To those lucky enough to attend the Academy Awards every year, the gift bags are the stuff of legend. There’s always some pricey goodies stuffed in there, handed to massive movie stars and below-the-line technicians alike. But those attending the pandemic-era Oscars this year got a little surprise: NFTs honoring the late Chadwick Boseman.
NFTs, of course, are the latest virtual craze. The acronym stands for non-fungible tokens, but it’s better to call them digital collectables — virtual trinkets that have so far mostly attracted musicians, among them Doja Cat, The Weeknd, and Eminem, all of whom have started selling NFTs to fans.
But this one is different. The NFT offers a 3-D digital likeness of the late actor, embodied as a golden head floating in air. “The way to immortalize an artist is to honor them with art,” wrote Andre Oshea, the artist tasked with creating the NFT. “I was tasked to create a tribute NFT for Chadwick Boseman for the Oscars! Bringing this piece to life has been one of my most challenging & rewarding experiences as an artist.”
Though everyone who attends the ceremony will get their own copy of the NFT, the original one will be auctioned off separately, with proceeds going to The Colon Cancer Foundation. Boseman himself died last summer after a long, mostly secret battle with colon cancer.
(Via EW)