NEW YORK, NY.- On Tuesday, 9 November 2021,
Christie's 21st Century Art Evening sale at Rockefeller Center will present ARCADIA (estimate unknown), a collaborative interdisciplinary NFT by contemporary visual artist Andrés Reisinger, Grammy-winning musician RAC, and bestselling poet Arch Hades. Through ARCADIA, these three artists, each a leading name within their respective fields, harmoniously fuse poetry, music, and graphic art in a film that unpacks concepts of a collectively felt existential crisis experienced universally by humankind in our current era. In ARCADIA, the message is inseparable from the medium, as three timeless and traditional fine artforms - musical, visual, and lyrical - culminate in the digitized manifestation of an NFT, an asset class specific to the 21C. The work will be minted in October 2021 by Aorist, a next generation cultural institution supporting a sustainable NFT marketplace powered on the Algorand Blockchain.
Noah Davis, Christie’s Specialist, Head of Digital Sales, remarked, “I could not be prouder of what Arch, André and Andrés have created with ARCADIA. This is simply one of the most beautiful, elegant and enigmatic works I’ve had the pleasure of presenting, and it’s been incredible working directly with the artists to bring this work to the world. With ARCADIA, the artists have set a new bar for narrative and emotion in NFT-based art.”
ARCADIA is a narrative poem illuminated through digital art and elevated with electronic music – it contains multitudes, linking literary art with a visual sermon. Through the five-chapter story, the authors explore concepts of modern-day anxiety and loneliness as by-products of cultural and societal constructs. With ARCADIA, Christie’s continues to remain at the forefront of the digital art market, challenging the status quo and pushing boundaries in the world of NFTs. In June, Christie’s presented Hello I’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life, an online auction of five digital artworks by crypto artist FEWOCiOUS in which he unpacked complexities around coming of age and gender identity. The sale totaled over $2.1 million. As recently as this month, Christie’s sold Twin Flames, a visual elegy by Justin Aversano honouring the life of the twin he never knew, which was the first NFT to be offered in a live Photographs auction. The work realized ten times its estimate, achieving $1.1 million.
Andrés Reisinger (b. 1990) is among the most sought-after digital artists of the 21C. Originally from Argentina, he now works out of his studio in Barcelona. His signature dream-like landscapes are sought after by collectors, brands and art galleries globally. Winner of the 2019 Architectural Digest Design Award, Reisinger continues to see success at auction, with recent works fetching up to half a million dollars (The Shipping, $450,000, Nifty Gateway, February 2021).
RAC (André Allen Anjos) (b. 1985) is a Grammy Award-winning musician originally from Portugal, now based in Portland, OR. An early adopter of the NFT model since 2017, he is now widely considered to be an authority on the subject, most recently speaking about on the subject at MIT. He is the founder and director of ‘6 Digital’, an agency dedicated to advising the biggest artists and collectors in the field.
Arch Hades (b. 1992) is an internationally bestselling poet from London, author of three anthologies – High Tide (2018), Fool’s Gold (2020), Paper Romance (2021). She also writes articles for national newspapers and gives lectures on poetry and philosophy (most recently being invited to speak about 21C existentialism at Oxford University).
