Block 21 hits digital-art record at Christie

[naska21]

u

[zasad@]

I don't mean to offend art lovers, but this is a very impractical purchase that requires a lot of storage space.
But if you look from the other side, then the larger and heavier the work of art, the harder it is to steal it.
It is good that such auctions bring the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies

[Charles-Tim]

I have created a topic about this before, I like the artwork, but I noticed the artwork does not depict about bitcoin in a way someone can easily recognized it is related to bitcoin. The art is expensive and it will be getting more expensive.

Christie’s auction house has announced the sale of a digital portrait of the Bitcoin code for more than $130,000. It marks the first time a non-fungible token (NFT) was auctioned at a major auction house, and the price exceeded expectations.

According to the auction house, an unknown buyer purchased "Block 21," comprised of a physical piece of art and an NFT representing Satoshi Nakamoto for $131,250 at Christie's on Oct. 7 as part of its “Post-War and Contemporary Day Auction.” Bidding started at $22,000.

The artwork, created by Ben Gentilli with the Robert Alice project, is one of 40 creations in a series, and holds exactly 322,048 digits of Satoshi’s original Bitcoin (BTC) code. The series, titled "Portraits of a Mind", shows the cryptocurrency's 12.3 million digits of original code individually engraved and painted on 40 different circular panels stretching more than 50 meters in length.


Portraits of a Mind, Block 21. Image: Robert Alice/Ben Gentilli

A portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto, in 40 parts
The artist behind this painstaking process, Ben Gentilli of the Robert Alice project, has called this collective piece Portraits of a Mind. Described as a digital fingerprint carved out of paint, each of the 40 individual pieces contains a chunk of the original code. Taken together, they represent a global portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto—Bitcoin’s anonymous founder, who first released the cryptocurrency’s original code in January 2009.
“Bitcoin’s original codebase is like a historical document, and I wanted to celebrate it and preserve it in the same way as a document like the Magna Carta,” Gentilli told Decrypt. “But I also wanted to try and answer the question of how one might make a portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto, when there is no image of him.”

Portraits of a Mind, he argues, depicts Satoshi through his work. “For me, this work is a portrait of Satoshi, decentralized around the world, in the same way that Bitcoin itself is,” he explained.

“I wanted to try and answer the question of how one might make a portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto, when there is no image of him.”
Ben Gentilli

The works themselves are canvas discs, 50.59in in diameter, layered with suspended pigment, and graphite and aluminum paint, with each digit individually engraved. Dotted here and there are gold digits—a metaphor for mining—arranged in a constellation-like pattern of decentralization.


The series consists of 40 discs. Image: Robert Alice/Ben Gentilli


The artwork depicts the complete codebase of Bitcoin. Image: Robert Alice/Ben Gentilli


Portraits of a Mind artist Ben Gentilli, of Robert Alice. Image: Robert Alice/Ben Gentilli

https://decrypt.co/42581/a-massive-bitcoin-artwork-is-being-auctioned-at-christies?amp=1
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-art-piece-sells-for-130k-at-christie-s-auction-house/amp

[bL4nkcode]

I like the artwork, but I noticed the artwork does not depict about bitcoin in a way someone can easily recognized it is related to bitcoin.

That's how that thing become a great master piece imo. If someone see it without having knowledge on bitcoin/blockchain he/she probably will say what the hell is that thing, till this person learns the very basics of bitcoin/blockchain from the time it was created til now and will understand everything at that piece is related to bitcoin, blockchain, decentralzation, and money.

[Ryker1]

Well, I don't see any problem with the price of this piece. It's still about the art, how the owner describes and promotes it, the story behind it, and also the quality of work and effort the artist did to create it.  Blokm21 really is a great piece, if you do not agree with this, then let those who appreciate it keep it. Art is not as complicated as it seems from your perspective. Because when you get there,  where money doesn't really mean that much already. Emotions, value, quality, and experience are precious. And art is one of the things that will give you that satisfaction.

[TokenBot_]

What a great piece and project! Cant wait to see what else he comes up with.