Beeple

Minted by Maxstealth in 2020

Beeple, also known as Mike Winkelmann, has become a household name for the huge success of his digital art projects. Starting out as a graphic designer from South Carolina, since 2007 he has been creating a picture everyday and posting it online, never missing a single day in a project known as Everydays: The First 5000 Days. On November 20, 2020, day #4951, as part of the REDUX collection within the Everydays project, he released Bull Run as an open edition, allowing unlimited mints within a short timeframe, with 271 editions eventually minted. The digital work comes with a physical version displayed via infinite object screen, and can therefore be considered among the earliest “phigital” artworks sold as NFTs. Created using the modeling and editing tools Cinema 4D, Octane Render and Photoshop, the work features a giant, powerful bull walking across a timeless landscape with the golden medallion of Bitcoin affixed to its back. This image alludes to both ancient traditions, such as the Ancient Egyptian sacred bull Apis, and a more futuristic or Steampunk-inspired style, with the mechanical saddle and other cyborg elements. It is a wry reference to the newest boom of interest in cryptocurrencies as a bull market.