UPDATE: some exciting news on the basel show, they’ve just confirmed this Harold Cohen/AARON piece will also be getting placed in the show.

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/harold-cohen-aaron-with-decorative-panel

it’s the only self portrait made with AARON. if you don’t know about harold cohen and aaron check this out. https://whitney.org/exhibitions/harold-cohen-aaron

the show would be first in a line of historic works with botto being the final in the line up of that room.

We have also confirmed the exclusivity would be for 3 months to sell the work after the show.

Summary

Botto has been invited by Fellowship to exhibit at the new "The Digital Art Mile" Fair in conjunction with Art Basel in Switzerland June 10-16. In the interest of building up Botto’s profile beyond the crypto art world and in the AI art canon more broadly, as well as building up to the proposed solo Sotheby’s show in October, this BIP proposes to place Err Hold for sale at the show for 150,000 Euros (161k USD).

err hold

Rationale

Our strategic priority for Botto is to produce cultural catalysts for the artist and to reach new collectors and audiences. Fellowship has been doing arguably the strongest AI curation as of late, and they have put together what is shaping up to be an historic show of AI art during Art Basel (Basel) where the art elite descend for the week.

The provisional list of artists exhibited includes our own Mario Klingemann, Elman Mansimov, Gene Kogan, Helena Sarin, Sophia Crespo, Holly Herndon + Matt Dryhurst, Damien Henry and Niceaunties.

They have the entire ground floor of space25 (around 2-3k sqft) for the The Digital Art Mile Fair being organized by Georg Bak, which itself is looking like a major moment for NFT art taking greater prominence in the art world.

Above the Fellowship show on two smaller floors will be the Sigg Foundation and Asprey. There will be a series of events hosted at the space itself (by Fellowship, Sigg and Asprey) and we anticipate a lot of interest from not just Web3 but also traditional collectors and curators.

They are proposing Botto to be in the largest room, on the far wall pictured (where there is a single artwork). It would be featured alongside historic works from DALL-E 1 and DALL-E 2, continuing to Err Hold by Botto demonstrating the progression of human + machine collaboration, with the machine taking an even greater role.

room example

They have proposed doing a one-off exhibition print that could be sold with the NFT. This would be an additional cost of $3-5k after accounting for framing.

The sale would mean a new high for Botto since the 4th ever mint Blossoming Cadaver sold to Hashes DAO in November 2021 for $184k USD.

Overall, this opportunity provides a key moment in the calendar and a valuable test ahead of a solo show at Sotheby’s for: Botto’s ability to make use of a culturally significant venue, placing a Genesis with a non-crypto native collector, the increasing price of Genesis works.

Proposal Specification

Exhibit Err Hold at Fellowship’s floor at space25 with a sale price of 150k Euros during Art Basel from June 10-16.

Exhibition Print

A one-off, framed exhibition print will be created for between $3-5k USD. It would be between 1m and 1.5m square. They are testing formats for the best solution, hence the price range.

The buyer would receive the physical work as part of their purchase of the NFT.

Fellowship would take the risk of covering the costs of printing and logistics upfront, which would be recouped before considering the commission split.

Commission

Fellowship’s commission would be 30% after covering the cost of the physical. Estimate take home for Botto is $161k - $5k * .7 = $109k USD

Rewards

50% of net revenue would be distributed evenly across active rewards for the 12 weeks following the receipt of payment.

If the work goes unsold

Fellowship will have exclusivity on selling the work for 3 months after the show ends June 16. After that date the work will return to the DAO if still unsold.

Criteria of success (if a larger project)

Sale to a non-crypto native collector
Press coverage from the sale and the show
Increased demand for Botto 1/1s and Genesis

Risks/Mitigations

This sells one of Botto’s 6 remaining Genesis works in treasury as we are considering selling others for a solo show with Sotheby’s. Risk of this not selling to a non-crypto collector.
Mitigation is to do only 1-2 Genesis for Sotheby’s (down from proposed 2-3), justified by the Basel event contributing to the overall success of the Sotheby’s show and Botto’s growing profile in this crucial moment for AI art.

A few questions & comments:

  • Is there a reason that the list price is that high? Given the current NFT market condition and also this being an unsold genesis piece, can it really command $161k (53 ETH)? It's also 30% higher than the most recent genesis piece that was sold a few months ago.
  • What's the price point of the other works being displayed along with this work?
  • The risk of this being unsold might be a detriment to the solo show at Sotheby's. It makes more sense for this show to be a springboard to the next show - so pricing it lower so it sells and gives Botto momentum heading into the solo show. Thinking alongs the lines of Eur 100K/ USD $107K
  • How will this be displayed? Will it be on some big LED display like the ones used at Vellum a few years back? Or will it be a print?
  • Assuming this will be settled in fiat/stablecoins vs ETH?

    thomahawk69

    1. The last sale price we know was actually for $158,000 (45 ETH) on March 25th in an OTC to Le Random. There was another OTC between Moderats and Jedi more recently but that sale price was undisclosed, but I think fair to say it was at least close if not more as the Le Random piece was practically the only one available at that price level. There are other factors that we think also command a premium, in that it was the feature work from the Notes From the Ether exhibition at the ArtScience Museum, Singapore. The show was curated by Deborah Lim and guest curator Clara Che Wei Peh, and was also shown on the TED stage a couple weeks ago in a talk about that groundbreaking show. We've seen very strong reactions to it (both positive and negative). There is also some debate about whether a primary sale of a Genesis from treasury should command a premium vs. a secondary, but I think it counts for something here.

    2. I don't know the price points of the other works, I have asked if they can share.

    3. This is a price point they suggested and believe they can sell it at and would be a new high for recent sales. Selling for lower I think would be bad as it shows a weak floor price when we are seeing strong numbers going up with the recent sales. I don't think we should be supporting this if the expectation was to sell for well below what they are selling for now. It is indeed a test, but if we set the bar too low then what are we testing really? Aim is to be showing significantly strong prices leading up to Sotheby's and we will be putting a lot collectively into ensuring that.

    4. Display will be a framed print and so would be a test of that format. They are experimenting with a couple formats, hence the price range of cost. I do think we should be testing other digital formats as well, but don't also don't have a data on the print approach either. It is being presented as a one-off exhibition print so it is clear that the primary work is the digital nft.

    5. Pricing is in euros. I have asked them about payment options. As they sell a lot of crypto art, I believe they could be able to accomodate crypto payments. Though, the ideal is to win a non-crypto collector here who will most likely take the fiat/euro pricing.

      thomahawk69

      updates
      2: Prices for artworks they're displaying range from €5k - €250k
      5: Confirmed they are flexible on payment options

        Good points (I forgot about the Le Random OTC sale)- I'm convinced on the Eur 150K 🙂

        From a curatorial point how do they deal with Mario as founder of Botto and Mario as solo artist both in this show? Is this something to think about. For example in the show notes? The goal is that Botto is seen as individual artist (DAA). Don’t want any confusion right?

          vanto

          Botto is always presented as the artist and descriptions mention BottoDAO as the stewards.

          There are occasions where descriptions mention the founding teams including Mario, but those are several degrees removed from the show presentation itself, such as an extended list of collaborators in an artist’s longer historical bio.

            I support this. I think fellowship is great and this is an opportunity to test the waters with them.

            In the (unlikely) event that ETH rises significantly in the next month, 160k USD could become cheap in ETH terms. This would make it likelier that a crypto-native collector would have more interest than a non-native collector. In that event, would consider raising the ask. But if we need to lock in the price at this point, I think it's fine as it's just a bit over a month out.

            I support this as well. Fellowship has been a great steward of the AI art space, and I think such collaborations between Botto and Fellowship will help to further connect the two communities.

            I've also seen Err Hold in person at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, and I can imagine it commanding a strong presence as the feature work in the largest room of the show.

            Just a minor point, I think the sentence "If the work goes unsold" under the "Commission" sub-section got cut off in the BIP above.

              buffets

              buffets Just a minor point, I think the sentence "If the work goes unsold" under the "Commission" sub-section got cut off in the BIP above

              ah, meant to remove until we had that part clarified. will confirm shortly

                  some exciting news on the basel show, they’ve just confirmed this Harold Cohen/AARON piece will also be getting placed in the show.

                  https://www.artsy.net/artwork/harold-cohen-aaron-with-decorative-panel

                  it’s the only self portrait made with AARON. if you don’t know about harold cohen and aaron check this out. https://whitney.org/exhibitions/harold-cohen-aaron

                  the show would be first in a line of historic works with botto being the final in the line up of that room

                  also confirmed 3 month exclusivity.

                  for clarity, 50% of net revenue would be distributed evenly across active rewards for the 12 weeks following the receipt of payment.

                  I so so support this! ♥️ Fellowship. Impeccable execution in everything they do.

                  2 months later
                  Write a Reply...