Gold macht blind (Gold makes you blind) bracelet

Bracelet
Rubber, gold
spherical diameter 1.2 cm
In constant production since 1980

Available in various sizes

Gold is from stone, out of mountains. It spends millions of years in darkness before breaking out, before its shine appears. Because of its constancy - which underpins its claim to eternity - this unique yellow hue and great reflective quality, almost all cultures have made of it a symbol of light, sun and the celestial. Medieval goldsmiths and those of Antiquity created out of sheets of gold the reflection of the divine.

Only with decline of traditional craft forms and pursuits did gold jewellery become empty of content, interchangeable, arbitrary. In 1980 I stopped using gold for a while because of considerations like these, social changes in the late 1970s and certain personal experiences. I wanted to achieve detachment in the hope that, after a period of abstinence, I would be able to re-appraise gold. A 'final work with gold' was created as a manifestation of this decision: a bangle of black rubber, the interior consisting of a golden ball - like a snake with a small elephant in tis belly. It was time for gold to return to the darkness.

Otto Künzli