Mercury makes Mad – 2026

Mercury makes Mad, 2026

Blown borosilicate glass, 1‑gram Swiss gold ingot reduced to powder, 2 grams of mercury

With Mercury makes Mad (2025) I sought to materialize the danger associated with the use of mercury in gold extraction. One-gram gold bar, made in Switzerland, was ground into powder and inserted into the borosilicate glass tube with two grams of mercury. Technical constraints prevented the creation of a fully sealed tube. Moreover, the mercury must not be heated, under risk of producing extremely toxic vapors. The technician thus knowingly reproduced an operation that is now completely prohibited, which historically affected many glassblowers specialized in the production of thermometers and fluorescent tubes. Here the gold remains invisible, amalgamated with the mercury. Wearing the bracelet or extracting the gold entails a risk of contaminatoin and poisoning. Its speculative value is nullified, its iconic function disabled.