Toronto-based artist Krista Kim's zeitgeisty new "Mars House" mansion has floor-to-ceiling windows with stunning mountain views, chic Italian glass furniture and plenty of space for entertaining both inside and outdoors... but nobody can actually live there.

First and foremost, the house isn't on the market: An internet art collector justpurchased the property as a non-fungible token(NFT) for roughly $616,132 Canadian.

Secondly, it doesn't physically exist.

Described as "the first NFT digital house in the world,"Mars Houseis actually a 3D file that is meant to be explored in VR or, eventually, through augmented reality.

"Conceptually, MARS HOUSE is NFT 2.0 for our future AR and Metaverse lifestyle. This is where we are headed, curating our AR environments with digital 3D NFTs that we love,"writes Kim, who worked with Jeff Schroeder of The Smashing Pumpkins to create music for the environment.

“我想和朋友坐在MH在AR和饮料Champagne. I want to have my zoom meetings in Mars House. I will eventually be able to transpose MH over my physical environment whenever I fancy. I created Mars House because it is my dream house. I hope the new owner will love it like I do. This is the future of ART."

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一篇文章沙red by Jeff Schroeder/제프 슈로더 (@jjjschroeder)

The new owner must indeed like Mars House very much to have purchased it for 288 Ether (a cryptocurrency that, as of March 23, is worth about $2,138 CAD per unit).

That, or they'recrazy for NFTslike the rest of the art world right now.

Without getting too technical,an NFTis essentially a digital certificate of ownership recorded onEthereum blockchain, a decentralized public ledger that's impossible to retroactively modify.

These blockchain-protected certificates are unique and cannot be duplicated, makingeach NFTincredibly rare — a true 1-of-1 piece that people have been recently willing to pay millions of actual dollars for.

"NFTs can really be anything digital (such as drawings, music, your brain downloaded and turned into an AI), but a lot of the current excitement is around using the tech to sell digital art,"explains The Verge.

"You can copy a digital file as many times as you want, including the art that's included with an NFT. But NFTs are designed to give you something that can't be copied: ownership of the work.... To put it in terms of physical art collecting: anyone can buy a Monet print. But only one person can own the original."

The most famous sale of this sort took place in early March when artist Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple)sold an NFT at auctionthrough Christie'sfor a staggering $69,346,250 USD(just under $90 million Canadian.)

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey justsold the first tweet ever sent(from himself, in March of 2006) for more than $2.9 million US and Gucci is reportedly nowselling digital shoesfor $17.99 a pair.

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一篇文章沙red by Krista Kim (@krista.kim)

Kim's Mars House set a new precedent for the medium when itwas listed on the marketplace SuperRareas "the first NFT digital house in the world."

The Toronto-based contemporary artist is no stranger to pushing the envelope when it comes to virtual design. She maintains that "light is the new ink" and describes herself as "founder of the techism movement."

Inan interview with Dezeen, Kim said that she designed the Mars House in 2020 with help from an architect using Unreal Engine. The space is meant to embody her philosophy ofmeditative design.

"As a Techism artist, I am challenging the power of NFT as an art medium. Mars House will live forever as an NFT, so let it represent an art movement for humanity through the power of digital technology,"wrote Kim on Instagramafter the piece had sold.

"Let this remind future generations that we are here to create a new and better world at a pivotal time in history. The NFT can become an agent of positive social change through the empowerment of artist led initiatives."

Kim says that she is putting the majority of her proceeds from the sale to herContinuum Foundation, "which will support a world tour of healing sound and light art installations for mental health and healing."