2015 - 2016
Free golden samples, print on Awagami Bamboo paper, dimensions variable

Les Nouveaux chercheurs d’or (The New Gold Diggers) addresses the complexity and opacity of international distribution networks through a series of samples of gold products ordered for free on the internet. If their preciousness may seem artificial at first glance, these laminate, goatskin or bubble wrap samples does nevertheless have required a huge amount of technical and human resources, often passing by several different countries.
Via a similar approach to that of an archaeologist or a naturalist, we methodically collected as much as possible information on the physical and technical characteristics, legal aspects, intermediate production or financial arrangements for companies, to develop a real typology of golden materials. The result of these detailed investigations, obtained by extensive research on the internet as well as direct contact under false identities, is strictly organized and presented under the samples.