New York’s new Gilded Age: Cube made from pure gold that’s worth $11.7million appears in Central Park as security team stands guard over 410-pound sculpture made by German artist
- A cube made from 410lbs of pure 24-karat gold was made and placed in Central Park
- It was created by 43-year-old German artist Niclas Castello and required a special kiln
- Gold was purchased at $1,788 per ounce – the entire artwork valued at $11.7m
- A security team is now on site the entire time guarding the work
A German artist has created a cube made from pure gold and dumped it in the middle of Central Park.
Made from pure, 24-carat, 999.9 fine gold and weighing 410lbs, Niclas Castello took more than 4,500 hours to create it. The cube is not solid all the way and has a hollow core.
The gold was purchased at $1,788 per ounce with the entire artwork valued at $11.7 million.
The work itself is unique but it was also developed to draw publicity to the artist’s own cryptocoin, known a ‘Castello Coin’ that was launched at the same time.
A cube made from 410lbs of pure 24-karat gold was made and placed in Central Park on Thursday
T-he entire artwork valued at $11.7million. A security team is now on site the entire time guarding the work
The artwork was unveiled at a special dinner in New York City on Wednesday night
For the last few days, huge screens in Times Square have been displaying some mysterious coordinates: N 40° 46′ 22″ / W 73° 58′ 17″ which is the location of the golden cube in Central Park
Such is the value of the object, a security team has been employed to keep watch over the cube at all time which is just over a foot and a half in dimension and about quarter of an inch thick.
The work of art, named the Castello CUBE, was manufactured in the Art Foundry H. Rüetschi in Aarau, Switzerland and required a handmade kiln to be created that was large enough to hold the volume of the gold.
The kiln was heated up high enough to melt gold bars at 1,100 degrees Celsius for it to be recast.
‘Never before in the history of humanity has such an enormous amount of gold been cast into a single, pure object. Gold – the eternal metal. Symbol of the sun, of light, of the good,’ Castello wrote.
Those visiting the cube on Thursday were mixed on its appeal.
‘The reflections are incredible,’ said Brigitte Bentele to the New York Times. ‘Putting it there in the snow seems really inspired.’
Private security guard, Jamel Rabel, was appalled by the amount of gold used.
‘Never before in the history of humanity has such an enormous amount of gold been cast into a single, pure object. It’s pretty plain,’ he said.
It was created by German artist Niclas Castello, pictured, who unveiled the art project on Thursday
Niclas Castello is seen pictured next to his Cube in a snowy Central Park on Thursday morning with long black hair and bright blue glasses
The cube has been drawing curious onlookers, although there is no chance they will be able to run off with it at 410lbs
Press photographers took the opportunity to picture Niclas standing next to his cube on Thursday
Central Park tourists stopped to take phots of the golden cube
Parkgoers appeared to be enchanted by the sight of the golden cube close to the Naumburg Bandshell
‘The work is a conceptual work of art in all its facets.’ He said the idea was to ‘create something that is beyond our world — that is intangible.’
For the last few days, huge screens in Times Square have been displaying some mysterious coordinates: N 40° 46′ 22″ / W 73° 58′ 17″.
The numbers lead directly to the work of at the Naumburg Bandshell in the southern portion of the park. The golden cube was placed there on Thursday morning.
Not everyone approved of the expensive artwork with rising levels of poverty and homelessness in New York City.
‘The $11.7 million gold cube sitting in Central Park should be melted down and the proceeds should go to the poor and people without homes,’ wrote one.
‘I had a friend who lived with his dog, Cookie, in the rock formations at Central Park. When Cookie got sick, there was only one vet who’d treat her for free, so every day he walked 100+ blocks to the Bronx because he couldn’t afford subway fare. But sure, let’s add a gold cube,’ wrote Sarah McGonagall.
Not everyone approved of the expensive artwork with rising levels of poverty and homelessness in New York City
Part of the production process is captured in this photograph where the gold had to be heated to 1,100 degrees Celsius
German artist Niclas Castello is pictured hard at work as he creates his golden cube
Castello is seen engraving some of the individual gold bars that were used to melt into a cube
The cube is just over a foot and a half in dimension and about quarter of an inch thick
The work of art, named the Castello CUBE, was manufactured in the Art Foundry H. Rüetschi in Aarau, Switzerland
Gold bars were brought in to melt down. The gold was purchased at $1,788 per ounce
Niclas Castello signed and dated his latest project
The bars were all lined up on a table in Switzerland ready to be melted down and recast into a cube
The cube stands out in the darkness while still on site in Switzerland
Art historian, Dr. Dieter Buchhart, says he considers the cube to be ‘unique in the history of art’ since there were no models as to how such an object could be created.
‘The cube can be seen as a sort of communiqué between an emerging 21st-century cultural ecosystem based on crypto and the ancient world where gold reigned supreme,’ Gallerist Lisa Kandlhofer told ArtNet.
Castello, who was born in East Germany in 1978 but now lives and work in both New York and Switzerland. is also launching his own cryptocurrency, called the Castello Coin, to coincide with his latest work of art.
The general public first got to see the cube at a dinner in New York on Wednesday night
The cube was the focus of attention at a celebratory dinner on Wednesday evening
The gold shone as it was give center stage at its own launch event on Wednesday
Castello is spotted at the launch of his latest art project at Cipriani Wall Street
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