This is a mystery about gold. And bees. And glass blowing.
Follow the clues and there’ll be a knock on your door. Open the delivered box, and you’ll find an 18k gold pendant encapsulated by a pyramid of New York rooftop honey.
Congratulations, you’re now an art collector.
That’s the premise — or one of the possible premises — behind Oliphaunt: a clandestine art consortium now accepting limited members for “quarterly object subscriptions.”
Yes, mystery art delivered.
Developed by the artist behind LES curio shop Occulter, Oliphaunt works like this:
1. Sign up via email. You’re going to receive four limited-edition mystery works of art per year (for $1,200. Read on).
2. You’ll receive an “induction kit” with artist bios, a member ID enumerating your place among only 100 subscribers, and a white brass mastodon tusk member pin (because what’s a secret art society without a way to identify your fellow members).
3. To build suspense, Oliphaunt sends monthly letterpressed newsletters packed with cryptic clues — like say, the aforementioned mystery about gold, honey, and glass blowing.
4. You’ll receive your artwork. Something like that pendant pyramid, presented in an airtight glass bell jar. Weird awesome stuff, limited strictly to Oliphaunt members.
5. Each quarterly work is signed by the artist and numbered with your member ID.
Now the only mystery is why you weren’t an art collector earlier.
This article was featured in the InsideHook NY newsletter. Sign up now for more from all five boroughs.
