Digital artist Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple) has brought NFTs back to the Art Basel scene with his pack of quadrupedal robots that take photos of visitors and poop-print artwork that doubles as cryptocurrency collectibles.
The interactive installation, titled “Regular Animals,” is on display at the Miami Beach Convention Center through Dec. 7 as part of Art Basel’s new digital works program, “Zero 10.”
Each quadruped robot features a sculpted silicone head based on figures from the world of art and technology, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Beeple himself.
The robots roam the floor and cameras film scenes from the trade show, which are processed into stylized prints associated with each mask’s identity.
The project documentation indicates: some These images contain a code that allows visitors to claim NFTs, linking the physical print to the token. blockchain. The Luma event description states that “1024 free prints and 256 free NFTs” were distributed on Wednesday.
“We’re increasingly seeing the world through the lens of how they want us to see the world, because they’re controlling these very powerful algorithms, and they’re unilaterally controlling in many ways how we see the world,” Beeple said in a video interview. CNN.
@beeple arrives here at the Art Basel Awards with a few friends. pic.twitter.com/ka13pLw3jz
— Art Basel (@ArtBasel) December 4, 2025
The robot would “simply take pictures and deploy these memories, and the memories will be recorded on a particular blockchain, because I think that’s a great use for this technology,” he added.
According to a technical description in Art Magazine, the robot uses an off-the-shelf four-legged platform equipped with sensors, cameras, and a compact dye-sublimation printer to produce the images seen at trade shows, with each unit modified with a hand-engraved platinum-cured silicone head. white wall.
“This is about AI reinterpreting images and what the humanoid is seeing. There are similarities. We will increasingly see the world through AI,” Beeple said in an interview. art newspaper.
Artists and technology leaders, like those represented in the robot dog’s head, “continue to shape what we see, perhaps more than anyone else,” he added.
Each robot cost $100,000, with the exception of the robot with Bezos on its head, which was not for sale at Wednesday’s VIP preview as all the pieces were sold out.
Prints produced by robot dogs include a disclaimer that explains the artwork is “tested and verified to be 100% pure, GMO-free, organic dog feces collected from the anus of a medium-sized adult dog.”
decryption has reached out to Beeple Studios and Art Basel for comment.
Beeple’s “Crazy Art Project”
Beeple’s latest work comes more than four years after the record-breaking sale of his 5,000-image digital collage “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” which sold for a whopping $69.3 million as an NFT at Christie’s in 2021.
At this auction, Beeple ranks as one of the most expensive living artists and helped catapult NFTs to the center of a global market boom.
“I’m interested in doing crazy art projects that I couldn’t do before, but now I can,” Beeple said. decryption In a June 2021 podcast, when asked about how he spends his money, he answered:
The NFT frenzy had largely subsided by mid-2022, with volumes and prices declining in most segments. By early 2023, it still had some traction.
“It’s crazy to me to think back then because NFTs have been hated for far longer than they’ve been loved,” Beeple said in an October 2024 interview.
Through July of this year, industry analysis found that NFT sales soared 78%, largely due to lower price floors, but overall trading volume fell 45% in the quarter.