Banksy’s iconic artwork Love is in the Air (2005) was fractionalized into 10,000 NFTs and pulled in impressive numbers this love month!
Love Is In The Air, also known as the Flower Thrower or LIITA, first appeared in 2003 as a large format stenciled graffiti in Bethlehem. It was transformed into a painting backed by an NFT. Particle Foundation purchased the artwork at a Sotheby’s auction for $12.9 million earlier this year. Then, it decided to segment the piece into 10,000, 100-by-100 sections of fractionalized NFTs. Each one represents a specific portion of the painting, like plots of land.
Banksy’s Love is in The Air Fractionalized NFTs
The “Love is in the Air” (LIITA) collection launched in late January and, on Monday, Valentine’s Day surpassed $1.5 million in secondary sales. This comes on top of the more than $10 million already earned from the initial drop.
Particle Foundation will display the physical piece in museums worldwide and maintain ownership in perpetuity. Meanwhile, the fractionalized NFTs will give the new owners a chance to own a portion of the Foundation, and in turn, a portion of Banksy’s piece.
Of the 10,000 Banksy NFTs in the collection, fewer than 2,000 remain available. This is not surprising because Banksy is a famous yet anonymous graffiti artist. He produces pieces of work that pop up in public places, such as on the walls of buildings. His work bears his signature anti-authoritarian art, which people can easily spot. So the mystery, along with the craftsmanship of his work, is a delight to collectors worldwide.
As an incentive to sell out in February, Particle is raffling away a rare “flower” edition every day of the month. So if you own at least one Banksy NFT and you haven’t listed it in any secondary market, you are qualified!
Understanding Fractional NFTs
Record-breaking digital artist Mike Winkelmann or Beeple in the NFT world endorsed the Banksy LIITA Particle Collection. He wrote on Twitter that the project “could really be a great way to have ownership in blue-chip art in a way that focuses on STEWARDSHIP of the artwork versus just speculation.”
Beeple is bullish about fractionalized NFTs because some of his pieces have also benefited from the technology. Metapurse, the crypto-exclusive fund that bought Beeple’s $69.3 million art piece, previously launched the B20 project. In December 2020, it bought a suite of 20 Beeple NFTs collectively valued at around $2.2 Million. Then, it shared ownership of its Beeple Art Collection by auctioning off 10,000,000 B2o Tokens.
Particle Foundation is a platform that aims to dominate this segment. It is is pioneering a new application of NFTs that will free major artworks from the historical limits on their accessibility. According to its website, it aims to democratize collecting practices. Then, redefine what it means to own a work of art.
Meanwhile, Sotheby’s is set to auction a trio of Banksy pieces currently owned by British musician Robbie Williams on March 2.
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