Catalogue For What It's Worth

Artist’s Proofs for A Moment of Darkness are a series of studies of positions and materials for the sculpture A Moment of Darkness part of the series Fragments of a Conversation with a Counterfeiter. These Artist’s Proofs contain a secret: the fingerprints of the hands and face of the forger, impressed by the casting process.

The sculpture A Moment of Darkness is an aluminium cement sculpture, life-cast and constructed to resemble the forger, who is posing without revealing his identity. Inside this anonymous sculpture of the forger, a metal sheet engraved with the key-code granting access to 1 Bitcoin, is hidden. The artistic value of the sculpture and the hidden value of the cryptocurrency are coexisting within this work. Each is susceptible to the floating valuation of specific markets, trade fluctuations and investment security. Both are held within their set form and underline the notion of belief in relation to the creation of worth. And so, access to these values is either possible in the long run, or after a destructive action.
In order to share the appropriated forger’s ideas with the international audience, to activate and perform them, the artist has registered the works as trade secrets at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property. The validity of the trade secret is international and lasts 10 years.

Read more about Fragments of a Conversation with a Counterfeiter on: http://diegotonus.com/work/a-moment-of-darkness/

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