Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Presents Beeple’s HUMAN ONE

Dynamic digital artwork to be on view for the first in a US museum 

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presents pioneering digital artist Beeple’s HUMAN ONE, a generative video and three-dimensional sculptural form that follows humankind’s first steps in the Metaverse. On view for the first time in a museum in the United States – following exhibitions at M+ in Hong Kong and Castello di Rivoli in Italy – HUMAN ONE allows visitors to virtually walk through endlessly transforming landscapes and asks them to look closely at the worlds they encounter. 

“As the first U.S. institution to show HUMAN ONE, we’re thrilled for our guests to experience this disruptive, groundbreaking work by Beeple,” said Xuxa Rodríguez, PhD, associate curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges. “He’s charting new territory for art creation by combining a virtual and physical existence – a metaphor for human progress. Showcasing self-taught and digital artists and time-based media is a complete alignment with our mission to expand definitions of and access to American art for all.”  

Comprised of four large-scale video screens at 16K resolution, the hybrid, kinetic sculpture stays in perpetual motion. The visitor – or explorer – will digitally walk through imagined landscapes ranging from those inspired by terrains in our own world, like alpine mountains, to those that use popular culture references to reimagine what shapes landscapes can take. The artwork’s form frames the explorer’s walk across these worlds as if viewers can also walk into the scene and join in on the everlasting search.    

The lighting of the environment within the structure will change in response to the time of day, and scenic updates will be made remotely by Beeple, who has committed to making these changes for the rest of his life, every time the work is installed in a new location.  

“HUMAN ONE taps into the full potential of digital art because it has the unique ability to dynamically change over time,” said Beeple. “This is something that has never been done before. A traditional work of art is more akin to a finite statement, frozen in time at the moment it was completed. But because this piece has the capacity to be updated, it will be more akin to an ongoing conversation I can continue to add new meaning to over time.” 

“We’re deeply honored to collaborate with Crystal Bridges for the debut of HUMAN ONE,” said Ryan Zurrer, lender and founder of Dialectic and 1OF1. “The museum’s visitors will have the opportunity to celebrate one of the defining American artists of the digital age, while witnessing this progressive work evolve right before their eyes. Audiences will be captivated by the remarkable detail and innovative mixture of technology and craft that makes Beeple such a renowned artist.”  

Emblematic of the twenty-first century and its relationship to digital technologies, HUMAN ONE is also linked to a non-fungible token (NFT), that lives in an online decentralized ledger. Beeple invites visitors to search for clues hidden within the artwork that will help them unlock new NFTs. 

HUMAN ONE is on view in the Contemporary Gallery at Crystal Bridges from July 28, 2023, through January 2024. The installation is free to the public.   

To learn more about Beeple’s HUMAN ONE, visit here. 

To download press images, click here. 
Credit Line: Beeple, HUMAN ONE, 2021. Courtesy M+, Hong Kong. 

### 

About Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Since opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed more than 10.7 million visitors, with no cost for admission. Crystal Bridges was founded in 2005 as a non-profit charitable organization by arts patron and philanthropist, Alice Walton. The collection spans five centuries of American masterworks from early American to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The museum is nestled on 120 acres of Ozark landscape and was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house was preserved and relocated to the museum grounds in 2015. Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes, and teacher development opportunities. Some 300,000 school children have participated in the Willard and Pat Walker School Visit program, which provides educational experiences for school groups at no cost to the schools. Additional museum amenities include a restaurant, gift store, library, and five miles of art and walking trails. In February 2020, the museum opened a satellite contemporary art space in downtown Bentonville called the Momentary (507 SE E Street). For more information, visit  CrystalBridges.org. The museum is located at 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712.