"The First Dance" - The World's First Limited Edition Digital Sneakers By Sculptor Tom Yoo
If you’re following, you that we celebrate ill sh*t every day over here. It’s our mission to find the dopest things that people out there are doing and share it with the world. Today, I found something very cool that we thought deserved some light.
Korean-American painter/sculptor Tom Yoo has made quite a name for himself being the first person to turn some of the most coveted sneakers in the world into unique LEGO sculptures. As if that wasn’t innovative enough, Tom has taken his work into the future of art by making a collection of five still photos and animated gifs of his LEGO sneaker sculptures available on Nifty Gateway, a platform dedicated to crypto-collectibles. Digital works of art are made available on Nifty Gateway as “nifties” or non-fungible (cannot be be replaced) tokens which are bought, sold and managed on the platform. The nifties exist on the blockchain, thus ensuring rarity and authenticity. Nifty Gateway is a property of Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by Mark Zuckerberg’s former nemeses, the Winkelvoss Twins.
Yoo’s digital collection is entitled “The First Dance,” a play on the riveting Michael Jordan documentary #TheLastDance, which has been airing on ESPN for the last two weeks. It’s safe to assume he used the title because most of the sneaker sculptures included in the collection are from Nike’s iconic #Jordan Brand. The title also speaks to how this endeavor is Yoo’s first foray into the crypto-collectible market. Furthermore, Yoo boasted on Instagram that his creations are “the first digital sneakers ever.” The offering-- three still photos of the Bred Jordan IV, the Jordan XI Concord and the Bred Jordan I, along with two gifs of the Travis Scott Jordan I and Red October Air Yeezy 2-- were made available last week for between $30 (Concord) and $7,500 (Red October). The collection has now sold out and according to Nifty Gateway, the artist is donating ten percent of his earnings to non-profit organizations.
Could crypto-art truly be where art collecting is headed? Only time will tell. Like with reading books/publications, I don’t see this digitization of art to ever outpace physical art, but it’s always cool to know you have a valuable, one-of-a-kind piece to your name.
Check out “The First Dance” by Tom Yoo here or below:
