Takashi Murakami delays NFT launch.
According to HypeBeast Murakami is delaying his newly minted NFTs as he tries to better understand the Non-Fungible Token technologies. Earlier this week, the artist stated the following on his instagram:
I have to make an announcement here. I was about to take on a challenge of offering NFTs, digital artworks that use electronic certification mechanism, for sale. For the following reasons, however I have decided to postpone and reexamine the sales.
Initially, I took the challenge on with a spirit of trial first, groping my way forward from the preparation of the NFT artwork to entering into an NFT marketplace. I believe my team and I managed to prepare everything very quickly. On the other hand, we have been receiving many a valuable opinion and advice from a number of collectors and experts, which have led me and my team to further discuss and deepen our awareness.
In order to take full advantage of NFT and maximize the convenience for the collectors/owners while strengthening their satisfaction and sense of security in owning the works, we decided that it would be best to further explore the optimal format in which to offer my NFT works. To this end, we plan to carefully consider and discuss various factors such as: choosing between ERC721 and 1155 based on their advantages and disadvantages considering the concept of my work; whether we need independent smart contracts; whether we should build our own storefront; and whether we need IPFS; among others.
I would therefore like to withdraw the listing for the time being and tackle NFT again after further internal discussions, better prepared. I sincerely apologize to those who have already put in their bids, but I hope you will understand the logic behind this withdrawal, the aim of which is to later allow you to enjoy my NFT works more conveniently and with peace of mind.
Through the preparations and discussions so far, I have become even more convinced of the great potential of NFT, and I am excited anew to work on NFT digital art. I thank you for coming along with me on this journey.
Original Article from 3/30/21 Below.
Takashi Murakami Delivers on his NFT Promise
You heard it from NFTCulture first. Earlier this month we speculated that a Takashi Murakami NFT would be imminent. Given his affinity to technology, a younger fanbase, and growing collector set, Takashi had to create NFTs at some point. We are extremely excited for this drop.
Takashipom appears to have made the jump in amazing fashion with pixelated re-imagining of his Takashi flowers each with different facial expressions. Currently, there appear to be 12 individual Murakami.Flowers NFTs available and while they are not yet available for auction. NFT Collectors have already put the bidding floor above 5 ETH and the most interesting have already reached nearly 15 ETH.
Visit Takashi Murakami on Opensea
Murakami is quoted on OpenSea
In the short decades before an artist’s death, they have to create works that manage to remain relevant for hundreds of years thereafter. In that line of thinking, I am starting this experiment because it amounts to digging down into the nature of art within the realm of VR that are recognizable as such, and further diffusing it. Is this merely a slight fluctuation of interest? Or is this the first step towards future values that we don’t yet begin to understand?
He continues to highlight the project stating that the work is based on his signature flowers each with 24 x 24 pixel art evoking nostalgia for Famicom (NES), prepared in 108 variations, the number that signifies earthly desires in Buddhism.
Note: in the time to write the article and publish it, a new offer jumped the price to 14 ETH.
What makes the Takashi Murakami NFT Drop so interesting?
We view artists, especially those who have been successful in the non-digital realm with increased scrutiny. Many of these artists just mail it in with their minimum effort expecting a massive payday. Takashi appears to have been thoughtful in his approach by doing 3 things:
Highly Recognizable NFT
Takashi could have just posted the exact same flowers he created in the past. Instead he took his highly recognizable vision, created a unique spin, and now we have something new.
Unique Variations on each NFT
Instead of doing an open edition or a 100/100 drop of the same pieces, each NFT is similar, yet unique in their fascial expressions. We may see color variants and more as the drop progresses, but the point is that each drop is thoughtfully planned in a way that makes it a compelling collectable. Takashi Discord imminent.
Great Art
The art is great. As we stated before, he could have mailed it in, but he didnt. Each pixel art piece is designed with intention to allow room for expression while maintaining the simlicity he wanted to derive from the famicon days. He also muted the colors within the palette to make it just unique enough to be something entirely new.
Hats off to you Takashi Murakami. We will try our best to collect one as soon as they are available, but we expect the price floor to jump to at least 55 ETH as an entry point into the collection. Which would put the initial drop at over $10m in USD.
It’s worth noting that none are available for sale at this time.
Final thoughts on the Takashi Drop:
In our opinion, this drop MAY not get as popular as beeple or others, but will be one of the most significant drops over time as one of the worlds most famous artists tests the space with a piece of art that has the 3 key features we previously mentioned.
NFTCulture Status: BUY AND HODL
As the story develops we will share more buy updating this article or creating new updates if the variations become meaningful enough. For now you can follow the progress on twitter.
We have also reached out to the Takashi Murakami team for comment, but don’t expect a response at this time.