The innovative auction house with almost three centuries at the forefront, Sotheby's keeps expanding its presence in the NFT realm, announcing another big digital art and NFT auction. The upcoming major endeavor will be inspired by the hyped internet trend dubbed “oddly satisfying,” initially launched on the social network Reddit starting from 2013. The trend often refers to internet videos that showcase repetitive surreal video loops that people find pleasing. The largest-viewed oddly satisfying pieces include domino shows, parlor tricks, slime, pressure washing, hydraulic presses, soap cutting, and paint mixing.
Thus, celebrating the mainstream culture, the Natively Digital: Oddly Satisfying auction by Sotheby's is scheduled for March 17th and will run till March 24th in Paris. There will be 66 NFT artworks offered as lots by the most prominent creators in the space, including Beeple, celebrating two years after the $69.3-million Christie’s NFT auction. Such artists as Clement Morin, ARC, Ryan Talbot, and Lucas Zanotto will also represent their artworks within the auction.
The creators will showcase their 3D animated NFTs inspired by a trend known as "subreddit." The artists were tasked to explore the phenomenon of the Oddly Satisfying Video, often referred to as visual ASMR. The creative task resulted in the production of out-of-this-world NFT works, where each artist delivers their own aesthetics with a hypnotic, contemporary touch.
According to Michael Bouhanna, head of digital art and NFTs at Sotheby’s, the auction house is looking forward to showcasing the historical trend embedded in the up-to-date tendencies.
“With both editions of Natively Digital this month, one of the recurring themes throughout is how digital art communicates our ever-evolving relationship with technology. Each presents a look at the pervasive influence of a digital culture that will continue to shape our lives,” Bouhanna stated.
The auction will be held both IRL and in the virtual realm as part of the Paris Blockchain Week. It's worth noting that the upcoming endeavor will also be the first Sotheby's event held both in real life and in the metaverse space, created in the RLTY World. The latter is a private metaverse platform focused on NFTs, which has recently raised over $4 million in funding.
Moreover, after the Oddly Satisfying, Sotheby’s will hold the Natively Digital: Glitch-ism auction, featuring glitch art by the most renowned representatives of this style. Sotheby's calls it an “intentional creation of errors and glitches in digital media, such as images, videos, and sound art, which highlight the complex and often fraught relationship between humanity and technology.”
Natively Digital: Glitch-ism will run on March 24th-31th in New York. The centerpiece in the sale will include the 2018 Ethereum NFT piece Loading New Conflict… Redux 6 by XCOPY, as well as artworks by JakNFT, Patrick Amadon, and more.
Being an avid NFT collector, you simply cannot miss out on joining the large-scale initiative by Sotheby's. May your bid be the winning one!
