It seems like NFTs has been on everyone’s lips for the last weeks and we get why. If you haven’t had a chance to read up on the subject, check out our editor’s letter to get updated.
A $69.3 million JPEG
Probably the most known NFT right now is the artist Beeple’s graphic artwork Everyday, The first 5,000 days. A collage of JPEG images was sold for $69.3 million at the British Christie’s auction. The piece is a collage of images created by the artist over years of time.
Breakthrough for young artist
The 18-year-old artist Fewocious has done two major collaborations that together have sold for over $4 million as NFTs. He collaborated with musician Two Feet and created pieces called “My head in your hands”.
Virtual sneakers
The second NFT made by Fewocious is a collaboration between the artist and digital company RTFKT Studios in a form of digital and physical sneakers. When purchasing the virtual sneakers you received a physical pair. The NFT is a digital animation of the sneakers. On RTFKT Studios website you can unlock a virtual pair of the shoes and try them on yourself via Snapchat, but only for 48 hours.
Column from The New York Times sells for $560,000
Journalist Kevin Roose wrote a column for The New York Times and then sold it as an NFT. Roose wrote a column about the rise of NFTs with the twist that he would sell the column in an auction with the proceeds going to The New York Times’s Neediest Cases Fund. The NFT of the column raised over half a million dollars after over 30 bids.
Remember Nyan Cat?
For $650.000 an NFT version of the internet-famous Nyan cat was sold by the creator Chris Torres. This might seem a bit crazy but it opens up new doors for digital creators and gives the world of memes and graphic art.
Can anything become an NFT?
NFTs are already moving beyond digital art. Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million. The tweet was posted in 2006 and says “just setting up my twttr”.
Grimes collab with Mac Boucher
The musician Grimes sold an NFT art and music collaboration in a series of 10 pieces, that together went for around $6 million. The highest-selling piece was the video “Death of the Old that sold for $389,000. The collection was a collaboration between Grimes and Mac Boucher.
Gucci Ghost
This Gucci ghost by Trevor Andrew was sold for $3,600 and now the current owner is asking for $16,300, want to make an offer?
NFT art — a laughing matter?
Not everyone is taking NFT art so seriously. Comedian John Cleese most known for his part in Monthy Python has given himself an alias called ”Unnamed artist” and is now selling a digital painting he made of the Brooklyn bridge as an NFT. The comedian announced on Twitter that he made his first NFT and that it’s now for sale. The painting is a black and white easy sketch and it’s clearly a mockery to the uprising of NFT art. Despite this, the bid for the NFT is at around $35,000 and is expected to rise before the bidding is over. If you just can’t stand to lose this piece to another bidder you can buy the NFT now for around 69 million dollars says the comedian in his tweet. This is once again a way of making fun of the NFT art hype by asking for the same extremely high price that the artist Beeple’s piece sold for.
A new era for digital art
Clearly, everyone can’t understand the hype because honestly, a JPEG for millions of dollars feels pretty crazy. But this undeniably creates a new higher status for the digital art community. Small creators are getting the chance to make money to live on their art and with the world getting more digital with gaming and AR/VR these artists are starting to get the recognition they deserve.
Could NFTs be collector items?
It might not seem so art-related but a NFT of Lebron James dunking was sold for $208,000. This could be compared to collectors items like baseball cards, the physical card can have an extremely high value just like the NFT has for the collector. The digital world is opening up for new ways to view ownership.
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