Beeple. Human One

As part of the ESPRESSIONI exhibition program that characterizes the activities of Castello di Rivoli in the years 2021-2022, Castello di Rivoli presents an international museum preview of HUMAN ONE, 2021 (0xa4c38796C35Dca618FE22a4e77F4210D0b0350d6), by Beeple (b. 1981). A kinetic video sculpture existing in both the physical and digital realms with a perpetual dynamic animation of a person resembling an astronaut traversing an ever-changing landscape. Beeple created the artwork in association with new blockchain technologies known as “smart contracts.” In this case, the artist can modify the work remotely over time. Therefore, the viewer will have a unique experience of HUMAN ONE every time they return to see the artwork. The person walking in an ever-changing landscape represents the first human in the Metaverse. HUMAN ONE will be presented in visual dialogue with one of Francis Bacon’s (1909–1992) most important paintings, Study for Portrait IX, 1956–1957, from the Cerruti Collection at Castello di Rivoli. In the unique setting of the Manica Lunga of Castello di Rivoli, 147 meters long and six meters wide, the dynamism of the walking figure in HUMAN ONE contrasts with the static nature of the man in Bacon’s painting, which reflects the existentialist anxieties of the post-World War II modern era when it was created. Bacon’s Study for Portrait IX depicts its subject without hands and without agency, seated in a chair against an emerald green background within a white linear geometric structure that Bacon often used to frame his figures. In contrast, Beeple’s “astronaut” in the artist’s evolving landscape is constantly moving, while the audience is stationary. HUMAN ONE represents a new era of digital art. The “astronaut’s” journey invites the viewer to consider the relationship between their digital identity and their physical identity. Beeple captured the attention of the international art world and global crypto community after Christie’s auction of the artwork EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, 2021 as an NFT a year ago, serving as a catalyst for both digital art and the uniqueness that each NFT (non-fungible token) represents through the new blockchain technology of smart contracts. Beeple followed in 2021 with HUMAN ONE, which sold at Christie’s evening auction to Ryan Zurrer, a Swiss-based businessman and digital art collector.