Beeple: Everydays, the First 5000 Days

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It was one of those things you hear about and think, Do I have any idea what’s going on in the world? See, Beeple is Mike Winkelmann. Mike Winkelmann is Beeple. And in the weird worlds of high fashion, fine art, and cryptocurrency, it doesn’t get any weirder than this story. a b Thaddeus-Johns, Josie (February 24, 2021). "Beeple Brings Crypto to Christie's". The New York Times . Retrieved March 3, 2021.

Miller, Meg (August 27, 2015). "This Illustrator Has Created A Picture A Day For The Last Eight Years". Fast Company . Retrieved February 24, 2021. Virtual museum to be built to house Beeple's record-breaking digital work". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 13 March 2021 . Retrieved 2 November 2021. It was one of those things you hear about and think, Do I have any idea what’s going on in the world? Is this normal and I’m just waaaayy out of touch, baking my bread while people are out there buying digital artwork using cryptocurrency? Winkelmann eventually focused on freelance projects for companies like Possible Productions in Los Angeles, which does graphics and animation for live events, including the MTV VMAs and the Super Bowl. (When Shakira walked through digital fire at the Super Bowl, that was Beeple.) He has also, in his words, done “lame” work for Apple but also something for Elon Musk’s SpaceX that was so “friggin’ sweet,” he’d tell you about it if he weren’t subject to a nondisclosure agreement. But he kept up the “Everydays”—for thirteen years now and counting—and he hasn’t missed a single day. Not for his wedding or the birth of his two children or a cross-country move from Appleton, Wisconsin, to Charleston. Cuthbertson, Anthony (March 24, 2021). "NFT millionaire Beeple says crypto art is bubble and will 'absolutely go to zero' ". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022 . Retrieved January 5, 2022.

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HUMAN ONE is a kinetic video sculpture by the artist Beeple. The dynamic work shows the first human born inside the metaverse, a 3D virtual world accessible only through the internet. The traveller in an astronaut suit treks forward in an endless, evolving virtual landscape shown in a spinning box-like structure with four LED screens. The journey is a metaphor for human progress, which reminds us of the continued blurring of our own digital and physical existence. HUMAN ONE is an ongoing conversation in response to current events and interests over the course of the artist’s life. Small, Zachary (March 4, 2022). "This Time, Beeple Is Trying His Hand at Artwork for Walls". The New York Times . Retrieved May 13, 2022. The digital artist known for NFTs is showing paintings and prints IRL at a Manhattan gallery.

Some of Winkelmann's works were incorporated into Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2019 ready-to-wear collection. Or not. For Christie’s, Davis said, this Beeple auction “could be just us dipping our toes into the field and seeing what happens,” adding: “A lot is depending on this lot.” The stunning visuals have attracted a diverse audience online. In 2018, Winkelmann received a direct message from Florent Buonomano, an artistic director at Louis Vuitton, who’d shared the work with his boss, artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière (“the design leader of his generation,” according to Vogue). Winkelmann knew so little about fashion that his first thought was: Is Louis Vuitton still alive? He was surprised to find out that while Vuitton had passed away in 1892, he was corresponding with the artistic director of an iconic luxury house with 160 years of rich history. Despite the attention and his growing reach, Winkelmann never considered selling any of his work. Or rather, he didn’t really know how to sell it. This is a common problem. As John Crain, the cofounder of the NFT marketplace SuperRare, explained: “A lot of supertalented digital artists don’t fit the model for the contemporary art world. They don’t go to Art Basel. They’re active on GIF communities. They weren’t monetizing the work as fine art. They might have sold T-shirts on a Linktree.”

Everydays, the First 5000 Days

Sex wasn’t Madonna’s only controversial foray into art. Last year, she teamed up with digital artist Beeple to release a line of three NFTs (non-fungible tokens) based on a 3D scan of the singer in the nude. The NFTs show Madonna giving birth to creatures like butterflies, centipedes and even a tree. He adds: “I’m excited to dive more into that world and maybe shake things up a tiny bit.” Quality control Winkelmann is based in North Charleston, South Carolina, having moved from Wisconsin in 2017. [28] He is married and has two children. [9] See also [ edit ]

In terms of collectors, the Christie’s sale could provide some cross-pollination from the fine art world. According to one art advisor, even clients in their 60s and 70s are making enquiries about NFTs.

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Winkelmann grew up in North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, a town of 5,000 people about an hour outside of Milwaukee. His dad was an electrical engineer; his mother worked at a local senior center. Winkelmann graduated from Purdue in 2003 with a computer-science degree but no artistic training. (He chose the name Beeple after a 1980s toy whose nose lit up in response to light and sound, which was loosely connected to the kind of early art he was making.) Winkelmann was inspired by British artist Tom Judd and began the daily project on 1 May 2007. [14] Some of the images involve figures from pop culture, including Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump, and are arranged chronologically. [15] Some of the earlier images are hand-drawn and not computer-produced. [14] Desk, Coin. "NFT Artist Beeple Opens Digital Art Gallery in Charleston, SC". Markets Insider. Business Insider . Retrieved March 26, 2023. The photographs featured in the sale were selected by Madonna, Meisel and Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of Saint Laurent, which released a limited second run of Sex last year in Miami to coincide with Art Basel in Miami Beach. The 800 copies —all signed by the Like a Virgin singer—sold out, and a pop-up exhibition of the photographs was a popular draw.

Everydays, the First 5000 Days is the first monograph dedicated to artist Mike Winkelman, aka Beeple, who is known for his daily digital from twisted pop-culture caricatures to breathtaking sci-fi landscapes. We all felt like we were witnessing history. This is one of the things, in retrospect, where people will say: How did we miss this?”

There is no art hanging on the walls. Behind him you can see side-by-side sixty-five-inch flat-screen televisions—one tuned to CNN, the other to Fox News. “I never change the channel and they’re always on mute,” he says. The TVs, he says, are a “window to the outside world.” Crow, Kelly (April 11, 2022). "The Latest Sign That Beeple Has Truly Arrived: An Exhibit at an Italian Art Museum". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved October 21, 2022. Despite the impressive receipts, Winkelmann couldn’t quite shake the feeling—however fleeting—that without some physical object to go along with the NFT, he was kinda maybe selling “magic beans.” Mike Winkelmann is a graphic designer from Charleston, SC, USA who does a variety of digital artwork including short films, Creative Commons VJ loops, everydays, and VR / AR work. The series captures a moment in time of one of the great fashion photographers of his generation and the queen of pop. While there's playfulness and campiness, there's also a classical nude study thing going on. I think they resonate across multiple generations,” Himes says.