precariedades / precarities, 2024
photo-performance
Chimú masks are funerary masks from the Chimú culture (1000-1470 AD, Northern coast of Peru) generally made of a single sheet of gold, some of which can be found in the collection of the Museum of Gold in Lima, Peru. In the early 2000s, an investigation concluded that up to 90% of the artifacts showcased at the time by the Museum of Gold were, in fact, fakes. Responding to this found article, I recreate the Chimú mask using a precarious material – a piece of golden tin foil – and moulding it with my own face. I am interested on how value is manufactured - with museums acting both as fictions and as creators of value, as well as on the socially-constructed value of gold and financial wealth, and its distribution.
