The Emperor's New Clothes
March 12 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
History was made yesterday at Christie's. A total of $69m (inc. fees) was paid by a anonymous bidder for the artwork above. Indeed, this work of art is not physical at all, but a digital NFT (non-fungible token) dreamt up by the digital artist Beeple. It consists of a collage of thousands of images created daily by the artist over a period of thirteen years.
Zoom in closer and you'll see the ephemera that has been spliced together to create this confusion. Why exactly has this type of digital creation being heralded as the new craze in art? It seems that the fad for NFTs is bound up in the zeitgeist of our age. They are seemingly promoted and collected by the fashionable entrepreneurs of big tech companies. People can spend their money as they wish, but will these works be of lasting interest? Or will they be discarded as quickly as an old electric car, and survive as long as it takes for the artwork's memory card to corrupt.
Tune in to Bendor and Waldemar's podcast on Sunday to hear their live reaction to the sale.
