Christie's unprecedented $69.3 million auction for crypto art sparked light lights throughout the world two weeks ago. Digital content creators of all stripes have been plotting their own Beeple moment, hoping to strike it rich and famous like the 39-year-old graphic designer from South Carolina who became famous and wealthy overnight after the single-lot sale.
Since then, there have been a slew of new gambits vying for the spotlight. Many are pranks or dada experiments meant to test the limits of the young crypto art market and the non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) that grant ownership and authenticity to digital files that exist in the ether and can be easily copied. There have been NFTs for recording farts on audio, for a meme based on an unflattering yearbook photo; and for a portfolio of paintings made by a humanoid robot. A slew of celebrities—from Grimes to Diplo—have entered the fray. Quartz got into the action, too, and sold an NFT news article for 1 etherium (worth $1,800 when the auction closed) on the NFT marketplace OpenSea. (The New York Times and Time magazine soon followed with their own NFT drops.)
Some artists, however, are earnestly looking into how blockchain can bolster their livelihoods. The questions on their minds: Can anyone make a fortune in the NFT market? Is it truly a democratic platform?
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