Image: Krista Kim Studio
Last month the average Toronto home price surpassed $1 million for the first time. But a digital NFT version by artist Krista Kim was no steal either, selling at auction over $500,000.
The Mars House was created by the Toronto-based artist in 2020 and was sold on non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace SuperRare for 288 Ether. The Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency has a real-life value equivalent to $515,712 with SuperRare calling it the world’s first NFT ‘digital house’.
Says Kim: ‘Mars House is a thesis that I created to translate my vision of where art can go. My vision is that homes can heal us with the power of art.’
As its name suggests, Mars House was conceived for the Red Planet and was created using video gaming software UnrealEngine. Kim calls the piece a ‘light sculpture’, with the immersive environment peeking onto dusky mountains through floor-to-ceiling glass, and its open floor plan furnished with colourful translucent furniture and iridescent surfaces.
@ARTofInternet is the new owner of Mars House and we will put the majority of proceeds to our Continuum Foundation, which will support a world tour of healing sound and light installations for mental health and healing. NFTs can do powerful social good by empowering artists. https://t.co/eJ5By9mWJ0
— Krista Kim (@Krista_Kim) March 17, 2021
NFTs are rocking the artwork at the moment and are commanding huge price tags at auction. The 3D digital files can be experienced in VR, and are made using blockchain technology with NFTs acting as a digital certificate that prevents them from being freely shared. This ‘stamp’ allows the digital files to be bought and sold without duplication.
Artist Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple recently sold his NFT artwork, entitled, ’Everydays – the first 5000 days,’ for a staggering $69m via Christie’s.
[h/t The Real Deal / Dezeen]
