Christie's digital art auction raises more than $50,000 for UNHCR

Christie's hosted a charity auction with proceeds going to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The auction featured 11 pieces of digital art sold in the form of nfts.

The “Bridging Worlds: Digital Art Beyond Borders” charity auction ran from October 23 to October 30, 2024. Based on final bid prices listed on nft.christies.com/auctions/bridging-worlds-digital-art-beyond-borders” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>christie siteThe auction accumulated a total of $51,387 from digital art sales.

The auction was curated by Micol Ap and featured 11 digital artworks donated by various digital artists, including Erick Calderón aka Snowfro, IX Shells, Mario Klingemann and Niceaunties, among others.

“The sale aims to explore the transformative power of digital art to connect worlds, transcend borders and foster a sense of unity between diverse artistic practices,” Christie's said in its x.com/ChristiesInc/status/1851308969932865892″ target=”_blank”>x publication.

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For the charity auction, Christie's partnered with the Swiss innovation unit for UNHCR, the national partner of the UN Refugee Agency in Switzerland. Switzerland for UNHCR also did x.com/UNHCR_CH_Innov/status/1851542471144083748″ target=”_blank”>a publication supporting the auction, urging users to bid on their favorite digital artworks.

The digital piece that received the highest bid price was called “Niceburg” by Singaporean artist Niceaunties. Niceburg presents a video made with ai art that shows a group of grandmothers living in the frozen landscape of an arctic tundra, known as Niceburg.

The video is narrated by a female voice with subtitles at the bottom, accompanied by images of ice melting and grandmothers spending time with fluffy stuffed animals that come to life. Niceburg was sold for 4.5 eth or equal to $11,908.

Another notable piece is IX Shells' digital motion art called “Rompeolas – Resurgendo a través de la Resistencia,” which translates to Sea Wall – Resurgence Through Resistance. The image shows a series of orange and white dots moving together to form a 3D wavy structure emerging across a black background.

IX Shells is a digital artist known for works that explore themes of identity, nature, and the intersection of the digital and physical worlds. His piece sold for 3 eth or equal to $7,850.

The digital artwork featured in Christie's promotional video is “Crush” by Andreas Gysin. Gysin's artwork shows coding overlaid with different font colors on a black background, all moving in sync with each other. Each letter is made up of a group of other letters and symbols on the keyboard. The piece was sold for 0.25 eth or equal to $654.

The auction also includes still digital art, such as “Handle With Care” by Vinnie Hager and “APT 47B” by Iskra Velitchkova.