The Artist: Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst is a renowned contemporary artist known for his provocative exploration of themes like mortality, value, and the commodification of art. Hirst’s venture into blockchain was questioned by those who saw tokenized art as a break from the old guard. His first collection, ‘The Currency’ marked a tentative step toward non fungible artworks where the collector would have to decide whether the painting or the token was more desired.
“The Currency is an artwork, and anyone who buys it will participate in this work, it's not just about owning it.”
The Collection: "The Currency"
The Currency launched in July 2021, put 10,000 unique hand-painted works on paper into direct competition with 10,000 of a corresponding NFT. Hirst gave buyers a choice: keep the physical artwork or exchange it for the digital token, with the unselected option being destroyed. This conceptual experiment forces collectors to confront their perceptions of value, permanence, and the evolving nature of ownership in the digital age.
After the Exchange deadline, on 27th July 2022, the final NFT Supply is 4,851 NFTs. 5,149 NFTs were burned in exchange for the physical artworks. The physical artworks currently sell for more than the tokenized digital version. This difference is mostly due to Hirst’s traditional art legacy. Cryptoart embraces its own artists who were ‘brought up on the blockchain streets’ in a way where the digital almost always accrues the value.
A Specific Artwork: "Join me, I need you" #7450
Among the individual works in The Currency, ‘Join me, I need you’ #7450 exemplifies the collection’s unique aesthetic and conceptual depth. Featuring Hirst’s signature colorful dots, each arranged in an intricate pattern, the piece conveys the vibrancy and individuality of the entire series.
Currency Title Traits
The artwork titles, were randomly generated, adding another layer of serendipity to its creation. Single titled variants (43) of the artwork fetch a premium as do the longer titled works.
