Summary

Beeple is a world famous American graphic designer and digital artist. His NFT work was sold in a very relevant auction house and he is among the three most valued living artists. Many believe that Beeple proved that art can also be digital and not necessarily have physical properties. In addition to his work being aesthetically impressive to many, various developments in the NFT space and the structural aspects of this market could also have played a role in the growth of his popularity.

Introduction

With his digital art, Beeple generated a lot of attention for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It is for this reason that he can be considered such an important figure in the adoption of NFTs. Likewise, their creations are a living example of one of the use cases of NFTs, which can awaken other creative professionals to the possibility of doing the same.

Who is Beeple?

Beeple, or Mike Winkelmann, is an American graphic designer and digital artist. Before becoming famous for NFT art, his work was displayed at concerts by famous personalities, such as Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, and Childish Gambino.

His notoriety did not come from a long career in traditional art galleries or from having specific experience with non-fungible tokens (NFT). His journey into NFTs was mostly a sudden experiment, as more and more people recommended he try this new way of publishing his art. Today, Beeple has over 2 million followers on Instagram and is among the most valued artists alive.

Beeple's NFT art often uses references to politicians and pop culture icons, as well as demonstrates a penchant for satirizing world events and creating interpretations of modern politics and culture. Interestingly, it found a way to attract the attention of the traditional art sector with its animated art NFTs while also providing a way to visually express political and social commentary.

What made Beeple famous?

Beeple began selling NFTs in February 2020. His first releases surprised the art and technology worlds by achieving sales of his digital art worth tens of thousands of dollars. One of the first NFT pieces Beeple sold is called Crossroad. He had designed it to change depending on the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election in the United States. The piece of art recorded on the blockchain was sold for $66,666.66 and later resold for $6.7 million.

Beeple's big moment came when auction house Christie's announced the auction of his NFT art piece, making it the first major auction house to sell a digital-only NFT art piece. Additionally, this was the first time Christie's accepted Ether as a form of payment.

The art piece is called Everydays – The First 5000 Days and sold for $69 million. It looks like a collage of colorful pixels, but it's actually made up of 5,000 individual images that Beeple created every day for more than 13 years.

Beeple's rise to fame may have come down to timing. He entered the NFT space just as it started to gain momentum. Another systemic reason could be the massive socioeconomic changes that occurred in the world, such as the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, people began to spend more time on their digital devices, work from home, and found it easier to be attracted to new digital applications.

Beeple's sale of the NFT Everydays occurred during the NFT boom cycle. However, as with any hype cycle, the wave of NFT craze subsequently subsided.

How Beeple changed people's perception of NFTs

Beeple continued to draw the general public's attention to digital art with several successful NFT projects. For example, Christie's public announcement about the sale of digital art showed how NFTs could become part of what was considered elite culture. It also proved to the wider public that art can be digital and does not have to have physical properties. In addition, it raised public awareness about combining art and blockchain technology, and the new possibilities this brings.

During the pandemic, many artists began evaluating the use of NFTs because it allowed them to make a living without making a physical presentation. Likewise, these offered a new way to demonstrate their creative desire. Not only small independent artists, but also celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Edward Snowden and Eminem, began publishing NFT projects.

For example, Snoop Dogg announced his first NFT collection called “A journey with the Dogg” to showcase memories of his life through NFT art. Canadian music artist Grimes created a 10-piece NFT collection that explores futuristic worlds, and made millions in seconds.

With all big personalities participating in the space, Beeple's work may have been instrumental in bringing NFTs to the mainstream. First, he became one of the highest-paid artists in the world and showed that creators could make money without relying on traditional publishers and media outlets. Secondly, his debut works demonstrated artistic styles that were only possible to achieve in a digital form. Finally, it's been creating art since long before NFTs became a thing, so its digital axis showed that this new space is not only focused on money, but also on discovering new ways for artists to display their work. .

What's next for NFTs

Beeple achieved global fame for his NFT art. However, the scarcity and uniqueness of NFTs make them a good choice for many use cases, such as video games, music, and finance. For example, gaming NFTs allow users to check the authenticity of unique in-game items such as weapons and terrain. Likewise, NFT games called play-to-earn allow users to generate income by playing them.

Additionally, similar to art, it is possible to attach audio to an NFT to create a collectible piece of music. Something well known about this industry is that only a minority of musicians can earn enough to make a living from their art. NFTs have the potential to make the music industry model more equitable. NFTs could solve this problem with blockchain-based streaming platforms or by tracking royalties on the blockchain.

An NFT can also function as an entry ticket to concerts and events. In this way, a secondary market for NFTs is created based on the access they provide.

Even though the NFT market and the exuberance that comes with it is, in some ways, slowing down in 2022, the NFT space continues to develop and reinvent itself. It is very likely that we will see many new iterations and use cases of NFTs.

In fact, you can even become an NFT creator. If you're already an artist or creator of some kind, NFTs could allow you to earn royalties without the need for an agent. Additionally, unlike traditional art galleries, many NFT marketplaces allow anyone to participate. Blockchain technology makes NFTs inclusive. Likewise, NFTs are digital, so you can display your creations anywhere in the world. And, like Beeple, perhaps you could gain recognition overnight by posting your art for everyone to see.

Conclusions

Beeple demonstrated that NFTs are a viable means of distributing and owning art. NFTs, just as they do with digital art, also offer a way to improve the current video game, music and finance sectors. The NFT ecosystem is very likely to witness new projects with unique use cases and approaches to generating value.