Beeple: Everydays, the First 5000 Days

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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.” Winkelmann started "Everydays," which involved creating a piece of art every day, on May 1, 2007. Since then, he has not missed a day; Winkelmann has discussed keeping it up even on his wedding day and the day of his children's births. 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. It’s been such a crazy trip to have this whole new world of NFTs open up that I never even thought was possible. And now it’s like, ‘oh, wow, okay, I could sell my work like this’.”

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.

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Mattei, Shanti Escalante-De (October 4, 2021). "NFT Platform Nifty Gateway, Collector Caught in Legal Battle Over Beeple Auction". ARTnews.com . Retrieved November 2, 2021. 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.”

The home is big and airy with a view of a palmetto tree, which makes his setup even more unlikely. Cables run from his computer monitor to the bathroom next door through a crude hole in the wall. Doing the work it takes to render 3D animation, his computers give off so much heat that he’s had to put them on a wood platform over the bathtub, and he jury-rigged an industrial AC unit over the sink that vents into the attic.One of the most memorable photographs from SEX shows Madonna walking nude along a Miami street. Courtesy Christie's Winkelmann’s drawings certainly set him apart—inspired by the British illustrator Tom Judd, he has been creating one sketch a day since 1 May 2007. The work being sold by Christie’s, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, is comprised of 5,000 of these images. 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.) Villa, Angelica (13 October 2021). "A Collecting Category Emerges: How NFTs Took the Art World By Storm". ARTnews.com . Retrieved 9 November 2021.

In early 2021, Beeple released the 5000 Day Selects as a commemorative piece to the Christie's auction with 105 editions. Less than six months ago, Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, was unknown to the art world.

Desk, Coin. "NFT Artist Beeple Opens Digital Art Gallery in Charleston, SC". Markets Insider. Business Insider . Retrieved March 26, 2023. 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.”