2020, January 3). “Beeple on Creating a Zombie Mark Zuckerberg and Flesh-eating Baby Yoda to examine the times”. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/3/21046790/beeple-mike-winkelmann-interview-everyday-post-apocalyptic-baby-yoda-zuckerberg

 

Von Baldegg, Kasia Cieplak-Mayr. (2011, October 7). “Creativity is Hustle: Make Something Every Day”. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2011/10/creativity-is-hustle-make-something-every-day/246377/#slide15

 

Business Insider. (2021, March 12). “Beeple Explains the Absurdity of NFTs/So Expensive” [Video]. https://youtu.be/nTmF26NUZTA

 

Christie’s. (2021, March 11). “Watch Beeple react to the Historic $69.3 Million sale of his digital work at Christie’s”. [Video] https://youtu.be/S8p1B8NHLFQ

 

Beeple’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beeple

Beeple’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beeple_crap/