Millionaire burns Frida Kahlo artwork to sell it in the metaverse
30 September 2022
Khalo’s “Fantasmones Siniestros,” valued at $10M, was burned by the businessman Martin Mobarak, resident of Miami, to create 10 thousand NFTS (nonfungible token).
The millionaire organized an event for the burning of the work known as Fantasmones Siniestros and although he assured that the proceeds from its sale will go to help children, his action is generating much controversy, as the historical piece was a drawing from Frida's diary.
The 57-year-old Mobarak’s justification is that supposedly Frida Kahlo would have liked to destroy her works for the benefit of others. The man is the CEO of Frida.NFT, an organization dedicated to blockchain technology dedicated to bringing together collectors, creators, and art lovers to ‘immortalize’ works and sell them for altruistic purposes. “I hope those who are here can understand, it’s to help sick children and victims of domestic abuse,” the entrepreneur assured.
And with all the controversy since July 30, a cryptocurrency portal claimed that Fantasmones Siniestros was “an ultra-high definition digital copy” created supposedly intending to copy the original work; however, it is still unknown whether this is true or not.
Story taken from an article by Cultura Colectiva (see link below).
The National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature of Mexico, the largest cultural institution in the nation, became interested in the incident as documentation of it spread. On the grounds that Kahlo's artwork is a national treasure, the institute revealed that they are looking into the destruction. According to the federal law on archaeological, artistic, and historical monuments and zones, "the willful destruction of an artistic monument constitutes a criminal in Mexico," it stated in a statement. The National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature says it is currently collecting information to confirm whether the destroyed work is the original.
The party thrown for the burning was very real, and it's documented on YouTube . At this link Artnet News offers a Frame-by-Frame Analysis of the YouTube Video to answer the question: is it a total scam or is it totally real?
