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Particle, a digital art platform that offers fractionalized ownership of culturally significant artworks via the blockchain, will soon give collectors the opportunity to own a piece of an iconic sculpture by H.R. Giger—the Academy Award-winning artist who designed the titular creature featured in the 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien.
The sculpture, “Necronom/Alien III, 2005,” depicts the famous xenomorph from the film franchise. The piece is edition #1 of a collection of six statutes, Particle CEO Harold Eytan told Decrypt.
"It is the only one following the prototype that was made by Giger himself, and the prototype remains at the Giger museum," he said.
It's made out of steel and polyester resin, and measures more than seven feet long and three feet tall. At least one of the sculptures was valued at more than $240,000.
Digital “particles” of the piece—NFT works that represent a 1/500 stake in the sculpture, representing a total value of half a million dollars—will go on sale for $1,000 each beginning June 16.
"A private collector in Germany is selling it through Particle following the group exhibition Species at the Mai36 gallery in Zurich," Eytan said. "It has only previously been in one other collection—and before that was in Giger's private collection."
Holders of Alien particles will be able to vote on whether the physical sculpture should be sold, should it ever receive an offer to be purchased.
The sculpture will first be showcased under Particle’s ownership and in partnership with the H.R. Giger Museum at NFC Lisbon on June 7-8. It will then feature as a part of Metamorphoses, a Giger-focused exhibition at the Hluboká Castle in Prague, before stints at Art Basel in Switzerland, and an undisclosed venue in Paris.
Particle previously tokenized and fractionalized the Banksy painting “Love is in the Air,” which the company acquired at a Sotheby’s auction in 2021 for $12.9 million. It then created 10,000 “particles” of the artwork and sold them as NFTs for $1,500 a piece. Those particles have since depreciated to a floor price of roughly $500.
Owners of “Love is in the Air” particles will be able to purchase Alien particles at a discounted rate of $800 during an early access sale.