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RE:WIRED 2021: Beeple on Art as a Subscription

Digital artist Mike Winkelmann, a.k.a. Beeple, shares how his latest piece, “Human One,” will continue to update over time—and what that means for how digital art will be viewed in the future.

Released on 11/10/2021

Transcript

Usually when people purchase a piece of art,

they're purchasing what they can see,

what they can experience right then.

Yeah.

What you're saying is that they're buying into the idea

of something being different, right,

and something that is liable to change.

So there's this whole idea of, in some ways,

they're not entirely sure what they're buying.

They are not.

And that's the thing that I think is exciting about it.

So they're really kind of almost like a subscription to art

and, you know, obviously software as a subscription,

is a very prevalent idea,

that's sort of been popular with software packages

and in the tech world.

And I think this is kind of in some ways,

an extension of that,

in that they are sort of buying continual access

to me updating this piece.

And again, I really think that is much more

how people will view art in the future,

as this dynamic thing that you come down in the morning

and the piece looks one way

and you come home from work

and the piece looks a different way

and it just continues to evolve

and continues to surprise and challenge

and just add beauty to your life.

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