The on-stage kiss between the two icons is up for grabs in NFT form since the original photographer has decided to sell it on Cryptograph.
Originally taken by John Shearer of TMZ in 2003, the photo is being auctioned on Cryptograph, an NFT marketplace.
Taking place at the MTV VMAs the iconic moment in pop culture is now being immortalised as a non-fungible token.
Taking the conventional art world off guard NFT’s are digitally unique images that can be sold from person to person without the need for traditional forms of brokering.
An NFT or non-fungible token is a unique unit of data stored on a digital ledger. They can be used to represent photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items, using blockchain technology to establish proof of ownership.
NFT creators when I hit the save as button https://t.co/ekN28XuXJA pic.twitter.com/TwbGYBZXJU
— 🇺🇸🎃Spooky 🎃Rockwell🎃🇺🇸 (@LRFunnyMoments) October 1, 2021
The onstage kiss followed a performance from pop culture’s biggest stars at the time, when Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Madonna performed a cover of Like A Virgin and Hollywood.
Let’s not forget Justin Timberlake’s reaction to this, who was dating Britney at the time.
Regardless of Timberlake’s apparent disapproval, the kiss held quite a lot of significance for queer representation then and to this day.
At the time FCC regulations prohibited film clips such as Blink-182’s Miss You where two women locked lips.
The moment is well summed up by Daisy Jones for VICE:
“It was a performance so specific to a particular place and time, that when you see all four artists together on one stage, it’s like you can taste the discontinued Pepsi Blue, you can feel the cargo pants you once wore, and you can hear the Budweiser ‘Wassup’ advert echoing throughout your cranium. This was 2003, and this was iconic.”
The NFT sphere has been getting increased attention after a series of interesting and wacky artworks have sold for record prices.
Recently an NFT of everybody’s favorite internet pup “Doge” sold for 4 million dollars.
