Exorbitant Stage: Botto, a Decentralized Artificial Intelligence Artist—the groundbreaking Sotheby’s exhibition and sale marking the third anniversary of the artificial intelligence artist known as Botto—closed Thursday, October 24 with a grand total of $351,600 in sales across six lots.
Botto was conceptualized by German artist Mario Klingemann and software collective ElevenYellow. Since its 2021 debut, Botto has amassed over $4 million in total sales across 140 pieces, cementing its place in both the digital and traditional art markets.
The sale brought together iconic works from Botto’s canon, including pieces from its Genesis, Interstice and Temporal Echoes periods, all of which reflect the artificial intelligence’s continuous growth as it pushes the boundaries of creativity. Among the standout works was Threshold of Reverie, a piece never before offered for sale.
Sotheby’s held an intimate reception and panel, moderated by Hyperallergic Founder and Editor in Chief Hrag Vartanian on Saturday, October 19. In attendance were 100 guests, across the art and technology sectors, eager to learn more about Botto’s creation process. Botto’s artworks are shaped by a unique closed-loop system that consists of a prompt generator, open-source text-to-image models and a community-driven taste model. Botto proposes new thematic motifs for each of its “periods,” which mark different intervals of its artistic production.
“Three years is both a long time and almost no time at all in the scale of art history and our computational future. I think Botto’s show “Exorbitant Stage” will prove to be an early signal to the world outside our small corner of the internet of this entity’s true significance, which is just starting to emerge,” said Simon Hudson, Botto operator and co-lead.
