April 02 2021
Beeple: His Story, The Future of NFTs, His Favorite Digital Artist, and More
About the episode
Kevin speaks with Beeple, the world’s most popular and successful NFT artist. “Everydays: the First 5000 Days”, a collage of images from his “Everydays” series, sold for $69,346,250 on March 11, 2021, making it the third most expensive artwork by a living artist.
About our guest
Beeple
@beeple, aka Mike Winkelmann is a graphic designer who has worked on concert visuals for Justin Bieber, One Direction, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Zedd, deadmau5, and many more. He recently made headlines when he sold a collage of his first 5,0000 “everyday” pieces of art as an NFT for $69,346,250 — making it the third most expensive artwork by a living artist.
Topics covered
Links from the episode
Show notes
Where’s Beeple based, and where’s he been? He’s in Charleston, SC, but he’s from Wis-con-sin.[01:54]
Why does Beeple view sports and art as similar constructs?[02:56]
Why did Beeple choose art as a career over programming, and how did he start?[04:54]
Would you buy O’Reilly classic cover art as NFTs?[07:18]
What’s the difference between an artist and a designer?[13:21]
When did Beeple really start to feel like he could make a legitimate living from his art?[14:49]
How was Beeple introduced to the world of NFTs and cryptocurrency?[16:09]
Where did Beeple sell his first NFT, and what were his early impressions of the format?[20:25]
Imagining the possibilities: what NFT collecting might look like in the future.[29:36]
Who were the subjects of Beeple’s earliest work, and how did his process evolve over time?[36:08]
What drives Beeple’s more topical work?[37:59]
What’s next for Beeple?[43:33]
At the end of the day, how does Beeple feel about copyright infringement?[47:42]
Other NFT artists Beeple thinks we should keep an eye on.[49:16]
Digital art isn’t new. Only the ability to quantify and commodify it is.[50:19]
