damien hirst to burn the “currency” as buyers cannot own both NFT and physical artwork

damien hirst burns 10,000 copies of “the currency”

Collectors of Damien Hirst are not allowed to own both the digital ones NFT and physical copy of his artwork ‘the currency’, priced at US$2,000 each. They can only choose one type from the 10,000 unique paintings. If they chose the NFT copy, the British artist will burn the physical and vice versa on a daily basis starting September 2022. Each of the 10,000 NFTs corresponds to the original work on paper manually executed by the artist. Hirst and gallery HENI will hold an exhibition this year to burn the 10,000 NFT and physical artworks of ‘The Currency’. Buyers can decide if they want to keep digital art or the physical copy of his public works of art only until 3pm BST today. The gallery reminds everyone who wants to participate that the whole process is a one-way exchange and more ‘Choose wisely.’

The Currency is the first NFT collection by Damien Hirst, presented by HENI. The British artist, who is known for his formaldehyde sculptures and installations, has mentioned his openness to adopting new technologies, and NFT piqued his interest about four years ago. He decided to present The Currency as his entry into digital art, which challenges the concept of value through money and art. Hirst has always been a provocative artist, playing with the idea of ​​daring the audience on the perception of value and how it affects their overall decision. With the time limit, he tests the boundaries between physical and digital art and how a collector uses their art and currency in the modern age.

images courtesy of HENI

NFT vs. physical artwork by The Currency

As HENI says, The Currency is a collection of 10,000 NFTs equivalent to 10,000 unique pieces of physical art stored in a secure vault in the UK. ‘The collection is on the Palm blockchain, which is a new token-driven ecosystem for NFTs connected to Ethereum. It is 99% more energy efficient than proof of work systems like Ethereum or Bitcoin. It also has low gas costs and quick transaction completion,’ says the gallery. Each of the unique 10,000 hand-painted works is launched as NFTs on the blockchain and is uniquely titled and numbered from 1 to 10,000. A machine learning system generates and applies the number to a specific artwork whose title comes with some of the artist’s favorite song lyrics. Through this, the collector decides how they will use their art and currency. ‘Keep it, trade it, change it, use it, enjoy it,’ as the gallery puts it.

HENI guarantees the rarity of Hirst’s paintings. The machine learning algorithm it uses identifies the features of each work, analyzes and ranks it among 10,000 from the number of drips and splashes to the texture of the paint. Collectors are able to compare and filter the rarities across the entire repertoire of The Currency. “For example, 1.22% of the works from the series have profanity in the title, which translates to only 122 works,” explains the gallery. Another example HENI shares is through the overlaps and the density of the dots which at first glance may seem similar. Some spots sit on top of each other while other paintings have space-out particles. Overlap is scored from 0 to 1, with 1 being the highest value and a higher score indicating more overlap.

The Currency by Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst’s most exciting project to date

Hirst began working on the physical artwork in 2016, whose spot paintings have been called a recognizable theme in contemporary art. He has long been fascinated by the concepts of ownership and collection, and by entering the world of NFT, he continues his curiosity about art’s use of technology and materiality. His artwork explores the boundaries of art and currency: when art changes and becomes a currency, and when currency becomes art. “The Currency is a work of art and anyone who buys it will participate in this work, it’s not just about owning it. It is the most exciting project I have ever worked on, says the artist. Check the live update here.

The signature of Damien Hirst

a hologram of the artist