Statement
In 2022, a New Zealand auction house offered its first NFT sale, featuring two digital works paired with historical glass plate photographs from which the corresponding image were taken. The successful bidder would also receive a small brass hammer – which the auction house’s Director of Art implied should be used to destroy the original plates, "to make them permanently digital". The story attracted an international attention, and the sale far exceeded its initial estimates. Seperately, artist Philippe Braquenier received a collection of glass plates from a resident of his hometown, who had heard he was a photographer – offering him the responsibility to take care of them. For this project, images from the set are available for sale, though the buyer has an obligation to destroy them, as was intended by the auction house. These pictures, however, have been duplicated on safety glass; the final results are then displayed on a custom-built brass shelve.
