There’s wealthy, and then there’s “I can afford to spend over 600k on a virtual home” wealthy. This week, a Toronto artist sold a digital house for roughly $616,132 Canadian. Here’s what it all entails. (1)
Digital House Sold For Over $600,000
Toronto artist Krista Kim has designed – and sold – a luxury digital house. Based on what she imagines her dream home to be, Mars House has panoramic mountain views, modern Italian glass furniture, and floor-to-ceiling windows for all the natural light you can want. There is plenty of room for entertaining, both in and outside. (1)
The catch is, of course, is that this digital house is only accessible via virtual reality.
A wealthy art collector purchased the home for 288 Ether – a cryptocurrency that is currently worth more than $2000 Canadian per unit. This means that the price of the virtual home was roughly $616,132. (1)
Mars House
The art collector purchased Mars House as a non-fungible token (NFT). (1) In basic terms, an NFT is a digital certificate of ownership that is impossible to change once it’s been created. (2)
The Verge explains it this way:
“To put it in terms of physical art collecting: anyone can buy a Monet print. But only one person can own the original.” (2)
NFTs can be used for anything digital, including various forms of art and music. Even things like iconic Tweets and digital shoes have been sold as NFT. (2)
Mars House, however, is the first NFT digital house in the world. It is made entirely of light and is designed to promote tranquility and a “zen” type atmosphere. Kim created her artistic vision with the help of an architect and collaborated with musician Jeff Schroeder from The Smashing Pumpkins to create calming music to go along with the experience. (3)
“Everyone should install an LED wall in their house for NFT art.” says Kim. “ This is the future, and Mars House demonstrates the beauty of that possibility.” (3)
If the collector ever decides to sell Mars House, they must provide verification that they have deleted all files from their own metaverse before new files are transferred to the new owner. (3)
The Future of Art
According to Kim, NFTs and pieces like Mars House are the future of art. (4)
“Conceptually, MARS HOUSE is NFT 2.0 for our future AR and Metaverse lifestyle. This is where we are headed, curating our AR environments with digital 3D NFTs that we love,” she wrote on Instagram. “I want to sit in MH with friends in AR and drink Champagne. I want to have my zoom meetings in Mars House. I will eventually be able to transpose MH over my physical environment whenever I fancy. I created Mars House because it is my dream house. I hope the new owner will love it like I do. This is the future of ART.” (4)
What do you think? Do you think this is the future of Art, or would you purchase something like this for yourself?
Keep Reading: These Eye-Catching Bricks Are Made from Textile Waste
Sources
- “Someone in Toronto just sold a digital house for more than $600K.” Blogto. Lauren O’Neil. March 2021.
- “NFTs, explained.” The Verge. Mitchell Clark. March 11, 2021.
- “Mars House.” Superrare.