Takashi Murakami Apologizes to His Crypto Investors on Twitter as His NFT Prices Nosedive

The world-famous Japanese artist Murakami, who creates artworks by fusing anime and manga cartoon characters, launched his first NFT collection entitled “Murakami. Flowers” back in March. Previously, Takashi Murakami broke the boundaries between high and low art by making art relatable and easy to access, now he is closing the gap between the digital and traditional art world – or is he?

Its recent rise in popularity has promised to revolutionize the creative industry. As a graphic designer and artist, I’m here to ask, “What’s in it for me?” Let’s begin with a definition.

Takashi Murakami’s iconic flowers will be available as NFTs

Renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami will soon be releasing an NFT collection based on his iconic flower motifs. Named Murakami. Flowers, this collection features 11,664 flowers that showcase Takashi’s noteworthy artwork.

Murakami has created an interesting distribution system for his unique NFT collection as well.

Murakami first made the announcement last year but decided to withdraw, as he didn’t yet feel he had a firm grasp of the space. After trading in cryptocurrencies, and working with RTFKT on a successful NFT project, he now feels that he’s ready to venture forward with the project. “I’m sure there is still so much about this space that I don’t understand, and I’ll be needing a lot of guidance from everyone,” he continued in the announcement post.

Elsewhere, End of the World and NEEDLES debut a Chameleon Capsule featuring album art from Murakami.

Великий часовой дизайнер второй половины XX века Джеральд Джента, придумывая облик очередных часов, собственноручно рисовал их акварелью или маслом. Ныне картины кисти Дженты ценятся не меньше, чем его ставшие культовыми часы.

Новые времена — новые приемы. Часовой марке Hublot настолько понравился опыт прошлогоднего сотрудничества с японским мэтром современного искусства Такаси Мураками (в его рамках были выпущены две лимитированные серии часов — Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black и Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow по 200 и 100 экземпляров соответственно), что она решила создать два статичных невзаимозаменяемых токена (NFT) с изображением улыбающегося цветка — символом творчества Мураками и его художественного направления Superflat.

NFT, основанный на модели All Black, выпущен ограниченным тиражом 216 экземпляров, а воссоздающий цвета версии Sapphire Rainbow — в 108 экземплярах. Токены бесплатно достанутся нынешним обладателям часов лимитированных серий, если они изъявят такое желание, но ограниченное число цифровых произведений будет доступно и для публики.

—Мы видели в музее ваши работы, они впечатляют размахом. Каково работать с микромиром часов?

—Не знаю, не думал об этом. Я просто предложил идею с цветком на циферблате, а производство уже меня не касалось. Сделал их Hublot, так что мне нечего было беспокоиться о процессе работы. Но, честно говоря, финальный продукт меня просто ошеломил. Когда мы посещали первый раз мануфактуру, я, конечно, догадывался, что эти ребята не шутят и что они смогут создать что-то невероятное, но модель Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow превзошла мои ожидания.

—Вы много чем занимались — кроссовками, часами, сумками. Работали с Канье Уэстом, любите рэп-индустрию. А чего вы никогда не будете делать?

—Трудно так сразу сообразить. Но могу сказать точно, что был бы рад сделать,— дизайн автомобиля.

—По какому случаю вы наденете All Black, а по какому — Sapphire Rainbow?

—All Black — спортивная модель. А радужные часы надену на вечеринку.

—Вы называете себя гиком. Почему?

—Когда я учился, я думал, что, как только стану успешным и богатым, буду много играть в теннис и гольф. Но вот я вроде бы успешный и богатый, а в гольф так и не начал играть, зато много гуляю, брожу по улицам и поглощаю контент на Netflix. Разве я не гик? Конечно, я странный по сравнению с обычными людьми.

—А как изменил вашу жизнь локдаун?

—Ну, начнем с того, что мне было не до отдыха. Я оказался на грани банкротства, пришлось уволить больше 100 человек. Я постоянно искал инвестиции и деньги. Так что, знаете, во время пандемии я как раз крутился как белка в колесе, спасая бизнес. И когда мы начали смотреть в сторону метавселенной, для нас открылись новые возможности. Например, мы стали работать с Fortnite, создавать NFT-токены.

—Известно, что вы любите привлекать к работе над совместными проектами начинающих художников. Открыли кого-нибудь в прошлом году?

—Нет, честно говоря, было не до этого. Но я нашел двух взрослых художников-иллюстраторов и создателей комиксов, обоим за 65, и мне захотелось с ними поработать.

—Вас пугает ход времени?

—Нет! Я же ступил в метавселенную, а это навсегда!

—Вы рисовали ядерные взрывы, кислотные дожди. Какие природные катаклизмы беспокоят вас сейчас?

—Вулкан Фудзи-сан. Нас потряхивает последнее время. Ученые говорят, скоро надо ждать извержения.

—Это вдохновит вас на новые творческие подвиги?

—Ну, если выживу, то да, конечно. Хотя для японца землетрясения — обыденность.

Takashi Murakami’s NFT art is inspired by his own art style and Japan’s traditon for Superflat art

The artist is planning a metaverse of content, including video games

Ian Dean is Digital Arts & Design Editor at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and leading video game title Official PlayStation Magazine. In his early career he wrote for music and film magazines including Uncut, SFX, and assisted on The Idler. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his love to bring the latest news on NFTs, video game art and tech, and more to Creative Bloq, and in his spare time he doodles in Corel Painter, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.

Takashi Murakami is one of the most visible and important Japanese artists working today. Murakami’s influence on Japan rivals Andy Warhol’s on the United States, and he is known for disseminating and promoting pop art strategies in ways unforeseen by American critics and artists. Unifying many strands of culture that are frequently considered in opposition—traditional Japanese painting with Western influences, the realm of fine art with otaku lifestyle (juvenile culture obsessed with toys, anime, and video games), and commercial retail spaces with museums and other public venues—Murakami’s work is recognized for its ambition, polish, and fine execution.

Murakami’s artistic practice is expansive, spilling into fashion, film, and other commercial areas, but his symbols and interests come from deeper impulses. For instance, Murakami’s use of mushrooms in his work deals with both popular drug cultures and historical concerns. Curator Paul Schimmel, for one, locates the artist’s fascination with mushrooms in a story his mother told him as a child about being born in a city “passed over” by the U. atomic bomb. (On the day of the drop, Murakami’s hometown had too much cloud cover and was avoided as a target. ) Murakami employs mushrooms in DOB in the Strange Forest (Blue DOB), 1999, in which the artist coyly positions his alter-ego, DOB, in a complex Japanese landscape that is turning to menace. DOB shows resistance, a gesture that clearly indicates Murakami’s critique of culture rather than simply adding to its excesses. It is a powerful statement of how Murakami sees himself in regards to his Japanese culture. He is lost in the runaway madness of its history and decadence.

Social critique is even more pointed in Nurse Ko2 (Original rendering by Nishi-E-Da, modeling by BOME and Genpachi Tokaimura, advised by Masahiko Asano, full scale sculpture by Lucky-Wide Co. , Ltd. ), 2011. The work addresses bishoujo culture, which is roughly equivalent to “beautiful girl style,” a concept encompassing many features of otaku. Bishoujo is an exaggerated, unrealistic, and fetishized version of the feminine, often based on boys’ fantasies. Murakami’s offering is part cartoon, part naive adolescent wish, part pornography. The conflation of the three mixes into an erotically charged, but silly sculptural resolution. The work is the projection of an overinflated boy mind, which Murakami remarks has contributed to a sterilized and displaced adolescence that hinders Japan.

My arms and legs rot off and though my blood rushes forth, the tranquility of my heart shall be prized above all. (Red blood, black blood, blood that is not blood), 2007, is part of a series of Murakami drawings featuring the portrait of Daruma, the sage, grand patriarch of Zen art and founder of Zen Buddhism. Daruma is famous for sitting in meditation for nine years without blinking, facing the Shaolin monastery. He lost his arms and legs due to severe atrophy, and even today is a symbol fortitude and diligence in Japan. In this work, Daruma is locked in a soft, meditative gaze, heavily mannered in black with bursts of colorful highlights. The painting is quintessential Murakami, mixing the visual devices of pop art with deeper cultural undercurrents. My arms and legs. is both a view of Japanese history and a critique of the contemporary. Despite the opportunity for sensationalism that the Daruma story opens, Murakami takes a deliberate, sober approach, cropping out gory details and replacing them with the face alone. The emphasis of the work is on meditation, on the slowness of thought, virtues rarely promoted in a hyper-saturated world of instant information. With one foot in that image-saturated world, Murakami steps away from it.

Flower Matango (b), 2001–06, takes pop culture as its starting point. Matango is a 1963 Japanese movie about a group of people stranded on an island of monstrous mushrooms. Murakami imagines his recognizable smiling flowers growing and twisting through the gallery space. Like the mushrooms in Matango, the flowers multiply and take over, a blizzard of pop. For Murakami, popular imagery is an aggressive spore that can neither be contained nor stopped. A version of Flower Matango was exhibited at Versailles in France, its flowers allowed to spiral through Louis XIV’s home in much the same way as the decorative flowers of the rococo overwhelm the wallpaper and ceilings of the palace.

Takashi Murakami is one of the few fine artists who managed to make a successful crossover to the NFT space.

He was first inspired to launch a collection in spring 2021, after seeing Christie’s auction off a Beeple NFT for $69 million in crypto. The event kicked off a global NFT mania, and the next few months were prime time to launch an NFT collection, for those who jumped at the right time.

Unfortunately, Murakami’s timing was terrible, and he completely missed the NFT boom. After spending a year fine-tuning the technical details of the project, he launched it right before the 2022 crypto crash.

The cheapest Murakami. Flower NFT is now 2 ETH ($2,200, at current value) on OpenSea. During a false start over a year ago, he was getting bids of upwards of $260,000. That’s when he decided to withdraw the project and mull things over a bit more.

“It’s not your art or anything you’ve done. It’s the market. Nothing to be sorry for! Just keep doing you!” another said.

One fan cheekily wrote: “Please give it another 30 years. I’ll be gone from this world and the true value of my NFT project will become absolutely clear

Murakami did not respond to a request for comment from Artnet News.

A gallery-goer looks on at the opening of Takashi Murakami’s “An Arrow Through History. ” Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian. Photo: Yvonne Tnt.

The Japanese artist launched his pixilated flower NFTs to a patiently waiting base of fans last month. The series debuted with an average price of 9. 89 ETH. But the NFT market was cooling, and the crypto skies were already darkening.

In early May, the Wall Street Journal reported the NFT market had flatlined, and by early June, Bitcoin had lost over 60 percent of its value from its November record, pulling down the rest of the crypto and NFT markets along with it.

Things were looking good. The first “Murakami. Flowers” NFT, titled #0000 Murakami. Flower immediately attracted a bid of 144 ether, or about $260,395.

But rather than stay the course, Murakami got cold feet. Less than two weeks later, the artist withdrew the listing and announced he would postpone the much-anticipated NFT project.

He wanted to better understand the technology. Rather than rely on OpenSea to list his work, he wanted to make his own smart contract to maintain the independence of the project in the future.

He also wanted to wrap his mind around Web 3. “It took a long time for me to get this part installed in my mind,” he told Artnet News last month.

The delay cost him at a time when he couldn’t spare it: the NFT project presented a financial opportunity for Murakami, who was coming off a bad year. Covid had stranded him in Japan through 2020. In July of that year, he declared his company, Kaikai Kiki, was on brink of bankruptcy. A long-planned gallery show was postponed, along with museum shows. His film, Jellyfish Eyes Part 2: Mahashankh, was canceled.

Then things started to look up for a while. In November, Murakami teamed up with RTFKT to release a series of 20,000 3D profile pictures called Clone X at a price of 2 ETH each (about $4,000) that quickly sold out. By mid-May, the total volume traded stood at 98,000 ETH, or $41 million, with the floor price at 13. 49 ETH ($28,134 at the time). Today, the floor price stands at 8. 98 ETH ($11,038).

And despite the crash, Murakami seems committed to staying in the game. On June 14, he released a new line of NFTs called Lucky Cat Coin Bank, pixelated versions of the popular Japanese Maneki-neko figurine, which is designed to bring luck to its owner. Its floor price is currently 0. 74 ETH ($1,111).

If Murakami has learned any valuable lessons from all this, one might be that the entire crypto space is a Jenga stack of interconnected time bombs. Enter at your own risk.

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По случаю международной ярмарки Watches & Wonders бренд Hublot и Такаси Мураками представляют два цифровых произведения в формате невзаимозаменяемого токена NFT, выполненные по мотивам часов Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi MurakamiHublot и Такаси Мураками открывают новые творческие горизонты выпуском двух цифровых произведений в формате NFT. Они выполнены по мотивам моделей Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black и Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow – первых часов, созданных швейцарским часовым производителем и знаменитым японским художником в 2021 году. Обе ограниченные серии – количеством 200 и 100 экземпляров – были распроданы за несколько дней. Новый эпизод творческого сотрудничества с Такаси Мураками принял форму двух статичных токенов NFT, содержащих изображение цветка с озорной улыбкой, который стал эмблематической темой в работах Мураками и созданного им стиля Superflat. Первый NFT, основанный на версии All Black, будет выпущен ограниченной серией из 216 экземпляров, а выпуск второго, воспроизводящего цветовую гамму эксклюзивной модели Sapphire Rainbow, ограничен 108 экземплярами. В первую очередь эти цифровые произведения NFT адресованы владельцам указанных выше моделей часов двух ограниченных серий – они получат их бесплатно. Информация о владельцах часов легко проверяется через систему электронной гарантии и защиты Hublot (данная система была разработана Hublot в рамках глобальной политики по противодействию коррупции и контроля цикла жизни изделия, проводимой LVMH. Электронная гарантия Hublot хранится в блокчейне AURA). По желанию владельца часов полагающийся ему бесплатный NFT может быть помещен в его электронный кошелек eWallet. В мае Hublot откроет страницу на децентрализованном рынке невзаимозаменяемых токенов, где владельцы смогут обмениваться своими NFT. Выпуск NFT от Hublot и Такаси Мураками будет поддерживаться очень креативной промокампанией, основанной на принципах «партизанского» маркетинга. После презентации на часовом салоне Watches & Wonders в Женеве рекламные плакаты неожиданно появятся в Лондоне и Нью-Йорке, с одновременной организацией масштабных световых проекций на известных зданиях. В мае 2022 года выйдет ограниченная серия этих токенов NFT, которые смогут приобрести все желающие. Следите за нашими новостями. Кто имеет право: Только действительные владельцы  (i) часов Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow или (ii) Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black, у которых имеются указанные модели на данный момент, могут запросить токен NFT Hublot Classic Fusion Murakami, соответствующий их часам, и только в период с 1 апреля 2022 г. (9:00 – CEST) до 25 апреля 2022 г. 23:59 (CEST). Для этого они должны сделать следующее:Прежде всего, чтобы отправить запрос на токен NFT Hublot Classic Fusion Murakami, соответствующий Вашим часам, Вы должны обновить электронную гарантию Hublot и отсканировать свои часы через указанное приложение до 25 апреля 2022 г. 23:59 (CEST). Бесплатное приложение электронной гарантии Hublot можно загрузить здесь:После того как Вы правильно и своевременно отсканируете свои часы посредством приложения электронной гарантии, появятся кнопка «Claim your NFT» («Запросить Ваш NFT») и онлайн-инструкции для завершения подачи запроса. Правомочные владельцы часов должны:·         иметь аккаунт Hublotista (в случае отсутствия аккаунта им будет предоставлена возможность создать таковой в ходе регистрационного процесса); и·         иметь адрес электронного кошелька Ethereum. На серийный номер модели Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami может быть получен только один токен NFT. Это означает, что если серийный номер часов уже был использован для запроса токена NFT Hublot Classic Fusion Murakami, любые последующие попытки сделать запрос на токен NFT Hublot Classic Fusion Murakami, используя тот же серийный номер, будут отклонены. Кроме того, Hublot оставляет за собой право не удовлетворить и/или аннулировать запрос, который не отвечает всем заданным условиям, вызывает подозрения в мошенничестве или нарушает применимые законы и положения. “Наше сотрудничество с Такаси Мураками привело нас в сферу цифрового искусства – область творчества, к которой Hublot проявил интерес первым среди часовых производителей. Отныне токены NFT будут непременной частью нашей творческой среды «Hublot любит искусство». ”ГЕНЕРАЛЬНЫЙ ДИРЕКТОР HUBLOT“Использование таких новых форм художественного выражения как токены NFT является для меня логичным развитием творческого сотрудничества с Hublot. С нетерпением жду продолжения”

Takashi Murakami delays NFT launch.

Initially, I took the challenge on with a spirit of trial first, groping my way forward from the preparation of the NFT artwork to entering into an NFT marketplace. I believe my team and I managed to prepare everything very quickly. On the other hand, we have been receiving many a valuable opinion and advice from a number of collectors and experts, which have led me and my team to further discuss and deepen our awareness.

In order to take full advantage of NFT and maximize the convenience for the collectors/owners while strengthening their satisfaction and sense of security in owning the works, we decided that it would be best to further explore the optimal format in which to offer my NFT works. To this end, we plan to carefully consider and discuss various factors such as: choosing between ERC721 and 1155 based on their advantages and disadvantages considering the concept of my work; whether we need independent smart contracts; whether we should build our own storefront; and whether we need IPFS; among others.

I would therefore like to withdraw the listing for the time being and tackle NFT again after further internal discussions, better prepared. I sincerely apologize to those who have already put in their bids, but I hope you will understand the logic behind this withdrawal, the aim of which is to later allow you to enjoy my NFT works more conveniently and with peace of mind. Through the preparations and discussions so far, I have become even more convinced of the great potential of NFT, and I am excited anew to work on NFT digital art. I thank you for coming along with me on this journey.

Original Article from 3/30/21 Below.

Takashi Murakami. Flowers NFT

You heard it from NFTCulture first. Earlier this month we speculated that a Takashi Murakami NFT would be imminent. Given his affinity to technology, a younger fanbase, and growing collector set, Takashi had to create NFTs at some point. We are extremely excited for this drop.

Takashipom appears to have made the jump in amazing fashion with pixelated re-imagining of his Takashi flowers each with different facial expressions. Currently, there appear to be 12 individual Murakami. Flowers NFTs available and while they are not yet available for auction. NFT Collectors have already put the bidding floor above 5 ETH and the most interesting have already reached nearly 15 ETH.

Visit Takashi Murakami on Opensea

Murakami is quoted on OpenSea

In the short decades before an artist’s death, they have to create works that manage to remain relevant for hundreds of years thereafter. In that line of thinking, I am starting this experiment because it amounts to digging down into the nature of art within the realm of VR that are recognizable as such, and further diffusing it. Is this merely a slight fluctuation of interest? Or is this the first step towards future values that we don’t yet begin to understand?

He continues to highlight the project stating that the work is based on his signature flowers each with 24 x 24 pixel art evoking nostalgia for Famicom (NES), prepared in 108 variations, the number that signifies earthly desires in Buddhism.

Note: in the time to write the article and publish it, a new offer jumped the price to 14 ETH.

What makes the Takashi Murakami NFT Drop so interesting?

We view artists, especially those who have been successful in the non-digital realm with increased scrutiny. Many of these artists just mail it in with their minimum effort expecting a massive payday. Takashi appears to have been thoughtful in his approach by doing 3 things:

Highly Recognizable NFT

Takashi could have just posted the exact same flowers he created in the past. Instead he took his highly recognizable vision, created a unique spin, and now we have something new.

Unique Variations on each NFT

Instead of doing an open edition or a 100/100 drop of the same pieces, each NFT is similar, yet unique in their fascial expressions. We may see color variants and more as the drop progresses, but the point is that each drop is thoughtfully planned in a way that makes it a compelling collectable. Takashi Discord imminent.

Great Art

The art is great. As we stated before, he could have mailed it in, but he didnt. Each pixel art piece is designed with intention to allow room for expression while maintaining the simlicity he wanted to derive from the famicon days. He also muted the colors within the palette to make it just unique enough to be something entirely new.

Hats off to you Takashi Murakami. We will try our best to collect one as soon as they are available, but we expect the price floor to jump to at least 55 ETH as an entry point into the collection. Which would put the initial drop at over $10m in USD.

It’s worth noting that none are available for sale at this time.

Final thoughts on the Takashi Drop

In our opinion, this drop MAY not get as popular as beeple or others, but will be one of the most significant drops over time as one of the worlds most famous artists tests the space with a piece of art that has  the 3 key features we previously mentioned.

NFTCulture Status

We have also reached out to the Takashi Murakami team for comment, but don’t expect a response at this time.

In late March 2021, just three weeks after ​​Christie’s sold that Beeple you heard about for $69 million, Takashi Murakami dropped his first NFTs: a series of pixelated flowers, each rendered in the artist’s signature Superflat aesthetic.

But it turned out that Murakami, like the rest of us, was still getting his head around the concept. In a surprise announcement 11 days later, the artist paused the much-anticipated NFT project, saying “it would be best to further explore the optimal format in which to offer my NFT works

Since then, Murakami has notched two hugely successful NFT initiatives into his belt, so it appears the Japanese artist has got the whole crypto apparatus figured out. So much so, in fact, that he’s now making physical paintings and sculptures based on his own Murakami. Flowers and Clone X NFT series, effectively reversing the process he began 14 months ago.

Hundreds of these works, as well as new paintings inspired by a porcelain vase from China’s Yuan dynasty (c. 1279–1368), make up “An Arrow Through History,” Murakami’s new exhibition at Gagosian in New York. It’s the artist’s first gallery exhibition in the city since 2014, and he’s gone all out, collaborating with NFT studios Oncyber and RTFKT (the latter of which he worked with on Clone X) to create digital viewing experiences accessible via VR headset and Snapchat. And excitement, it seems, is high: Gagosian began offering artworks from the show last week, and claims to have sold more than 120 of them in a 24-hour period.

But even though his work is back in the IRL gallery space, Murakami’s mind is on NFTs. It’s clear his dalliance in the world of digital art has had a significant impact on how he approaches his practice. Or so he told me in an email interview ahead of the opening for “An Arrow Through History

You released your inaugural NFTs in late March 2021, but withdrew those artworks from the OpenSea market just 11 days later. Can you take me back to that moment? Why did you decide to pause and take stock, rather than learning by trial, as you originally intended?

The reason I withdrew was because, after mulling over whether I should simply rely on OpenSea and release image files as NFTs or make my own smart contract, I decided to make my own smart contract to maintain the independence of the project in the future. It took a while to find the right company that could do that with me.

How did you go about better understanding the NFT landscape after the postponement? What did you learn?

I tried to understand what the audience/collectors were hoping for from the NFT market or its structure. As a context, it was necessary for me to understand the idea of cryptocurrency and Web 3. 0, and it took a long time for me to get this part installed in my mind.

You’ve mentioned before that you see “great potential” in the world of crypto-art. What excites you about it? How, if at all, do you see it transforming the art world?

Do you feel like you’ve found a new or different audience through NFTs?

The rise of NFT art was completely synchronized with the development of the pandemic. If it weren’t for the pandemic, it wouldn’t have permeated this much. When people were no longer able to physically come and go, we started to focus solely on ideas, and the act of sharing the abstract eliminated the noise; we started to pursue the question of what value meant. I think the new audience made up of such people who are able to think in this way have emerged as a result.

Many established artists have made NFTs based on their own artworks, but you also reversed that process, making real-world pieces based on NFTs for the new show. What about that act of translation—of turning digital artworks into physical ones—interests you?

I wanted to chase the human evolution, catch up, take over, and see the future beyond, and for that I paid attention to the metaverse as an angle. I thought that I could be reborn if I could install in myself a new yardstick that couldn’t be measured using an existing sense of value. So, I tried, and was indeed reborn.

In addition to the new NFT-related pieces, the Gagosian exhibition finds you looking back seven centuries to the Yuan dynasty for inspiration. With that in mind, what does the show’s title, “An Arrow through History,” mean to you?

Yet I had studied this Nihonga for six years, and so the traditional Japanese painting subjects have been imprinted in me. With this as my artistic foundation, I assumed there must be some commonalities that could be found in the path of conceptual art leading up to NFT art, and I made works based on that assumption. That commonality, for me, was the Superflat method.

Major collaborations with fashion and luxury brands have helped define your career, and your recent project with Nike and RTFKT (Nike Dunk Genesis Cryptokicks) no doubt falls into that category. What has the success of those collaborations taught you about art?

In each trend invariably resides, hidden, a context backed by history. So, if you seek out that context, refine it as the target, and launch a shot right into the center of it, it will inevitably become an impactful project. That’s how it works.

Who is Takashi Murakami?

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist and entrepreneur, widely recognised for his distinctive style of merging Japanese traditional art and pop art.

He earned celebrity status in 2003 through Miss Ko2, which featuresone of Takashi’s most recognisable characters: a figure of a Playboy-like model, dressed in a miniskirt, schoolgirl tie and cherry heels. The artwork was auctioned for £500,000, which, at the time, was the highest sale price for a work by a contemporary Japanese art.

Back in 2000, he coined the term “Superflat” to describe his aesthetic. The term played on the Western perception of the “flatness” of Japanese art. As he explains in an interview, Superflat is about mixing Japanese high and low art. However, more recently, he claimed that the term’s meaning had shifted to include connotations of how social media creates a “flatness of information”, because nowadays you can “get anything on a smartphone”, which became a big turning point for our society.

What inspired Murakami to sell an NFT?

Takashi Murakami claims that Beeple’s £50 million NFT sale at Christie’s inspired him to join the NFT community. He claimed: “after it became much talked about with beeple’s auction the other day, I have been contemplating the right approach myself

On top of this, during the pandemic, Murakami watched how his children played the Nintendo Switch game Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which made him think about how the way the people socialise has drastically changed. Murakami says: “They were watching some fireworks display within the game while talking with their school friends, who they could no longer meet in person, through Zoom, admiring how beautiful it was. ” As always, children are early adopters of new trends. They can easily get on board with whatever is hot at the moment and can guide the way for the older generations.

He launched a collection of NFT artworks on Opensea, which consists of a series of 24 x 24 pixel artworks depicting smiley face flowers. Each flower shows a different facial expression, similar to an emoji.

The first “Murakami. Flower” NFT, titled # 0000, already attracted a bid of 144 ETH, equivalent to £260,300.

How much did it sell for?

Murakami said: “I sincerely apologize to those who have already submitted their bids, but I hope you will understand the rationale behind this retreat, the purpose of which is to allow you to later enjoy my NFT work more affordably and with peace of mind

What is NFT art?
—

An NFT is a digital asset that exists completely in the digital universe—you can’t touch it, but you can own it. An NFT can be any type of digital file: an artwork, an article, music or even a meme such as “Disaster Girl”, the original photo of which sold for $500k earlier this year.

NFT stands for ‘Non Fungible Token’, but what does that mean? Well, it helps to first understand what a ‘Fungible Token’ is. If we think of it in terms of money: a 100 dollar bill can be swapped for five 20 dollar bills and still hold the same value, which means a 100 dollar bill is a fungible token.

A detail from Beeple’s “Everydays — The First 5000 Days,” a collage of digital images that was “minted” as a “nonfungible token” (NFT) and sold for $69. 3 million.

If this 100 dollar bill is signed by Banksy, it becomes a totally unique product. Its value is then much harder to determine, as it’s no longer simply worth five 20 dollar bills. This means a Non Fungible Token cannot be swapped for any equivalent value. It also means that, like any investment, its value can increase or decrease in the future depending on the circumstances.

What we’re particularly interested in is: how will this new, digital means of selling art affect creators and the creative industry?

What do NFTs mean for creators?
—

Prior to the existence of Cryptocurrency, we never really got to own something that was completely digital. We passed around videos and motion graphics, repurposing and reposting them, but there wasn’t this current opportunity to automatically assume complete, concrete ownership over a digital file or artwork. The rise of NFT’s changes this, allowing creators the authority to rent digital artworks out, to sell them or display them how they wish.

Illustration by OrangeCrush

Artists have already come forward with the news that they have had their work fraudulently minted and sold by scammers. But without relevant protection by the law or any preexisting legislation on this topic, it remains speculative as to what these artists will be able to do about this.

A novel way to generate income

NFT art is a totally new way of categorizing digital artworks that enables designers to monetize their work. It’s supposed to be a quicker process and a more accessible way for designers to produce work and reap the rewards for their creativity. There’s no chasing clients for payment, there’s no preparing files for print and there’s no waiting to hear feedback or changing and editing your work to suit a client’s needs.

Royalties

Another thing that’s affecting the design industry hugely by the outbreak of NFTs is value. How do you value a physical artwork in comparison to a virtual work of art. Also the value of NFT’s and CryptoArt is solely based on the value of Cryptocurrency. Because NFTs are sold on the basis of Ethereum, and that’s translated into monetary value, for example an NFT sells for 2 Ethereum, which is translated to us as about $2,255 dollars. But if the value of Ethereum were to drop, then so does the value of the artwork: its value is continually dependant upon the cryptocoin.

A global reach

Previously, the exclusive, illustrious world of art collecting and selling has been something that’s generally happened in physical spaces concerning physical artworks. Designers and artists made money from IRL events like exhibitions and markets until recent world events meant that many of these avenues were stopped. The rise of NFT trading means that art collecting has been able to move online, opening it up to many artists, on a global scale, who may not have previously had the chance to sell their work to buyers.

Similarly, for many graphic designers it can be really difficult to hold down a steady means of income without doing odd jobs or unrelated work. Stability is a slow bloomer and can be found in loyal clients or through a consistent, timely turnover of projects. But, if you’re not already well-established it can be tricky to find your feet in this competitive industry. So, the immediacy in which an NFT can generate income could, theoretically, open a tidal wave of opportunity for a huge number of creatives, especially those who are less privileged.

Inclusivity versus exclusivity

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den-US%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

The hypnotizing Nyan Cat

A hefty ecological footprint

One controversy surrounding the world of NFT artworks is the impact it’s having on the environment. French artist Joanie Lemercier recently made news after his NFT sold out in 10 seconds, making thousands of dollars. Pretty incredible, right? Well, what he also could not foresee is exactly how much energy this transaction would consume: the equivalent of how much his studio uses over a full 2 year period, which is 8. 7 megawatt-hours of energy.

His seller then resold the piece, which used the same amount of energy and horrified the artist who had looked to sell work online as an eco-friendly alternative to transporting physical work around the world’s museums. Lemercier went on to release a statement documenting the lack of transparency he faced from cryptoart platforms when investigating their energy consumption.

Joanie Lemercier’s NFT that consumed 8. 7 megawatt-hours of energy.

Unsurprisingly, the fact that NFT artworks are so resource-heavy is hugely alarming for many designers. But this issue isn’t exclusive to trading cryptoart; it’s part of a bigger issue involving the digital mechanism, “proof of work”. Since its emergence in the early 90s,  proof of work has evolved to be used largely in cryptocurrency mining to create and mint tokens like bitcoin and ethereum. Highly powered computers essentially compete to get the most bitcoin and need to source a huge amount of electricity to do so.

Developments of greener alternatives are ongoing, but while bitcoin continues to dominate cryptocurrencies, this process that is so harmful to the environment is proving unavoidable for any designers wishing to sell their art as NFTs.

Does the NFT art industry have longevity?
—

Well, the answer is we’re not too sure! April saw NFT prices shudder to a slump of 70%, yet with so much potential it seems unlikely that NFT art will run out of steam anytime soon.

Digital Artists currently hopping on the trend and flooding the market with NFTs, via Open Sea

I personally don’t think this is a fad, I believe we have been heading into a majority digital age for the last decade and this is just the next thing to become comfortable with. As a graphic designer myself, most of my work is made and prepared for some sort of print, however all my work is created digitally, so it feels a bit of a wasted opportunity to not create an NFT. I think this will be the same for many designers. The NFT world has too much potential to not see itself through.

How to actually create an NFT
—

The first thing designers need to do on their way to setting up an NFT to sell is create a “Crypto Wallet”. This is going to store the Ethereum, which you will need to pay the minting fees. Then you will need to connect your Crypto Wallet to one of the NFT marketplaces.

NFT marketplaces allow designers and artists to upload their digital artwork and list it for sale online as an NFT. You can imagine them to be like Ebay or Etsy—except they’re purely for NFTs! The most popular ones include: Rarible, OpenSea, Mintable, KnownOrigin and SuperRare.

One thing to keep in mind when uploading your artworks onto these is how many you’re going to provide. You can choose to put it on as 1 of 1, meaning there will only be one artwork to exist and be sold, or you could decide to upload a collection of the artwork with multiple copies. This is quite a huge decision to make because—like traditional art forms—the number of original editions and how rare a piece is will directly impact its value.

To sum up
—

The selling of crypto or NFT art holds the potential to transform the entire creative industry; its emergence is only the beginning of something that’ll feel mundane to future generations. Yet, the early world of NFT art fails to stand up as a reliable, inclusive environment to sell digital art upon. Our eyes are peeled to see what happens next—and we hope the tide turns in favor of designers.

Need something awesome designed?

After trading in cryptocurrencies and his successful CLONE X series launch, Murakami felt the need to bring his signature flower artwork to the NFT space. More so, the idea of making a Tamagotchi-like mobile game on a basic black-and-white screen inspired him to create the dot-art imagery.

The success of his early NFT projects, CryptoPunks and Beeple further motivated Murakami to include his artwork in NFTs. So, along with Yoshihisa Hashimoto, his game producer, he further worked on developing the Tamagotchi idea that took the form of the Murakami. Flowers project eventually.

However, in his announcement post in April 2021, he expressed, “I’m sure there is still so much about this space that I don’t understand, and I’ll be needing a lot of guidance from everyone”. Post which he pulled the images from OpenSea, just eleven days before the launch date i. e March 31 2021.

The six-step distribution process

On the official website of Murakami. Flowers, the Japanese contemporary artist has outlined how he plans to distribute the 11,664 images between ‘Whitelist’ and ‘Public Sale’ categories.

Priced at 0. 0727 ETH presale, ‘Whitelist’ will include 3000 holders of RTFKT’s Clone X with Murakami Drip along with 500 Murakami-related Whitelist. The remaining 500 is allocated for friends and family. If there is any unclaimed artwork, the same will be offered through ‘Public Sale’, which is priced at 0. 108 ETH.

After that, 78 varieties of his signature flowers i. ‘Zen Number Proof’ and 108 images of Murakami. Flowers which represent ‘Bonnō Proof’ (the number 108 denotes earthly temptations) will be released ‘when the time is right’.

Interestingly, each purchase is restricted to one flower per MetaMask wallet. More so, on the release date, each image will be sold as a ‘seed’ which can be redeemed as a flower after it is revealed in the ‘Public Sale’.

However, not much is known regarding which of the 11,664 flowers, hand-generated individually, as represented by the ‘seeds’ , will turn out to be what (the type of flower). This will be disclosed at the time of the launch.

Мураками, Кунс, Херст и NFT
ARTinvestment. RU 26 января 2022

Пока первые двое изучают и осмысливают новую для себя технику, Дэмиен Херст уже заработал на продаже токенов $25 млн

О планируемом запуске NFT-проекта Murakami. Flowers Такаси Мураками заявил еще в прошлом году. Он должен был состоять более чем из 100 токенов размером 24 × 24 пикселя с узнаваемыми образами улыбающихся цветков. Однако впоследствии работа над коллекцией была приостановлена, так как художнику, по его собственным словам, потребовалось более глубоко изучить процессы продвижения и продажи NFT. На днях стало известно, что Мураками, получивший опыт совместной работы со студией RTFKT над проектом CLONE X, наконец-то готов к запуску, который намечен на конец 2022 года.

Джефф Кунс дал развернутое интервью The Wall Street Journal. В числе других вопросов журналист спросил, считает ли он, что его работы в токенизированном виде смогут побить текущий аукционный рекорд на NFT, который принадлежит цифровому художнику Beeple. На это Кунс ответил следующее: «Понятия не имею. Я с нетерпением жду возможности выпустить собственный NFT, но на данном этапе я все еще думаю о том, как сделать этот проект максимально осмысленным». Напомним, что работа Кунса достигла самой высокой аукционной цены среди произведений ныне живущих художников: в 2019 году его «Кролик» из нержавеющей стали был продан на Christieʼs за $91 млн.

Летом прошлого года Дэмиен Херст решил токенизировать часть из серии своих работ под названием Currency. В общей сложности проект состоит из 10 000 уникальных работ. Желающим предлагалось купить либо NFT (в этом случае уничтожается физический двойник), либо оригинал (тогда «сжигается» соответствующий токен). На сегодняшний день суммарная выручка от проекта составляет более $25 млн. О полученном опыте художник говорит следующее: «В Интернете есть около 2 000 человек, которые постоянно говорят о проекте Currency. Работы продаются: цены идут то вверх, то вниз; ценность токенов то растет, то падает. Это похоже на секту, лидером которой являюсь я сам».

Внимание! Все материалы сайта и базы данных аукционных результатов ARTinvestment. RU, включая иллюстрированные справочные сведение о проданных на аукционах произведениях, предназначены для использования исключительно в информационных, научных, учебных и культурных целях в соответствии со ст. 1274 ГК РФ. Использование в коммерческих целях или с нарушением правил, установленных ГК РФ, не допускается. ARTinvestment. RU не отвечает за содержание материалов, представленных третьими лицами. В случае нарушения прав третьих лиц, администрация сайта оставляет за собой право удалить их с сайта и из базы данных на основании обращения уполномоченного органа.

NFTs represent a great opportunity for Murakami and many other artists to relaunch their art. However, this case highlights the importance of carrying out research into the crypto space before diving in. Much like Elon Musk, Murakami decided not to continue his journey into the crypto world, even though it would have fetched him quite a tidy sum.

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Hi! Привет! Salut ! Je m’intéresse à deux choses : la crypto et les langues. Je suis donc heureux de faire partie de l’équipe multinationale du CoinTribune, où je peux partager mes connaissances de la crypto avec des gens des quatre coins du monde – l’un article après l’autre.

Takashi Murakami is one of the few fine artists who managed to make a successful crossover to the NFT space. He was first inspired to launch a collection in spring 2021, after seeing Christie’s auction off a Beeple NFT for $69 million in crypto

Takashi Murakami Has Rapidly Become One of the World’s Most Sought-After NFT Artists. Here’s How He Did It. But even though his work is back in the IRL gallery space, Murakami’s mind is on NFTs. It’s clear his dalliance in the world of digital art has had a significant impact on how he approaches his practice. 16 мая 2022 г

What is NFT art? — An NFT is a digital asset that exists completely in the digital universe —you can’t touch it, but you can own it. An NFT can be any type of digital file: an artwork, an article, music or even a meme such as “Disaster Girl”, the original photo of which sold for $500k earlier this year

Takashi Murakami is one of the most visible and important Japanese artists working today. Murakami’s influence on Japan rivals Andy Warhol’s on the United States, and he is known for disseminating and promoting pop art strategies in ways unforeseen by American critics and artists