An artist who blew up a Lamborghini earlier this month in protest against greed in crypto is now selling videos of the destroyed car parts as NFTs. The auction, which is scheduled to take place later this week, will start the NFTs at around .01 Ether, or around $26.
The artist, who works under the pseudonym Shl0ms, blew up a used Lamborghini Huracan, which can range from $200,000 to $300,000, on Feb. 2. Shl0ms said the car was taken to an undisclosed desert location in the U.S. and blown up by a federally licensed explosives engineer after two weeks of testing explosions, according to The Block, a news outlet that covers crypto.
A team of about 100 people helped with the Lamborghini explosion and creating the NFT collection, according to Shl0ms, including staff focused on logistics, on-site camera work, production assistants, and more.
Shl0ms told Fortune that contrary to what some media outlets have reported, the decision to destroy the Lamborghini was not a protest against crypto culture, calling it a “more general criticism of greed and short-termism in crypto.”
The artist pointed to decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), blockchain enabled groups centered on a common goal, as a positive technology that could be used to create art or for the public good.
Now, Shl0ms will auction off NFTs that are videos of 888 pieces of the destroyed car. Another 111 of those NFTs will be given to the artist’s team and used for an upcoming project, they said.
𒄭/𒐤
— █̶̳̘͛̄̃͒̄̃͜█̴͇̱̅͒̅█̵̻̣̝͒̈̄̈͝͝█̴̞̜̻̝͍̂̽͜█̷̢ (@SHL0MS) February 17, 2022
𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 $CAR:
𝟿𝟿𝟿 𝚎𝚡𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜
𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚗
𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 +
𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝟶𝟸.𝟸𝟻.𝟸𝟸 ➞ https://t.co/AV6YAO4wlP
͏ pic.twitter.com/wRIFP2M4kp
𒄭/𒐤
𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 $CAR:
𝟿𝟿𝟿 𝚎𝚡𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜
𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚗
𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 +
𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝟶𝟸.𝟸𝟻.𝟸𝟸 ➞ https://t.co/AV6YAO4wlP
͏ pic.twitter.com/wRIFP2M4kp
Some said that using the Lamborghini destruction as a comment on greed and then selling NFTs, is counterintuitive, according to Shl0ms. But Shl0ms told Fortune that a majority of the proceeds will go to fund public art installations, a claim which cannot be verified until after the auction.
The auction is scheduled for Friday and will last for 24 hours. Shl0ms said the NFT auction winners will get a rotating video of one of the unique Lamborghini parts, but that the NFTs will not be linked to pieces of the destroyed car. The physical pieces of the destroyed car are in storage and will not be distributed, but could possibly be displayed, Shl0ms said.
“I’ve chosen to leave it up to other people to value my art,” Shl0ms told Fortune.
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