What is more valuable, the physical or digital work of art? Damien Hirst presents from Friday in London his first exhibition with NFTs, these digital reproductions which are shaking up the art market, during which the Briton will burn his own paintings.
In Damien Hirst’s gallery in south London, panels show more than 5 meters high 10,000 paintings by the 57-year-old artist on A4 sheets. Multicolored dots as far as the eye can see. And on the back of the sheets, the title of the work: handwritten phrases taken from the artist’s favorite songs. Dead bird (dead bird), I can see it now (I can see it now), Spending as a millionaire (Spend like a millionaire), etc. Upstairs in the gallery, six fireplaces are just waiting to be used.
The works date from 2016, but it is two years later than the project The Currency (The currency) began to take its present form. Damien Hirst, one of the most highly rated artists in the world, then conceived his first NFT project.
Acronym for “non-Fungible Token”, the NFT is a “non-fungible token”, that is to say non-substitutable and therefore unique. Concretely, it is a theoretically unfalsifiable digital certificate of authenticity, registered in a “blockchain” (a chain of blocks), just like cryptocurrencies. NFTs have been breaking into the art world for several years.
Damien Hirst, willingly provocative artist, unveiled The Currency in July 2021. The 10,000 works were put up for sale, at $2,000 each. Each of the 10,000 paintings, all similar with multicolored dots, signed by Damien Hirst and with a handwritten phrase by the artist on the back inspired by the lyrics of his favorite songs, corresponds to an NFT.
Prices quickly soared on the market, with the price of one of the 10,000 works climbing to $172,239.
diamond skull
Buyers had one year, until July 27, to choose: either they opted for the paint or for the NFT. More than half (5149) decided to keep painting, the others preferred NFT. The physical work of art of the latter will therefore be burned.
” It’s an experience. […] We force people to make a choice,” summarizes the artist in a video.
Damien Hirst himself will light the fire in the gallery’s fireplaces on October 11, during Frieze Week, one of the largest contemporary art fairs in the world. He will burn only part of the 4851 paintings, the others will be burnt gradually until the end of the exhibition on October 30th.
“Conceptual artists in the 60s and 70s were saying that art doesn’t exist in the artistic object, it exists in the mind of the beholder, and this project is really no different,” says Damien Hirst . “Art doesn’t need to exist in the physical world, it can also exist in the digital world and now, thanks to blockchain, so does the ownership of that art. »
Since he created the Diamond Skull in 2007 (For the love of God), one of his most famous works, the artist explains that he thinks about the notions of wealth and value. “This project explores the boundaries between art and money — when art changes and becomes money and when money becomes art,” he continues.