Jack Butcher

The artist.

From atoms to bits.

From nations to nodes.

From trusting to checking.

Jack Butcher is a pioneering digital artist and the founder of Visualize Value, an art practice renowned for its ability to distill complex concepts into simple, visually compelling narratives. With a background in advertising and design, Butcher has transitioned into art, where he has made significant contributions through his innovative use of blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Butcher's work often explores themes of ownership, value, scarcity, and abundance, using digital mediums to challenge traditional perceptions of these concepts. His projects have garnered significant attention and acclaim, generating hundreds of millions of dollars of secondary market volumes. He is known for his ability to blend art and economics, creating pieces that not only engage aesthetically but also provoke thought about the underlying mechanisms of our culture and its complex systems.

1 of 1 invites consideration of the intricacies of currency and value. The piece displays two depictions of a dollar bill's reverse side—the left image remains untouched, representing the conventional dollar, while the right showcases a dollar signed by Butcher, symbolizing a differentiation in value through non-fungibility. This art mirrors the dynamics of Bitcoin Ordinals where individual satoshis are inscribed with unique content, thus transforming ordinary units of currency into singular pieces of art via unique cryptographic signatures.

24 hours in advance, Butcher will release 1 of ?, a free open edition that invites collectors to engage with the original 1 of 1 artwork by creating unlimited digital replicas within a 24-hour window. This initiative poses a question about the valuation of digital artifacts: What is the intrinsic value of an idea as it spreads into the zeitgeist, and how does it compare to the provable authenticity and collectability of its first instance? All platform fees generated will be donated to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

This open edition will directly inform a physical artwork named Proof of Work that accompanies 1 of 1 — incorporating the artists’ signature by hand in the exact quantity of editions minted.

1 of 1 is inscribed on a black uncommon Satoshi mined on March 22, 2021—the same date as an earlier piece by the artist, "NFTs, explained," was minted on the Ethereum blockchain.