Of the thirty or so works of contemporary art offered for sale for the first time in the metaverse and in Paris, only one lot has been sold.
A first auction of contemporary NFT works of art, organized Tuesday in the metaverse and simultaneously in a physical place in Paris, attracted many curious people but ended in a poor result, only one lot having been sold, according to the organizers.
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Only a unique 3D creation of a cathedral imagined for the planet Mars interested buyers, about 40 physically present during the sale on Île Saint-Louis, as well as a few dozen, simultaneously connected in the immersive virtual universe and interactive metaverse, accessible from their computer, smartphone or tablet. The “meta-cathedral” was swept away at 15,000 euros, according to Claude Aguttes, auctioneer of the sale, at the head of the eponymous house which had already sold the first SMS in history in the form of NFT, for 107,000 euros, in December.
Some fifty visual (paintings, videos, photos, fashion, design) and digital sound works of art by some twenty emerging international contemporary artists as well as the Japanese master of printmaking Hokusaï were presented on the eve of this sale. Only about thirty were finally offered for sale. “We knew that there would probably be no record, but it is the technological organization of this sale that is important. This is the future, many people attended the event with pleasure and curiosity but did not dare to bid, it is a good start!” nevertheless rejoiced Claude Aguttes.
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world premiere
With an auctioneer and bidders present in the metaverse who could interact like in real life, it was a “first auction of its kind in the world”unlike online auctions, organized everywhere under the name “metavers” but which are not yet, believes the auction house.
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All the works of art offered have been created from a physical reality or algorithms, then digitized and made immaterial thanks to new technologies. Each has a certificate of ownership and authenticity called a “non-fungible token” (non-fungible token in English, NFT), which makes its value. This revolutionary little digital object is stored in the “blockchain”, a sort of “internet safe” allowing the coded backup of the works, their tracing and their certification.
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