We are living in a brave new world, in the most literal sense. The first Mars House, located on Mars, has just sold at auction for over $500,000. The house does not exist in real life.
NFT items have been selling for record prices in recent weeks: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet went for $2.9 million, while a JPEG by digital artist Beeple fetched a record $69.3 million at auction. By comparison, a house—on Mars, no less—selling for $500,000 is a bargain.
Photo: Krista Kim
Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But it’s definitely the future, one in which people create and sell stuff created in the virtual space, which cannot be taken out of the virtual space and, as such, holds no actual material worth. The Mars House is one of these things.
Created by “Technism artist” Krista Kim, Mars House was created in May 2020, when the first round of lockdowns swept across the world. Wanting to create a space that invited meditation and, in the process, offered an escape from our everyday reality, Kim created the Mars House, which she placed on an equally virtual Mars.
You can see a tour of the home in the video below. It is truly a mesmerizing place: Mars House was offered completely furnished with glass-tempered and reflective objects (also offered separately as NFTs), an infinity pool, ample spaces separated by see-through walls, extraordinary views, and mood LED lighting.
Photo: Krista Kim
Mars House is a non-fungible token (NFT), a unique digital asset that includes verification of authenticity and ownership on the blockchain and encryption of the artist’s signature. CNN reports that it sold for 288 Ether, a cryptocurrency that is equivalent to $514,557.79. And it took just one week to get to this amount.
The new owner will receive a 3D file of the home, uploadable to the “metaverse,” and tech support from Kim for better integration. It will remain solely in the virtual space, and Kim retains copyright, which means that, even if someone has the money to wish to replicate it once Elon Musk finally colonizes Mars, they won’t be able to do so. But the new owner will be able to enjoy it virtually to get the peace of mind we all dream of in these uncertain times.
To help, the 3D file of Mars Home comes with a soundtrack composed by Smashing Pumpkins’ Jeff Schroeder specifically for the occasion. The video below offers a sample of that as well, and we have to admit, it does sound very zen-like. Whether it’s the kind of zen worth the equivalent of half a million dollars is, of course, a matter of taste.
Photo: Krista Kim
Kim believes this historical first of the first virtual real estate transaction is effectively a sign of the future. We’re no longer living in the material world, and as art, music, and even fashion have started seeping into the virtual realm, so will real estate. Virtual real estate will become, if you, the “avant garde luxury for the digital age,” or so this artist believes.
“Mars House represents the next generation of NFTs,” Kim tells CNN after the transaction. “It is a sign of things to come, as we enter an [augmented reality] interfaced future, with the launch of Apple AR glasses and AR contact lenses. Art, NFTs, cryptocurrencies… these sweeping changes and ideas of how we will live with digital assets is becoming a reality and will create a global paradigm shift.”
As for the money, which is as real as it gets, Kim says she will be donating the “majority” of it to the Continuum Foundation to create a world tour of sound and light installation that will be used to promote mental health.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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