Blockchain Guy sets priceless blueprint on fire to mint 10,000 NFTs, sells just four
“I think this man should be put in jail.”
Up in flames
We all know that NFT enthusiasts can get caught up in some questionable stunts. But a blockchain businessman has drawn the ire of the art world — and Mexican authorities — after hosting a flamboyant event where he burned what he claimed was an authentic Frida Kahlo drawing estimated to be worth around $10 million.
In a promotional video documenting the flashy event in July, hundreds of spectators cheer the support of a Mariachi band. Then host and apparent owner of the Kahlo drawing Martin Mobarak sets fire to the priceless artwork while encased in, of all things, a cocktail.
Naturally, the defacement of a work by one of Mexico’s most important artists, titled Fantasmones Siniestros, was done to mint 10,000 NFTs for Mobarak’s Frida.NFT company.
The soul-crushing result? So far only four have been sold, New York Times reports.
Unproven provenance
Mobarak in a statement described the NFT collection “as a Phoenix rising from the ashes” and that “the piece will be transformed to live forever in the digital realm.”
In reality, many have doubted the veracity of his claims. Not just in the sense that it all seems tasteless and destructive, but because it’s doubtful that he even had a real copy of the drawing in the first place. An NFT venture that is just a giant scam? Not exactly unheard of.
A look at the Kahlo drawing’s provenance revealed that it was sold to a private collector in 2013, whose identity has not been disclosed. The seller, Mary-Anne Martin, said so Vice in September that she had no idea who Mobarak was until recently, and refused to sell it to him. Meanwhile, Mobarak continued to Vice that he bought the Kahlo in 2015, also from an undisclosed private collector.
Bad all around
Real or not, the fiasco was worrisome enough for Mexican authorities to launch an investigation to possibly constitute a “crime in relation to the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones,” Mexico’s National Institute of Arts and Letters said in a September statement, as quoted by NEW.
And Mobarak could be in legal hot water even if it was fake, according to Leila Aminedoleh, an art and heritage lawyer.
“If he actually burned it, he’s breaking a law,” she added NEW. “And if he didn’t, if it was a reproduction, then he may have violated copyright law. And if he copied the original with intent to deceive, that could be fraud.”
“I think this man should be put in jail,” a former Mexican diplomat told the newspaper.
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