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. Separately, I received in 2008 a collection of glass plates from a resident of my hometown, who had heard I was a photographer – offering me the responsibility to take care and make good use of them.
With this personal collection, I then explore the thematics of conservation, sustainability and the artist's position inside the art market through the NFT's speculative era. The 612 archive images have been digitized and some of them have been duplicated on 44-2 safety glass to make them metaphorically indestructible. Those glass pictures were then displayed on a custom-built brass shelve while digital copies are available for sale from an online platform.
Exhibition view from 'One of a kind' - The Ravestijn Gallery - September 2022
Interview clip from Newshub
Exhibition view from 'One of a kind' - The Ravestijn Gallery - September 2022
Exhibition view from 'One of a kind' - The Ravestijn Gallery - September 2022
