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DAO To Make Jodorowsky’s Dune Manuscript Public: Member Won $3M Bid

Following Constitution DAO’s lead, a group called Dune DAO went for a copy of the mythological Frank Herbert and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune manuscript, wanted by many and seen by few. A plot almost as interesting as the saga took over Christie’s auction, where the DAO won the final bid, but with a twist.

Just a few days after ConstitutionDAO made history crowd-raising over $46M in an attempt to buy a rare printing of the U.S. constitutions, other groups are following their steps to purchase valuable objects in hopes to make them accessible to the public.

This time, DuneDAO aimed to bid for a copy of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune manuscript at a Christie’s auction. They hoped for a total of $500,000 in contributions and actually hit $700,000. Although the final price was way higher, they still managed to secure it.

Christie’s had valued the manuscript’s copy between €25,000 ($28,100) and €35,000 ($39,345), but it sold for over $3 million. They admitted to failing at recognizing the interest that the newest film based on Dune raised, reported The Guardian.

 

Related Reading | Bleeple’s “Human One,” A Sculpture + NFT Hybrid, Sold For $28.9M At Christie’s

The group had stated before the auction:

Dune DAO intends to crowdraise the purchase, and then collectively explore options to digitally preserve the manuscript and make it accessible to the public for the very first time, such as through public viewings and digital lending (to the extent permitted by law).

Since distribution rights are not granted with the purchase, DuneDAO must investigate carefully legal ways to make this copy accessible.

The group used the same platform as ConstitutionDAO, contributions were “handled via JuiceBox”. Each contributor got governance tokens ($SPICE) accordingly to the donated amount. The $SPICE token gives each a vote in the future of the money, the manuscript. It does not mean a fractionalized ownership of it.

Why Dune Dao Wants The $SPICE

In a few words, Jodorowsky did compare the original Herbert’s novel to Proust.

As explained in Frank Pavich’s documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune, this was one of the most ambitious projects in cinematic history, but it never saw light because they lacked $5M to meet the $15M total budget.

Its manuscript, however, records the dreams behind a 15-hour movie-to-be that created a landmark and allegedly inspired many famous movies to follow -like Star Wars, Alien, and Blade Runner.

It features art from a few of the most renowned artists at the time, including Jean “Moebius” Giraud’s storyboard with over 3,000 illustrations, H.R. Giger’s concept art, Chris Foss starships’ designs. Pink Floyd was to contribute to the soundtrack.

Orson Welles was to impersonate “Baron Harkonnen” and Salvador Dalí  “The Emperor”. The list of ambitious ideas keeps going, explaining the reason for not meeting the budget, but also what makes fans call “the Dune Bible” a mythical sci-fi object.

What Went Down At The Auction

Based on the price previously valued by Christie’s, DuneDAO thought they would secure the auction raising over $750k. However, as the price went higher, a core member gave the rest of the money himself, roughly $2.3M.

Reportedly, only three years ago another copy sold for around $42,500. Besides Christie’s claims on the unexpected 50x raise, a Twitter user alleged another bidder had “publicly let their top price slip”. The manuscript’s winning bid was $2,4M plus 20% christies auction fee, plus 5.5% VAT, for a total of $3,160,062, the group stated.

“I just want people to experience it,” said the core member who contributed the winning amount. Now, the money is meant to be raised and reimbursed so the DAO can obtain the copy. They are “figuring out how to navigate the maze of legal issues” before paying him back.

DuneDAO has 30 days to settle payment, which they hope will give time to debate and vote on future plans for the physical object. They have now raised their target to $4,200,000, taking into account additional costs for storage, maintenance fees, digitization, and more.

Related Reading | Miramax Sues Quentin Tarantino Over “Pulp Fiction” NFTs. Tarantino Moves Forward

Ethereum trading at $4,036 in the daily chart | ETHUSD on TradingView.com

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Bleeple’s “Human One,” A Sculpture + NFT Hybrid, Sold For $28.9M At Christie’s

Digital artist Bleeple cemented his place in the history books with this one. Auction house Christie’s sold his human-size 3D video sculpture and NFT hybrid in their first live event since the pandemic. The piece exceeded expectations, the projections had “Human One” selling for $15M and it almost doubled that. Does this hybrid format open a new chapter for NFT art? We wouldn’t know, but Bleeple’s piece sold alongside works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy, and Peter Doig.

Related Reading | NFTs And Play-To-Earn Are The Future Of Gaming, States EA CEO

A better question might be, are NFT artists willing to put this much effort into their pieces? 

What Do We Know About “Human One” By Bleeple?

The real-life installation is almost 7 Ft. high and consists of four screens. It has a computer at the base. The environment the astronaut-like figure walks through is ever-changing. According to Christie’s “it’s drawn at random from a data pool of the artist’s visual creations that is accessed via the Ethereum blockchain.” Not only that, Barrons.com informs us that “Beeple’s plan is to shift the generative art images over time “in response to current events,” Christie’s said. The result will be “an eternally contemporary work of art.” 

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ https://t.co/5phhwNZaxV

— beeple (@beeple) November 10, 2021

But wait, why would they use the Ethereum blockchain where a normal database would suffice? We hope that the owner doesn’t have to pay gas fees for that. The clips are one minute long and the piece keeps changing 24 hours a day.  In any case, Ethereum hosts the NFT attached to “Human One.” A crucial piece of the pie, since Bleeple is known for his record-breaking “Everydays – The First 5000 Days.” It was the first NFT Christie’s auctioned and it went for $69M.  

In any case, Mike Winkelmann AKA Bleeple described “Human One” as “the first portrait of a human born in the metaverse.” He told Christie’s, “I want to make something that people can continue to come back to and find new meaning in. And the meaning will continue to evolve. That to me is super-exciting. It feels like I now have this whole other canvas.”

ETH price chart for 11/10/2021 on Kraken | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
What Do We Know About The Auction And The New Owner?

According to Barrons again, “the auction focused on art created since 1980.” The event was “live-streamed to the world with specialists in London and Hong Kong manning the phones and projected on video screens in New York.“ The following videos capture all the action. In the first one, Bleeple himself gives us a backstage tour to Christie’s headquarters. In the second one, a fan screen-captured the moment in which the auctioneer sells Bleeple’s piece.

pic.twitter.com/mrBrYZfXOM

— Alex Roman (@3rd7th) November 10, 2021

Related Reading | Why Chainlink Labs Is Collabing With Palm Network NFT Space’s Development

Why do they say $25M in the video but the official Christie’s page says $28.9M? That information is above our paygrade. We did find who the lucky new owner is, though. Crypto-focused family office Dialectic’s Managing Director, Ryan Zurrer. A notorious NFT collector that used to be the Web3 Foundation’s director. In his announcement tweet, Zurrer thanked Bleeple “for the visionary innovation, amazing new energy and hilarious positive vibes that you’ve brought to both crypto and art.”

Secured the ONE. Thank you @beeple for the visionary innovation, amazing new energy and hilarious positive vibes that you've brought to both crypto and art. gn pic.twitter.com/XfhmxM9Luj

— Ryan Zurrer (@kukulabanze) November 10, 2021

In his response tweet, Bleeple said “INSANELY HONORED to be in this collection.”

That’s the “Human One” story so far.

Featured Image: “Human One” screenshot | Charts by TradingView

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$2M+ In Bids Already Placed For The First Dolce & Gabbana NFT Collection

The auction for the digital items of Dolce & Gabbana ’s Collezione Genesi ends tomorrow. From a total of nine pieces, five have a physical and a digital version, which reportedly are wearables that can be used in the metaverse. This is the first high-fashion meets NFTs moment, but it certainly won’t be the last. Besides the competitors that are surely going to pop out soon, Dolce & Gabbana themselves are planning a whole lot more in the space.

Related Reading | NFT Project To Donate 100% Of Income To Help Afghan Women Access Education

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The official auction site describes the collection as:

“In a historic moment for the NFT ecosystem, Collezione Genesi is the first luxury NFT collection that involves both digital and physical works, truly bridging the physical and the metaphysical.”

The legendary fashion brand, Dolce & Gabbana, is working alongside UNXD, who describe themselves as “a curated marketplace for the best of digital culture.” They inform us that “All pieces were personally designed by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana exclusively for UNXD.” Here’s a phenomenal video showing the nine available items, but, make sure to notice that since it was published the bids have doubled up. And the number will probably increase tomorrow.

.@dolcegabbana's Genesi collection already has $1M+ in bids, 5 days before the end of the auction! 🔥

The collection is amazing and sets new standards in many ways.

Bidding is live at https://t.co/yy33o56Vxs; powered by @0xPolygon so everything is fast and there are no fees. 💫 pic.twitter.com/hdeJ8qjMJC

— Mihailo Bjelic (@MihailoBjelic) September 25, 2021

Also, notice that the tweet comes from Polygon’s co-founder Mihailo Bjelic. The Dolce & Gabbana ’s NFTs live on the Polygon network.

MATIC price chart on Bittrex | Source: MATIC/USD on TradingView.com
Dolce & Gabbana Hits First And Hits Hard

Even to the casual observer, it’s obvious that Dolce & Gabbana ’s Collezione Genesi is a well-thought-out project. Their advisors knew what they were doing.  As we said, the NFTs come with a digital wearable piece. They also include a handmade sketch of the piece, and, more importantly, access to a community.

As NewsBTC established when analyzing Gary Vee’s Christie’s auction, community and access might be as important as the art when it comes to NFTs. The Dolce & Gabbana team obviously understands that, so they’re offering two crucial items with their genesis collection. 1.- A 3-day pass to Dolce & Gabbana ‘s “Alta Moda couture,“ the brand’s own biggest event for next year. The pass includes access to all the shows and parties. Plus, a private atelier tour. 2.- Membership to the DGFamily NFT community.

For a better explanation of that last item, let’s quote UNXD:

“Dolce & Gabbana will next roll out the #DGFamily NFT community. 4 exclusive levels, including an ultra-exclusive gold level whose inaugural members will be the winners of this Genesis auction. A similar approach to digital + physical + experiential access.”

So, this auction is the first step in a journey of a thousand miles, so to speak. Dolce & Gabbana is all in on the NFT space.

1/8 The bids for the magnificent @dolcegabbana's NFT collection have reached $2M+! 🔥

This game-changing collection offers items, utilities and experiences that have never been seen in the NFT world before! 💫

The auction for the four digital items ends tomorrow.

A quick 🧵 pic.twitter.com/O6lwIudCXd

— Mihailo Bjelic (@MihailoBjelic) September 27, 2021

High Fashion And NFTs Belong Together

When our sister site Bitcoinist announced Dolce & Gabbana ‘s NFT collection, they made a great point:

“What’s more, high fashion and acquiring expensive items is not about necessity. Rather, it caters to being part of the luxury culture and communicating status. In many ways, NFTs also fit this bill, in that, they too have become indicative of status.”

However, for the fusion to succeed, there needs to be a landmark case. A moment that makes everyone involved see the light. Is this Dolce & Gabbana collection it? Well, it mixes the crypto universe with the real world and it’s backed by a legendary brand, but, is that enough? 

1/Bids on the @DolceGabbana x UNXD collection have already crossed 500 ETH (~$1.5M). This collection took an insane 16,000 hours of collective time to create, and the offer is unrivaled (digital, physical, experiential). What makes it so historic? 🧵👇https://t.co/DJnXW8YW5j

— UNXD (@UNXD_NFT) September 26, 2021

According to UNXD, the collection took the creators “an insane 16,000 hours of collective time.” It consists of “9 one-of-a-kind pieces that will never be made again.” So, you know?, it’s rare. Also, “Many of the pieces used creation techniques that are only known by a handful of people alive today. This is museum-grade work.” To top it all off, they promise, “These pieces look and “feel” real and will change how people think of digital assets.” 

Related Reading | How Polygon Will Seek To Strengthen DeFi With $2 Million Bug Bounty

That sounds incredible, but, it also opens a question. In what metaverse will they be wearable, exactly? Which one of your digital avatars will you be able to crown with “The Impossible Tiara” or “The Doge Crown”?

Featured Image by NeONBRAND on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView

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Christie’s Will Auction Original Art From Gary Vee ‘s Veefriends NFT Collection

Notorious entrepreneur and social media personality, Gary Vee, is now a full-blown artist. The legendary auction house Christie’s crowned him as so by announcing the sale of five of the original pieces from his Veefriends NFT collection. Is this new development positive for NFT mania? Is it positive for Veefriends holders? What does it say about the current state of the arts? So many questions.

Related Reading | In The Mood For Auction: Wong Kar-Wai ‘s First NFT Available At Sotheby’s

First of all, these are the five pieces that Christie’s will auction:

Christie’s pic.twitter.com/YGxkeyZ3KE

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 14, 2021

On the Veefriends official site, the NFT collection is defined as:

“VeeFriends is the name of Gary Vaynerchuk’s NFT collection. He created VeeFriends to bring to life his ambitions of building a community around his creative and business passions using NFT technology and their smart contract capabilities. By owning a VeeFriend NFT, you immediately become part of the VeeFriends community and get access to VeeCon.”

So, maybe Gary Vee ’s credentials as an artist are lacking, but he’s a titan at generating value. Maybe his childlike drawings are not that aesthetically pleasing, but Gary Vee’s ability to generate community around an idea is a proven fact. And his drive to win is unmatched. Which characteristics are more important for an NFT project? What are Veefriend’s holders investing in?

At the moment of writing, Open Sea informs that the floor price for a Veefriend is 18,4 ETH. According to CNN, Veefriends “amasses $70M in sales since launch in May.”

ETH price chart for 09/14/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
CNN’s First Move Announces Gary Vee/ Christie’s Auction

The man himself, Gary Vee, went on CNN to announce that Veefriend’s original art is to be auctioned by the legendary Christie’s. How much value for his NFT holders did this move create?

“People underestimated this project in the OG NFT-land, and this is another execution that’s not going to allow them to underestimate it anymore.”@garyvee announces he's bringing five personal artworks from his #NFT collection @veefriends to @ChristiesInc!@IsaCNN | #NFTart pic.twitter.com/dikTsu5iW8

— First Move CNN (@firstmove) September 14, 2021

When host Isa Soares asked Gary Vee about the reasons behind partnering with Christie’s, besides dedicating the win to his parents, he said:

“Why? Because it elevates the brand. I have people who are watching right now that own the gorilla, own the tiger, own the “you’re gonna die” fly. This is my Disney. This is my Pokemon. This is my character IP based reality and I’m going to build this for the next 40 to 50 years.“

Isn’t that exactly what you want to hear if you’re a Veefriends holder? Commitment. Through a huge platform. Gary Vee ’s community appreciated and understood the impact of the moment, as this video shows:

Jeeez! The @veefriends discord is on fire! 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🔥🔥🔥🔥😭 @garyvee! pic.twitter.com/QdxYFSbuTQ

— ℂ𝕒𝕡𝕦𝕥(ℂ𝕣𝕪𝕡𝕥𝕠)𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕤🦋 (@CryptoDragonis) September 14, 2021

Another quote from the CNN interview:

“People underestimated this project in the OG NFT-land, and this is another execution that’s not going to allow them to underestimate it anymore.”

In light of the announcement, it’s hard to argue with that.

The story behind the slabs and the drawings and the auction at @ChristiesInc pic.twitter.com/7ZNLWD9kAY

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 14, 2021

The Veefriends Are Doing It In Their Own Way

Not everything in NFT-land is about the art. Not everything in the Veefriends is about childlike drawings. As we learned from Bitcoinist’s “The Andy Milonakis NFT Show,” “The NFT world has got its own characteristics, though, and a sense of belonging is one of the main ones. The Bored Apes are part of a Yacht Club. The Gutter Cats are part of a Gang.”

Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course

Gary Vee understands this better than everyone. From the Veefriends site:

“VeeFriends are all about utility and access, meaning each NFT will have different levels of access and activities through the smart contract attached with each investment thus giving them “utility” through metadata. Over the last 15 years, he has spent time interacting with hundreds of thousands of people — what VeeFriends will allow will be a structure around these interactions.

The token is the key that unlocks you into Gary’s world.”

The drawings somehow connect to the hundreds of meetings with entrepreneurs young and old that Gary Vee has had through the years. And give you access to that world. The NFT collection is an extension of Gary Vee ‘s work.

It will always be “AND” when it comes to art 🖼 .. “OR” always losses historically pic.twitter.com/jQaIYV0mJG

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 14, 2021

“There’s just so many ways to do it, and I cheer for them all,” says Gary Vee regarding NFTs. In light of the Christie’s announcement, it’s hard to argue with that.

Featured Image: The five Christie’s pieces as per this tweet | Charts by TradingView