Canadian artist Krista Kim has just sold the world's first non-fungible token or NFT house for more than $500,000. Called Mars House, it is a turnkey, state-of-the-art pad, cantilevered over a mountain range.
As luxury house prices go, half a million dollars is something of a bargain.
In art terms, compared to the multimillion-dollar figures commanded by paintings by artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh and Banksy, it is pretty good sum for an artist Forbes Magazine describes as a "digital Rothko".
That's because Kim's Mars House does not actually exist, neither as a house, nor as a painting. Instead the artwork lives entirely in the digital realm. And now it has been sold as an NFT.
NFTs are a way to prove ownership of a digital asset. Using blockchain technology that stores the data across thousands of computers, a unique, permanent and verifiable record or code is created and assigned. And it is impossible to alter, and serves as an unimpeachable record of who made it, and who owns it. This type of encrypted record can be assigned to anything that is unique and indivisible, from a digital artwork to a virtual baseball card.
Kim’s work bridges the gap between art and technology, and she founded the Techism movement in 2014.
With a “light is the new ink” ethos, Kim, who lives in Toronto, often uses software-manipulated digital images of LEDs to create her work. She also collaborated with Lamborghini in 2019, and Lanvin for its autumn / winter 2018 collection.
In her latest work, the artist created the Mars House using software usually found in video games, to construct a virtual rendering of a building she describes as a "light sculpture."
As a firm believer in the power of meditation, Mars House was created to facilitate the search for inner peace. Kim said: "I believe there is hope for the future if more people meditate. We will manage stress, but most importantly, we can tap into our maximum creative potential. More than ever, creativity and collaboration are the antidote to fear and war. Beauty, collaboration, co-creation and meditation are the attributes that we must focus on collectively and globally in order to thrive and navigate opportunity amidst the chaos of disruption."
The structure itself is starkly modern, open plan with uninterrupted views over the surrounding Martian mountains. The furniture is moulded, see-through Perspex, made into chairs, tables and loungers.
The bedroom is housed within a see-through cube, with bedding in shades of copper, and overlooks wrap-around seating and a large circular table. The floor, meanwhile, seems have integral pool, that ebbs and flows as if tidal. Presumably, the joy of working in the digital world, is that it is not governed by the same rules as real life.
As well as floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and the ever shifting iridescent colours, the house also comes with a soundtrack which will be familiar to anyone who has visited a high-end spa.
Sold through the platform SuperRare, the original asking price for Mars House was 30 Ethereum tokens (a cryptocurrency similar to bitcoin). It eventually went to a buyer called @artontheinternet, for 288 Ethereum tokens, or $515,459.
Taking to Twitter, Kim said the majority of the proceeds would be donated to the Continuum Foundation to “support a world tour of healing sound and light installations for mental health and healing.”
NFTs are sweeping the world at present, with everything from tweets to videos of slam dunks changing hands for eye watering sums.
Hailed as either a saviour for the art world, or the latest get-rich-quick crypto fad, depending on view point, they do offer the tantalising prospect of being able to own the digital original of something physical. Or, as in the case of Kim's Mars House, the digital version of something that doesn't exist at all.
Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
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Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
The specs: 2019 Cadillac XT4
Price, base: Dh145,000
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged in-line four-cylinder engine
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 237hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
TEAMS
US Team
Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger
Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler
Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed
Matt Kuchar, Kevin Chappell
Charley Hoffman*, Phil Mickelson*
International Team
Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day
Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
Marc Leishman, Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim
Jhonattan Vegas, Adam Hadwin
Emiliano Grillo*, Anirban Lahiri*
* denotes captain's picks
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Brackets denote aggregate score
Tuesday:
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2), 11.45pm
Manchester United (0) v Sevilla (0), 11.45pm
Wednesday:
Besiktas (0) v Bayern Munich (5), 9pm
Barcelona (1) v Chelsea (1), 11.45pm
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The biog
Name: Sari Al Zubaidi
Occupation: co-founder of Cafe di Rosati
Age: 42
Marital status: single
Favourite drink: drip coffee V60
Favourite destination: Bali, Indonesia
Favourite book: 100 Years of Solitude
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin