You can put a price on art but not on the idea. Sometimes the idea that costs millions can be done in a much more economical way but can anyone genuinely debate with an artist to compromise on a vision over money? My introduction is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the 3D-Printed Solid Gold Avocado Bagel worth an eye-watering $2.9 million. It is a gold bagel, it could’ve been any other material, but it certainly wouldn’t have made so much brouhaha. What good is art if it’s not spoken about, right? Millennial artist Tim Bengel is undoubtedly lucky in that aspect as the world knows of his art and its unusualness.
Two years ago, he revealed his public art installation called ‘Flower Skull Cemetery’ at the prestigious Berlin Art Week. This year’s Berlin Art Week starts on Wednesday, September 15, and Bengel’s bagel will yet again be one of the most talked-about subjects owing to its precious nature and staggering price-tag in addition to artistry and idea. Though much smaller in scale to his previous work, his ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ sculpture is one costly bagel to digest. The artist began the process with a real sliced pumpkin bagel, five tomato slices, five onion rings, five slices of avocado, and ten arugula leaves.
He then 3D printed the ingredients using liquid gold worth a whopping $354,000. In this piece of art, the avocado isn’t “just” an avocado but has a more profound significance. Bengel explains in his Instagram video, “For me, the avocado is one of the symbols of the Millennial generation, and I want to capture the Zeitgeist in this work.” He dubs avocado as green gold, one that is just as valuable for the current MZ generation. “It’s clear to me; the avocado is taking a key role in our Millennial culture,” he said. This bauble-of-a-bagel weighs more than 26 pounds and comes in a particular case for its display.
[Via: Food & Wine]
