First emerging on to the art scene in the early 1990s, British artist Damien Hirst is known as a disruptor of the industry. From displaying dead animals in formaldehyde tanks to encrusting skulls with diamonds, the artist is known for his surprising, and sometimes controversial, practice. In 2008, Hirst broke records when his two day Sotheby’s sale became the most expensive one-artist auction in history. Controversially, the artist boycotted galleries and gave the artworks directly to the auction house, meaning Hirst only had to split his profits with Sotheby’s. The auction, dubbed ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’, made $200.75 million, with Hirst walking away with $172 million. Condemned by critics for favouring money over art, this auction would not be the last time Hirst would come under fire for his lucrative art projects.
Between 27th July 2021 and 2022, the artist launched his latest project entitled ‘The Currency’. It gave his collectors the opportunity to purchase 10,000 unique NFTs through a lottery system. Each digital work correlated to a physical piece and it was up to the collector to make the choice between the two. Once decided whether the buyer would keep the digital work, or trade in the NFT in favour of a version on paper, its counterpart would be destroyed.
Now ended, the project has raised around $89 million but it has proved much more than just Hirst’s money-making abilities. ‘The Currency’ poses larger questions about the longevity of the NFT market, essentially urging participants to pit the pros and cons of digital art against physical art. At the end the one year trading window, Hirst announced that 5,149 buyers exchanged their NFTs for physical works, leaving 4,851 collectors deciding to stick with their original digital purchase. It seems that in the great battle of NFT vs. physical, Hirst’s project demonstrates that physical art triumphs - but only just.
However, there are other factors we must consider. Firstly, the NFT market now is not the same booming market it was back in July 2021 when Hirst first launched his project. In fact, the crash of Crypto, coined ‘crypto winter’, started to take full hold by the end of the one year duration and this is reflected in Hirst’s sales statistics. In July 2022, only 170 sales of ‘The Currency’ took place compared to 2,036 sales in July the previous year when crypto was at its peak.
Although this can partly be attributed to his project losing awareness, the effects of the crypto bear market are also reflected in the secondary prices of ‘The Currency’. While secondary estimates of the NFTs remain at approximately $7,500, one of the painted works sold at Phillips in January for $26,000, demonstrating further insight into the NFT vs. physical battle.
Whether you are a fan of Hirst or condemn his brazen attitude towards the art market, it is undeniable that ‘The Currency’ holds merit in its exploration of attitudes towards contemporary art today.