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Cai Guo-Qiang’s Debut NFT Drop
Sold for 2.5 Million

A Record Number for a Fine Art NFT
from a Non-crypto-native Artist
Cai Guo-Qiang, Transient Eternity—101 Ignitions of Gunpowder Paintings, 2021
2:37, Non-fungible token (NFT)
Produced by 33 Studio
Click the above image to view Transient Eternity
July 19, 2021 — Internationally acclaimed artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s debut NFT drop Transient Eternity—101 Ignitions of Gunpowder Paintings, commissioned by Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, sold for 2,500,000 USD in a 48-hour online auction hosted by TR Lab on its online portal trlab.com. The NFT will remain on display through trlab.com until August 14th, 2021 (UTC+8).

There was incredible competition from international collectors, with the leading bid reaching 99,999 USD in only three minutes, and nearly doubling in the last hour of auction. The winning bid is a record number for a fine art NFT from a non-crypto-native artist.
Screenshots of Transient Eternity's bidding page on TR Lab's online portal, 2021
Larys Frogier, Director of Rockbund Art Museum, states: "He [Cai Guo-Qiang] was the very first artist to open the museum in 2010 with his amazing project Peasant da Vincis, and ten years later we are coming back with the new project that he has dedicated to the launch of RAM+, a digital platform related to NFT art and digital art… I would like to express my profound gratitude to the artist Cai Guo-Qiang and also to the TR Lab… For the museum, it’s a huge opportunity to create new conditions for curatorial practices and better support artist projects."
 
Xin Li-Cohen, the Chairwoman of TR Lab, remarks: “It was our pleasure to bring to life Cai's vision in challenging the linearity of time using blockchain technology, achieving not only a succession but also a transcendence of his oeuvre, and we are thrilled to have received such exhilarating reception from NFT and fine art collectors alike. As we continue to bridge the art and crypto worlds, this is just the beginning of a new adventure.”
 
Half of the auction proceeds will go to TR Lab’s collaborator on this project Rockbund Art Museum in support of the museum’s development and digital art research programs. RAM+ is an extension from the museum’s physical space into the digital world — bringing unique expertise in art and a commitment to sustainable values by supporting selected artists to engage with the possibilities of digital art, and activating a curatorial approach to emerging digital ecology.
 
The other half will go to Cai Foundation, primarily in support of the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Cai Fellowship Program, which funds young Chinese artists studying in the United States.
 
Cai Guo-Qiang came to New York from Japan in 1995 with the generous support of the ACC, which allowed him to develop his art on a wider, international stage. Cai and his wife Hong Hong Wu later established the ACC Cai Fellow Program, which has sponsored 17 young Chinese artists and scholars since 2012, enabling them to further their studies in the United States. Cai Foundation is dedicated to advancing the following ideals and practices: interdisciplinary artistic practice, cultural exchange among different social systems, relationships between social art and politics, artistic creativity of the public and nonprofessional artists, research that addresses overlooked artists and art history, studies on individual artistic methodology, and the development of eco-friendly pyrotechnical products.
Left: The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century, Cai Guo-Qiang’s first project realized in the United States with the support of Asian Cultural Council (ACC), Nuclear Test Site, Nevada, 1996. Courtesy Cai Studio

Right: Mr. and Mrs. Cai Guo-Qiang with then-Director of the Dunhuang Academy Fan Jinshi (third from left) and Dunhuang Foundation President Mimi Gates (third from right) at a Cai Foundation fundraising event to support the Dunhuang Academy and Dunhuang Foundation, New York, 2012. Courtesy Cai Studio
 
Cai comments, “Transient Eternity is the existence of the explosion moment itself—not the videos or photographs with which the ignition instant is to be preserved in the traditional sense, or the physical gunpowder painting that was born from the ignition…While I’m still exploring the virtual world of NFT, the 2.5 million auction result is substantial, as will be the growth and development of young Chinese artists who benefit from the auction’s proceeds. My deep gratitude goes to Xin and TR Lab’s hard work. Thank you to the collector for their support!”
Screenshot of Transient Eternity, a work by Cai Guo-Qiang, 2021. Courtesy Cai Studio
This auction was brought to life by crypto financial service providers Amber Group, Bable Finance, and Matrixport, and supported by Christie's, Dragonfly Capital, and ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.
About TR Lab

TR Lab is a platform for discovering and collecting NFT art from the world's leading artists. Our mission is to offer extraordinary NFT works to collectors and art lovers alike, as well as to empower the next generation of the art community by unlocking access to groundbreaking projects. In addition to our auction platform and concierge team, we offer end-to-end service for both artists and collectors to engage with NFT art from digital production to direct issuance. TR Lab is jointly established by Dragonfly Capital, Xin Li-Cohen, Christie's Non-Executive Deputy Chairman, as well as the founders of Artsy, Shanghai Rockbund Art Museum, and ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair. We are headquartered in Hong Kong with a global team across Beijing, Shanghai, London, New York, and San Francisco.
About Rockbund Art Museum

Inaugurated in 2010, Rockbund Art Museum is a contemporary art museum located on the Bund in Shanghai. The museum is housed in a heritage Art Deco building that originally was one of the first modern museums to be established in China. In 2019, Rockbund Art Museum has become an officially registered non-profit arts organization in Shanghai.

Distinguishing itself from continental or nationality based organizations, Rockbund Art Museum is developing an oceanic vision of contemporary art. We aim to explore the importance of seas and archipelagos across Asia in order to unfold richer perspectives into today’s challenges, practices and networks within the art world. We wish to build constructive paradoxes within multiple localities in Asia and different cultures globally, opening spaces to enable free expression for artists, researchers and curators, and to dive into subtle and dense layers of new experiences with our audience.

Cai Studio

Website: www.caiguoqiang.com
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