On the 21st of March, British contemporary artist Philip Colbert celebrated the launch of his Limited Edition NFTs “The Lobstars” at Bonhams After Hours with a panel disscussion featuring Colbert in conversation with chart-topping musician and art collector Tinie Tempah, editor and author Dylan Jones, and Bonhams Head of Digital Art, Nima Sagharchi.
(Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Philip Colbert)
The panel discussed the innovative potential of NFTs, with Tinie Tempah praising the way the medium encourages “this new revolutionary, dynamic, disruptive way of being able to put your work out as an artist and be remunerated for it in in the right way and in a fair way”. Colbert, creator of “The Lobstars”,spoke of the potential of NFTs to democratise the art world: “It’s a whole new book, I guess. There’s a whole new power structure behind it, a whole new approach to living”.
Nima Sagharchi, Bonhams Head of Digital Art, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with Philip Colbert for this exclusive auction and to be offering our first combined sale of an NFT and physical artwork. Colbert’s merging of the real world and the metaverse demonstrates the exciting opportunities on offer at the intersect between the physical and the digital, and we’re pleased to be bringing his playful creations to the surface at Bonhams.”
“The Lobstars (Genesis)” is a unique work by Philip Colbert comprising both a physical painting and a one-off accompanying NFT to mark the launch of “The Lobstars”, a new collection of 7777 lobster portrait NFTs launching on thelobstars.com in tandem with the special single-lot auction running from 18-24 March on bonhams.com.
Each unique “Lobstar” is a chance to become one of the 7777 Lobstar Citizens of his surreal metaverse: “Lobsteropolis City”, the largest art world on Decentraland, covering 57 parcels.
Colbert intends to donate 100% of the sale profits from the auction of “The Lobstars (Genesis)” at Bonhams towards the “Lobstars” community’s ground-breaking research at St Abbs Marine station, developing a defining dictionary resource of lobster language.
The funds will support the world’s first scientifically monitored interspecies dialogue between humans and lobsters, with Colbert set to be submerged in an underwater tank conducting monitored dialogue with a lobster.
Lobstars is Colbert’s most cutting-edge interactive project, merging real-world outcomes with an online community. Colbert’s Studio has partnered Lobstars with The National Lobster Hatchery in Cornwall and the Whitby Lobster Hatchery in Whitby. For every “Lobstar” holder, research will be funded. Each NFT from the project sold hatcheries will be sponsored to release a real lobster into the wild, ensuring real-time sustainable outputs with every digital interaction.
https://www.instagram.com/thelobstars/
©2022 Dave Benett, Philip Colbert, Bonhams
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