{"id":6739,"date":"2021-02-16T18:14:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T23:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=6739"},"modified":"2021-03-03T09:58:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T14:58:55","slug":"nft-artist-beeples-mammoth-5040-day-artwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/02\/16\/nft-artist-beeples-mammoth-5040-day-artwork","title":{"rendered":"NFT ‘art revolution’: Beeple on his 5,040-day labor of love"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the age of 26, Wisconsin web designer Michael Winkelmann began creating a new piece of digital art in his personal time every single day. He calls them \u2018Everydays\u2019<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a pretty big step-up in the work that I do,\u201d he says. “The \u2018Everydays\u2019 <\/a>are basically just the pictures that I do every single day, and I’ve been doing those for over 5,000 days now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirteen years later Beeple, as he\u2019s better known, has been commissioned by huge acts like Justin Bieber and Imagine Dragons and he emerged in 2020 as a trail blazing figure in the NFT community. His digital art collections have fetched record prices in the millions at NFT auction houses including Rarible and Nifty and he’s about to take a major step into the mainstream, with Christies offering a collage of 5000 Everydays pieces at auction from Feb. 25 until Mar. 11.<\/p>\n

“This monumental digital collage marks the first time Beeple\u2019s work will be sold at a major auction house,\u201d Christies said<\/a> in an announcement. \u201cIt\u2019s also the first-ever purely digital artwork (NFT) to be offered at a traditional auction house, with its authenticity assured thanks to blockchain technology,\u201d<\/p>\n

Beeple’s work touches on politics and pop culture, with a typical example being a recent image depicting Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos<\/a> as an octopus that he created on the day that the billionaire announced his upcoming retirement as CEO. Winkelmann says his daily ritual has made him a better artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe broader message with this entire Everyday project is just about practicing and looking at things long term. I look at it as one long-term project. And so, incrementally improving and just sticking with something.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Beeple's
NFT artist Beeple has created a new digital artwork every day for 13 years. (beeple-crap.com\/everydays)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Winkelmann, 39, only discovered NFT\u2019s around four months ago, and immediately set to work converting his freely available Instagram art into highly sought after digital collectibles. In November he sold an election-themed digital collectible <\/a>for $66,666.60, and a December auction brought in $3.5 million dollars. While one piece <\/a>went for as much as $777,777, he also sold hundreds of images for $969 each of which have since gained in value exponentially.<\/p>\n

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which means each token is unique and thus distinct from other tokens. Unique tokens make it possible to designate them as representing ownership of specific digital goods, allowing for transferable ownership of digital images, texts, or even in-game items.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s just going to be seen as the digital art revolution. I truly believe this is the start of the next chapter in art history.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Wisconsin artist says that while everything is reproducible on the internet, NFTs allow for individual ownership of a piece even though it is copied and circulated widely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very open with allowing people to share stuff and post it wherever,” he says. “You can’t police the f—ing Internet. You post on the Internet, it\u2019s the f—ing Internet! The cool thing about the blockchain is that you can kind of have it both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that NFT\u2019s are a \u201cvery advantageous way of collecting art, because it will live on as long as the blockchain lives on, and it can take all different forms.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Got 4 offers today in the $12-$14k for @beeple<\/a>'s Politics is BS NFT.<\/p>\n

What is going on \ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n

I bought it for $1k like 2 months ago. pic.twitter.com\/q94wXmi3xh<\/a><\/p>\n

— Matty (@DCLBlogger) February 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n