Sotheby’s Auctions ‘Oddly Satisfying’ Reddit-Inspired NFTs in the Metaverse

Almost two years after holding his first NFT art sales, the major auction house Sotheby’s has revealed its next Web3 features – including an auction of digital art inspired by a popular internet phenomenon that started on Reddit, which will be held in both Paris and metaverse.

The “Natively Digital: Oddly Satisfying” auction will feature a series of digital artworks inspired by “oddly satisfying” online videos, a trend that began with a The subreddit community on Reddit in 2013. The community is focused on sharing fascinating and surreal video loops, including hypnotic animations of seemingly impossible patterns and movements.

The auction – taking place from March 17 to 24 – will feature 66 NFT works, including work by renowned NFT artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann, whose record $69.3M Christie’s NFT Auction took place two years ago this week. Other artists participating in the auction include Clement Morin, ARC, Ryan Talbot, Lucas Zanotto and more.

A still from Josh Pierce’s animated artwork ‘Healing’, part of the Sotheby’s Oddly Satisfying auction. Photo: Sotheby’s

It is the first Sotheby’s “Natively Digital” auction to take place in Paris, during Paris Blockchain Week festivities, but it will also be the auction house’s first NFT auction held simultaneously in the metaverse.

A Sotheby’s digital auction house was created in RLTY World, a private metaverse platform used by brands and Web3 communities that support NFT assets. Startup RLTYwhich raised over $4 million in funding by 2022will also feature panels and keynotes from Paris Blockchain Week on its platform, as well as hold a virtual Web3 job fair.

After the “Oddly Satisfying” auction, Sotheby’s will shift gears with “Natively Digital: Glitch-ism,” which will feature a variety of NFT artwork in the style of glitch art. As the auction house describes it, the art has “the intentional creation of errors and mistakes in digital media, such as images, videos and sound art, which highlight the complex and often fraught relationship between humanity and technology.”

Scheduled for March 24-31 in New York, the 2018 “Glitch-ism” sale includes Ethereum NFT piece “Loading new conflict … Redux 6” from pseudonymous artist XCOPY, no doubt most famous glitch artist in the NFT world and the creator of several pieces that have sold for millions of dollars each. Other artists in the sale include JakNFT, jakethedegen, Patrick Amadon and more.

Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s head of digital art and NFTs, described the sale collectively as “a look at the pervasive influence of digital culture that will continue to shape our lives.”

“One of the recurring themes throughout is how digital art communicates our ever-evolving relationship with technology,” he explained in a statement, “from the therapeutic and escapist joys of strangely satisfying animation to the intricacies of technology that seems to encroach in what it means to be human in Glitch Art.”