Digital artist Beeple put his face on a $100K robot dog next to Elon Musk and Picasso – it sold first

Digital artist Mike Winkelmann, famously known as Beeple, has created a striking installation at Art Basel Miami Beach that is turning heads and sparking conversations. His latest project, titled "Regular Animals," showcases $100,000 robotic dogs, each adorned with hyper-realistic heads resembling prominent figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, alongside renowned artists Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. These robotic dogs are not merely static displays; they roam within a plexiglass enclosure, equipped with cameras that capture images. The data collected is processed by AI, resulting in prints that are humorously dubbed ‘excrement’ by the artist. Among the 256 prints produced, select pieces feature QR codes that grant collectors a free NFT, creatively packaged in bags labeled "Excrement Sample." In a daring artistic move, Beeple included a self-portrait among the robotic ensemble, which he described as a "ballsy" decision. To his surprise, this self-representative piece sold first, catching even the artist off guard. This installation is not Beeple's first foray into groundbreaking art; four years prior, he made headlines when his digital collage fetched an astounding $69 million at Christie’s, igniting a surge in the NFT market that would later experience a significant downturn.