デジタルアート、７５億円で落札　ＮＦＴで史上最高額

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】米国人アーティストのビープルが制作したデジタルコラージュ作品が競売にかけられ、11日、6930万ドル（約75億円）で落札された。競売大手クリスティーズが発表した。デジタルアートが、高い利益を生む新たな創作分野として急速に確立しつつあることが示された。（写真は落札された米アーティスト、ビープルのデジタルコラージュ作品。クリスティーズ提供）
　落札されたのは、「Ｅｖｅｒｙｄａｙｓ：　Ｔｈｅ　Ｆｉｒｓｔ　５，０００　Ｄａｙｓ（毎日　最初の５０００日間）」と題された作品。落札額は、非代替性トークン（ＮＦＴ）作品の競売で史上最高額となった。ＮＦＴとは、ブロックチェーン技術を用い、デジタル作品を唯一無二の所有可能な資産に作り替えたもの。
　同作は２００７年、当時暇を持て余していたウェブデザイナーだったビープルが、作画とグラフィックデザインのスキル向上のために始めたプロジェクトから生まれたもの。ビープルは同年５月１日から５０００日間にわたり１日１作品を制作し続け、それを１つのデジタル作品としてまとめた。
　２週間続いていた競売では１１か国からの参加者が熾烈（しれつ）な入札合戦を展開。クリスティーズによれば、視聴者数は落札直前に過去最高の２２００万人に達した。
　クリスティーズによると、ビープルは米現代美術家ジェフ・クーンズ氏、英現代美術家デービッド・ホックニー氏と並び、作品の価値が世界で最も高い存命の現代芸術家３人のうちの一人となった。
　ビープルはサウスカロライナ州チャールストン出身で、本名はマイク・ウィンケルマン。同作については、ＪＰＧファイル形式で制作されたものの「実際のキャンバスに描かれたものと同じくらいの技やメッセージ、ニュアンス、意図がある」と説明している。
　ビープルはまた、「アーティストたちはこの２０年以上、ハードウエアとソフトウエアを駆使して作品を創り、インターネット上で配信してきたが、これを真に所有し収集する実際の方法はなかった。ＮＦＴによりこれが変わった」とし、「私たちは美術史の新たな一章の始まりを目の当たりにしている」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/03/12-11:00）

A digital collage by American artist Beeple sold Thursday for a record $69.3 million, Christie's auctioneers announced, as virtual art rapidly establishes itself as a new -- and highly profitable -- creative genre.
Everydays: The First 5,000 Days became the most expensive ever non-fungible token -- a collectible digital asset that uses blockchain technology to turn virtual work into a unique item.
Christie's said Beeple -- an artist from Charleston, South Carolina, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann -- is now among the top three most valuable living artists in any medium alongside Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
The artist said in a statement that his work, on a JPG file, had as much craft, message, nuance and intent as anything made on a physical canvas.
Artists have been using hardware and software to create artwork and distribute it on the internet for the last 20+ years but there was never a real way to truly own and collect it. With NFTs that has now changed, he added.
I believe we are witnessing the beginning of the next chapter in art history.
Everydays is based on a project beginning on May 1, 2007, when Beeple was a bored web designer and started to create a work of art each day, without interruption, to improve his drawing and graphic design.
After 5,000 consecutive days, Everydays brought together his daily pieces in digital form, beginning with an image of his uncle Jim and ending with characters ranging from Donald Trump to Buzz Lightyear and Micheal Jackson in often dystopian scenes.
- Millions watch auction -
Since 2007, Beeple has accumulated nearly two million Instagram followers and collaborated with major brands and famous musicians, attracted by his imaginative graphic universe.
But he had never sold any work under his own name until recently, when the new technology catapulted him into orbit as one of the most fashionable artists in the world.
NFTs have a documented provenance that cannot be altered, guaranteeing authenticity and making the work ownable -- in contrast to most material on the internet where content is easily duplicated.
Beeple's success is a testament to the exciting possibilities ahead for this nascent marketplace. Today's result is a clarion call to all digital artists. Your work has value, said Noah Davis, a contemporary art specialist at Christie's.
The auction house said a record 22 million people watched the dramatic final minutes of the two-week sale as the price rocketed higher among competing bidders from 11 countries.
Todd Levin, a New York art adviser, told The New York Times that he had mixed emotions about the Beeple sale.
On the one hand, it?s super exciting to witness a historical inflection point, Levin said. On the other hand, the amount of money involved could skew and damage a nascent emerging market.
At the end of February another of Beeple's works, Crossroads, was resold for $6.6 million on the platform Nifty Gateway, which specializes in virtual works. Beeple received a 10 percent cut.
And an animation that he himself had sold at the end of October last year for a symbolic dollar was recently acquired for $150,000.