Unreal Fortune

In May of 2020, I filled jars with air from the meadow and put them up for sale on Etsy for a horrendous price. That work was about putting value on invaluable resources, such as, at the time, COVID-free air. Air which wasn’t cycled through over and over again. As opposed to the air in the apartments of people forced to quarantine.

None of the jars have been sold yet, and I've been living with 10 jars of air priced at 15 000 € each for 5 years now. It’s a curious state of quantum superposition. They are worth that much because I proclaimed it so. They are not worth that much because no one has paid for them yet. 

As a result, I’ve been walking through life as a struggling artist and a very rich person simultaneously.

The title has a double, indeterminate meaning. On the one hand, ‘unreal fortune’ can be seen as ‘unbelievable luck’. On the other hand, it’s just ‘virtual, imaginary wealth’. As the idea and collection of jars, they have no problem existing without being classified as truth. Until they are sold, that is.

Over the years, I came up with so many slogans to help my work reach its final shape.

Whiff of simpler times? (A morbid joke about the pandemic being nothing compared to what is happening in the world currently).

Prank Christmas gift for the 1% (nozzled between another expensive watch and a packet of shares of this or the other corporation).

I’m standing in my unwavering conviction that one day, hopefully soon, a patron will find me for whom it’s not that much money. 

They engage with my whimsy, measure the spin of worthiness and collapse the infinity into a purchase. 

Overall, the work speaks about a possibly delusional hope for a big break, patience and unwavering faith.