Damien Hirst, a world-renowned contemporary artist, spoke about the similarities and differences between works of art and fiat currencies as he prepares to drop 10,000 NFTs on his real paintings.

Speaking to Andrew Thurman of Cointelegraph in his London studio in May, Hirst answered questions the 8-ball manner by opening one of his boxes of hundreds of leaves. currency Artwork collection and read a sentence on the back of the paper. While instant answers aren’t always on the topic – is Satoshi really a cliché? – the artist laughed at the absurdity of continuing to express his opinion about money and art.

In particular, Hirst said that people believe money has value because it has “a bit of art,” an argument similar to what many critics have discussed about pumps and token sales on the internet based on premium metrics, ie to add a little zest to a project. The artist said he would “like” if someone could use it one day currency Artwork as real currency with its value as inedible token, but do you think most people would choose to keep the real painting. With this in mind, he still sees technology as a definitive revolution in the art world.

“I only see [NFTs] said Hirst. “I see it like inventing paper.”

He added:

“We lived in a world where you could have artwork, prints, and publications, and then it seemed like you could have artwork, prints, editions, and NFTs. […] with NFTs, I think it’s changing the world, and it’s going to change the world. “

Hirst invented the physics behind it currency in 2016, long before many people in the crypto space or the art world knew about unusable tokens or NFTs. He plans to have art enthusiasts buy each “tender” – a high-resolution photo of one of 10,000 unique paintings with colored dots – for $ 2,000 as they want to keep the NFT or trade in for the physical version.

Connected: British artist Damien Hirst uses NFT to blur the line between art and money

The British artist didn’t abstain from voicing his views on creators staying in control of their work and says he’s upset that apps like iTunes seem to have taken ownership of musicians. However, he said NFTs allow artists to own their work:

“You can own something digital and it can be yours,” says Hirst.

The currency will open to users on Wednesday so anyone can sign up to purchase one of 10,000 NFTs. The application deadline is July 21st.