Portraits of a Mind
Portraits of a Mind
Portraits of a Mind is a series of 40 paintings created by Robert Alice an art collective started by Benjamin Gentilli. The series is a complete hand-painted transcription of the 12.3 million digits used to launch Bitcoin.[1] It is the largest work of art in Bitcoin's history. "Block 21 (42.36433° N, -71.26189° E)", a piece from the series, was exhibited October 1 - October 7, 2020 at Christie's galleries in New York City.[2] The piece was auctioned off on October 7, 2020 for $131,250.[9] It also included a non-fungible token. This piece was the first cryptocurrency focused painting and non-fungible tokens to be sold at Christie's. [1][3]
Overview
Portraits of a Mind, Block 21.
The series is described as a series of individual pieces of the original code used to create Bitcoin.
When all put together, the series represents a portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto, anonymous creator of Bitcoin. While discussing the creation of the project, Ben Gentilli, of Robert Alice, explained,
I wanted to try and answer the question of how one might make a portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto, when there is no image of him.[8]
The first twenty-one pieces in the collection were distributed to collectors CMT Digital, Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, Jehan Chu, Matthew Roszak, Paul Gordon, Shaun Djie, Seoul Auction Blue, and Robert Alice.[1][3]
Every piece is made of canvas discs, which are 50.59 inches in diameter.
They are also layered with suspended pigment and painted on with Graphite and aluminum. Each piece has exactly 322,048 digits of hexadecimal code. Some of the digits are highlighted in gold. Up close, one will be able to see 'Block 21' written within the inner rim of the piece.[8] Gentilli spent three years creating the series.[3]
Auction & Exhibition of Block 21
"Block 21]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]](42.36433° N, -71.26189° E)" was in exhibition from October 1st through October 7, 2020 at Christie's gallery in New York City. It was a part of Christie's "Post-War and Contemporary Day Auction" on October 7, 2020. The piece included a non-fungible token and was offered at an estimated price ranging between $12,000 to $18,000. The auction was Christie's first to include a crypto-focused painting and non-fungible token. [1][7] The piece was officially sold at $131,250, exceeding initial expectations by seven times.[9]