The auctions were organized by Illumino, an NFT-focused firm seeking to bring “tastemakers and artists” together to launch innovative art on-chain. Illumino was put together by the LA-based management agency Keel, crypto VC firm Framework Ventures, and Bruch Projects — the NFT arm of Manna Ventures.
The NFTs went live on Valentine’s Day, beginning with one-of-a-kind 3D renditions that were sold to the highest bidder.
The one-of-a-kind renditions included “Crowded City” and “A Peak In My Head” — works composed collaboratively by FEWOCiOUS and Two Feet that sold for $150,000 and $158,888 respectively.
Two other collaborative works were made available for open auction at a set price of $999 each, allowing unlimited purchases of the NFTs to be made during the auction. In total, 383 editions of “CryptoCaster” and 324 editions of City Hand were minted, generating roughly $382,600 and $323,700 respectively.
Overall, the four collaborative works drove more than $1 million in primary sales, making the drop Nifty’s most-valuable for 2021 so far. Twitter account “The Blockchain Review” noted that only three artists have previously issued NFTs collections that drove seven-figures worth of primary sales.
Platinum-selling musician Two Feet and acclaimed 18-year-old visual artist FEWOCiOUS have teamed up to launch non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on the Winklevoss-owned NFT marketplace, Nifty Gateway.
Welcome to the 1 Million+ club @fewocious @TwoFeetMusic @illumino_art. $1,015,181 in primary sales makes this drop the highest of the year on @niftygateway.
Only @beeple @muratpak & @trevorjonesart have achieved this sales milestone before. pic.twitter.com/MOOfMBQWUB
— The Blockchain Review (@blockreview_) February 15, 2021
According to an announcement, the Two Feet and FEWOCiOUS’ NFT auctions were intended to showcase “how creative personalities can use cutting-edge tools to engage with fans — and in turn earn money — at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has shuttered concerts and galleries.”
While an announcement emphasized the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the live arts secor — with lockdowns destroying the revenue streams of many musicians and artists through disrupting concerts and galleries — Illumino co-founder Michael Ehrlich told Cointelegraph the firm was not founded in response to the pandemic.
“While the company was not founded as a reactionary event to the pandemic, we are passionate to help artists open up innovative ways to share and monetize their creations with the world,” he said.
Ehrlich stated that Illumino plans to launch “more projects in the future that bridge the gap between different artist communities,” noting that “musicians and visual artists will be the starting point, with more collaborative mediums to come down the line:”
“The next couple of releases will continue the innovative concepts featured during the first release. We plan on bringing new twists to the NFT landscape like we did by raffling off at random a one-of-one physical Fender Guitar for the buyers of the ‘CryptoCaster’ Open Edition NFT.”
NFTs appear to have been extremely popular this past Valentine’s Day, with crypto artist David Rudnick also selling a digital flower for 10.8 Ether worth roughly $18,600 on Feb. 14
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