Key Takeaways
- Beeple is staging a theatrical production that combines digital media with live performance.
- Synthetic Theatre will star Danny McBride, Edi Patterson, Dan O’Connor, and Holly Herndon.
- Beeple is most well-known for Instagram art and NFT drops.
Digital artist Beeple is making a leap from Instagram art and NFTs to the stage with an AI-infused theatrical show hosted by Danny McBride.
The artist revealed in a surprise announcement on Tuesday that the show, Synthetic Theatre, will be staged at Beeple’s gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, on Oct. 3–4.
A Night of Live AI Experiments
Synthetic Theatre will combine live performances with AI-generated media. In a video shared to Beeple’s X account, it is pitched as “a night of experiments” featuring music, dance, and improv.
McBride will be joined by actors Edi Patterson and Dan O’Connor, with composer Holly Herndon also listed as a performer.
From NFTs to AI Art
Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, first rose to fame for his “Everydays” series, he has posted to Instagram every day since May 1, 2007.
The project went relatively unnoticed for years, but a shift to 3D rendering and pop culture references saw Beeple gain popularity in the late 2010s.
In late 2020, the artist debuted his first NFT collection on Nifty Gateway, minting a limited edition run of images selected from the Everydays series. That collection sold out instantly, establishing Beeple as a dominant force in the nascent NFT scene.
When his NFT collage, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” was auctioned by Christie’s a few months later, it marked the new medium’s arrival in the traditional art world, and the first time many people came across the concept.
The First 5000 Days is the most expensive single NFT ever sold and its $69.3 million price tag remains unbeaten more than four years later.
Post-2021, Beeple has continued working on the Everydays Series, which often reference the daily news cycle.
Since 2024, he has incorporated generative AI into his artistic toolbox, and in interviews, he has expressed enthusiasm for AI art.
Based on the promotional video, Synthetic Theatre may lean into the immersive potential of real-time AI projection mapping a la Refik Anadol.
Meanwhile, its fusion of digital media and live theatre recalls the work of artists and collectives like Troika Ranch, Katie Mitchell, and Rimini Protokoll.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
