Has art become a con trick? Controversial artist Damien Hirst has burnt his own paintings and replaced them with digital tokens. Some believe this represents a new low for art.
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UK's richest artist sets fire to his own work
Has art become a con trick? Controversial artist Damien Hirst has burnt his own paintings and replaced them with digital tokens. Some believe this represents a new low for art.
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<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Playing with fire</h2>
Damien Hirst has made millions1 from shocking the public.
The British artist paid a hunter to catch a giant tiger shark and displayed it in a gallery. He cut a cow and a calf in half so that you could walk through their bodies. And he glued down thousands of butterflies.
Yet his latest work might be his most shocking yet. The Currency comprises 10,000 small paintings. Hirst sold each one for $2,000 (£1,767). Each buyer had to choose whether to keep the work, or have it burnt and replaced by a non-fungibleReplaceable or interchangeable. token (NFT) - a digital file that certifies ownership of the artwork.
Critics have slammed Hirst's new project. As Time Out's Eddy Frankel wrote: "A lot of art is stupid. A lot of art is lazy. A lot is arrogant... But very, very little art manages to be all of those things at once." Frankel thinks The Currency fits the bill.
Hirst disagrees. Interviewed while lifting paintings into the fire, the artist said: "I believe that NFTs are as important as physical art."
NFTs have been the subject of fierce debate. For some they are the hot new art-form. They have already sold for eye-watering sums. In March 2021, the digital artist Beeple2 auctioned an NFT for a record-breaking $69m (£61m). By the end of the year, nearly $41bn (£36bn) had been spent on NFTs worldwide - almost as much as the entire art market.
Yet NFTs have many doubters. Some think that they are a con. As Sunday Times critic Waldemar Januszczak puts it: "Non-fungible tokens were invented by the Devil to lure fools into the art world and persuade them to spend their money on nothing."
Critics see them as a fadA craze, or intense enthusiasm that does not last for very long. . They may be popular now. But at some point their value will drop. And buyers may find out that they have wasted a lot of money.
Yes: The art market has long been about greed. But NFTs are a new low: a wheezeA clever trick. whereby people are charmed into spending money on nothing. The bubble will burst - and the buyers will lose out.
No: From Marcel DuchampFrench artist (1887 - 1968) whose works challenged artistic norms. His piece L.H.O.O.Q. (1919) involved drawing a moustache and beard on a picture of the Mona Lisa.'s urinal to Carl Andre's piles of bricks, art has always surprised and shocked. The NFTs are just the latest edition.
Or... Only time will tell. New things are often greeted with suspicion. If NFTs continue to bring value to their artists and owners, who can say they are a con?
Fungible - Replaceable or interchangeable.
Fad - A craze, or intense enthusiasm that does not last for very long.
Wheeze - A clever trick.
Marcel Duchamp - French artist (1887 - 1968) whose works challenged artistic norms. His piece L.H.O.O.Q. (1919) involved drawing a moustache and beard on a picture of the Mona Lisa.
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<h5 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="question"><strong>Has art become a con trick? </strong></h5>
UK’s richest artist sets fire to his own work
Up in flames: 'The Currency’, a set of artworks worth an estimated £10m, being incinerated earlier this week. Glossary
Fungible - Replaceable or interchangeable.
Fad - A craze, or intense enthusiasm that does not last for very long.
Wheeze - A clever trick.
Marcel Duchamp - French artist (1887 - 1968) whose works challenged artistic norms. His piece L.H.O.O.Q. (1919) involved drawing a moustache and beard on a picture of the Mona Lisa.