daniel arsham drops an NFT that evolves and erodes over time

continuing his explorations of eroded classical sculpture, daniel arsham announces his first NFT artwork. the artist and architect is widely known for integrating plaster and crystals to suggest an ancient archaeological artifact combined with contemporary motifs. this latest work, dubbed ‘eroding and reforming bust of rome (one year),’ marks an extension of his traditional studio practice, now as an evolving, time-based digital artwork. daniel teamed with studio six n. five who worked tirelessly to help him curate the surreal digital environment. the artist notes on instagram: ‘I tried to create a feeling that this is a real place, and you have the sense that someone has just left the room.’ the non-fungible token is slated to drop on nifty gateway this saturday.

spring, still from ‘eroding and reforming bust of rome (one year)’
images courtesy of daniel arsham studio

daniel arsham‘s NFT depicts a digital version of a sculpture from his most recent exhibition at galerie perrotin in new york. inspired by an ancient piece from the louvre’s collection, the bust will exist in a courtyard space daniel designed together with six n. five. over the course of one year the sculpture will decay and disintegrate and then reform, altering itself every month for a total of 12 months. while the bust erodes, the courtyard will express the changing seasons — debuting in the spring with chirping birds and a flowering tree through to winter where a soft snowfall covers the ground. each year, the sculpture will begin again, with the cycle repeating forever in tandem with the seasons. the entire collection of ten sculptures will operate on different time scales, with the final sculpture eroding over a period of 1,000 years.

summer, still from ‘eroding and reforming bust of rome (one year)’

the concept of daniel arsham’s evolving NFT has been in development since late 2019. daniel had met with nifty owners, tyler and cameron winklevoss, to discuss the potential for a visual artist to expand into the digital art space using blockchain technology and smart contracts. while this technology is still in its infancy, daniel is one of the first contemporary artists to use the NFT as a medium and to create a unique, temporal piece. during the development of ‘eroding and reforming bust of rome (one year),’ daniel worked closely with nifty gateway who adapted the platform to accommodate both the durational nature of his project and its evolution over time.

fall, still from ‘eroding and reforming bust of rome (one year)’