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Parked outside a trendy South London art gallery on a crisp October afternoon, there’s a sleek black Mercedes limousine and it’s a good bet it’s waiting for one Damien Hirst – one of the world’s richest artists.
This is Newport Street Gallery, a Victorian former scene painting factory that Hirst, 57, spent a cool £36million to turn into a showroom dedicated to his own works.
And today, the former enfant terrible of British art, famed for such controversial works as a formaldehyde-cured tiger shark, is somewhere within its walls – preparing for his latest attempt to spark outrage.
It’s tempting to suggest to the waiting driver that he should keep his engine running – just in case his passenger has to flee in a hurry.
As each dotted piece of art is claimed by the flames, the heat in the gallery is intense, but Hirst moves around energetically, sometimes sticking his tongue out wildly for no good reason
After all, he proposes to illuminate thousands of his paintings in public – and many of those patiently queuing outside to witness the spectacle are the owners of those same works.
Strangely enough, they have gathered not to protest, but to encourage him in destroying their Hirst originals in what is either artistic genius or the most ridiculous publicity stunt ever devised.
The master of self-promotion, Hirst knows just how to lure the media in, including the Daily Mail
Finally, there’s a glimpse of the high priest himself – the well-known stocky figure dressed in silver pants like a space-age Willy Wonka, who burns his artwork on one of the stoves across the room
As the long line winds into the old brick warehouse, the strong smell of wood smoke from the gallery hits us.
Hirst clearly means business, and our first glimpse of what lies ahead can be seen on large TV screens showing live footage of the preparations.
An assortment of newspaper photographers and TV crews is visible in one corner of the screen.
The master of self-promotion, Hirst knows exactly how to lure the media in, including the Daily Mail.
But perhaps the strangest thing of all is that no one in this line thinks that what we are about to see is completely strange.
Indeed, it is like coming across a cult whose members reverently wait to worship their deity.
So how did we get here? In July 2021, after producing 10,000 unique ‘dot’ paintings, each measuring just 8 by 12 inches, Hirst assigned each of them a ‘non-fungible token’ (NFT), a unique digital token encoded with the signature by an artist to verify its ownership and authenticity.
He sold the NFTs for around £1,700 each and then offered buyers a choice: they could exchange the NFT for the physical artwork, in which case the NFT would be ‘destroyed’ (removed).
4,851 chose to hold on to their NFTs with their accompanying paintings set ablaze in a public conflagration that will extend over many days – beginning with a ceremonial burning, led by Hirst himself.
Or they can choose to burn the physical artwork and keep the NFT.
More than half of the collectors (5149) decided to keep their physical works of art, but 4,851 chose to keep their NFTs with their accompanying paintings set ablaze in a public conflagration that will span many days – starting with a ceremonial burning, presided over by Hirst himself.
Among those patiently waiting to see their work destroyed is 39-year-old Paul Robinson, a London-based architect.
While he loved the idea of having a painting of Hirst in his house, he prefers the “adventure” to see what will happen to the value of his NFT.
“I’m excited to see where it all leads,” he says. “And I like that it involves you a little bit with Damien’s art.”
Husband and wife Arsen and Majda Pletenac came all the way from Croatia.
They own two of the paintings and have chosen to have one destroyed and keep the other.
About a dozen of Hirst’s assistants busily move back and forth, each in orange overalls and heat-resistant gloves, as they lift their next painting from the piles on the central tables and lower it into the flames.
‘Art always sees the introduction of new media and NFTs are the latest’, says Arsen, an artist herself. “I think Damien is using them in the best possible way. It’s very imaginative.’
And so we climb the winding wooden stairs in small groups, before being led to a huge white-walled gallery with five wood-burning stoves along the edges.
About a dozen of Hirst’s assistants busily move back and forth, each in orange overalls and heat-resistant gloves, as they lift their next painting from the piles on the central tables and lower it into the flames.
Finally, there’s a glimpse of the high priest himself – the well-known stocky figure dressed in silver pants like a space-age Willy Wonka, who is burning his artwork on one of the stoves across the room.
As each dotted piece of art is claimed by the flames, the heat in the gallery is intense, but Hirst moves around energetically, sometimes sticking his tongue out wildly for no good reason.
In the end, he graces our side of the room as he explains that he doesn’t mind destroying the paintings as they will continue to exist as NFTs.
“People who only believe in physical art get very upset at the idea of burning it,” he says.
“But people who believe in NFTs celebrate if you burn the paintings yourself.”
He disputes my question whether this can be considered art at all.
“Who knows what art is?” he asks. “It’s like trying to convince people who don’t believe in God that there is a God.
“I mean, does it matter?”
With that he disappears again towards the photographers – our audience is over.
Outside, our clothes stink of smoke, but everyone seems genuinely excited about the experience, not least because the value of their NFTs has soared since they bought them.
‘At one point I was paid £42,000 for mine,’ says Paul Robinson. He expects the price to rise even higher now, but outside the bubble of the Hirst gallery, local residents are not convinced.
‘People who buy NFTs are playing a game,’ says one man as he puts out his bins. “They’re the Emperor’s new clothes and one day they’ll regret not having the physical artifact.”
He may have a point. The recent, much-discussed crash of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin overshadowed an equally sharp decline in the market for NFTs, not that Hirst has much to worry about.
When I go home, the black Mercedes is still waiting for him in the autumn sun. Obviously, the art trade – whatever art is now – is lucrative for those who do showmanship right.
No doubt Hirst’s fans who have put their trust – and their thousands – behind his NFTs are praying that one day their investment won’t go up in smoke either.