Aphex Twin has auctioned off artwork as an NFT (non-fungible token).
Titled afx\/weirdcore\blockscanner, the artwork is a collaboration between Richard D. James and visual artist Weirdcore, with whom the producer has frequently worked before. The digital artwork, which features music from Aphex Twin, was made available on the cryptocurrency marketplace Foundation and the winning bid was 72 ETH, equivalent to around $128,000. An NFT is a token that defines ownership of part of a digital asset, which could be an MP3, a gif, a PDF or any other kind of digital file.
The producer announced the one-day auction of the artwork via Twitter and later told fans that those involved plan to offset the much-criticised ecological footprint of crypto-art and blockchain technology. "We will spend a portion of the money on planting trees and either donating to permaculture projects or setting them up ourselves, depending on how much we get," he said.