The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, readies to showcase HUMAN ONE (2021), a three-dimensional sculpture and generative video installation by digital artist Mike Winkelman, better known as Beeple. HUMAN ONE consists of four 16K resolution screens placed within a metal armature and depicts humanity’s first steps into the digital terrain known as the Metaverse. The images on its screens are in perpetual motion and create the illusion of an infinite space inside the work’s armature, mimicking the “everlasting search” for technological advancement. Beeple has said he will update HUMAN ONE’s scenery every time it is installed in a new location for the rest of his life. The piece also has elements of a scavenger hunt—visitors who find easter eggs in the artwork can unlock a suite of related NFTs (non-fungible tokens) created by the artist.
“As the first U.S. institution to show HUMAN ONE, we’re thrilled for our guests to experience this disruptive, groundbreaking work by Beeple,” said Xuxa Rodríguez, PhD, associate curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges. “He’s charting new territory for art creation by combining a virtual and physical existence – a metaphor for human progress. Showcasing self-taught and digital artists and time-based media is a complete alignment with our mission to expand definitions of and access to American art for all.”
Comprised of four large-scale video screens at 16K resolution, the hybrid, kinetic sculpture stays in perpetual motion. The visitor – or explorer – will digitally walk through imagined landscapes ranging from those inspired by terrains in our own world, like alpine mountains, to those that use popular culture references to reimagine what shapes landscapes can take. The artwork’s form frames the explorer’s walk across these worlds as if viewers can also walk into the scene and join in on the everlasting search.
The lighting of the environment within the structure will change in response to the time of day, and scenic updates will be made remotely by Beeple, who has committed to making these changes for the rest of his life, every time the work is installed in a new location.
Revealing potential of digital art
“HUMAN ONE taps into the full potential of digital art because it has the unique ability to dynamically change over time,” said Beeple. “This is something that has never been done before. A traditional work of art is more akin to a finite statement, frozen in time at the moment it was completed. But because this piece has the capacity to be updated, it will be more akin to an ongoing conversation I can continue to add new meaning to over time.”
“We’re deeply honored to collaborate with Crystal Bridges for the debut of HUMAN ONE,” said Ryan Zurrer, lender and founder of Dialectic and 1OF1. “The museum’s visitors will have the opportunity to celebrate one of the defining American artists of the digital age, while witnessing this progressive work evolve right before their eyes. Audiences will be captivated by the remarkable detail and innovative mixture of technology and craft that makes Beeple such a renowned artist.”
Emblematic of the twenty-first century and its relationship to digital technologies, HUMAN ONE is also linked to a non-fungible token (NFT), that lives in an online decentralized ledger. Beeple invites visitors to search for clues hidden within the artwork that will help them unlock new NFTs.
HUMAN ONE is on view in the Contemporary Gallery at Crystal Bridges from July 28, 2023, through January 2024. The installation is free to the public.
