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Observation Point Square and OXO Tower Wharf

Crypto Connection on the Thames

London, UK

  • Federico Clapis' bronze Crypto Connection at Observation Point on London's South Bank, a foetus holding a smartphone inside a pregnant torso, Thames behind
  • Children and passers-by around Crypto Connection by Federico Clapis on the South Bank in London, the mirror-polished plinth reflecting their legs
  • Visitors photograph Federico Clapis' Crypto Connection with their phones at Observation Point, London, the River Thames and cranes in the background
  • A toddler looks up at the back of Crypto Connection, Federico Clapis' polished bronze pregnant torso on a mirrored plinth, South Bank, London
  • Crypto Connection by Federico Clapis at dusk on the South Bank promenade in London, under the trees beside the Thames railings
  • Close view of Crypto Connection by Federico Clapis on London's South Bank: the foetus in the open belly looks at a smartphone, warm evening light
  • Crypto Connection by Federico Clapis beside the brick facade of OXO Tower Wharf in London, the bronze torso on a gold mirror-finish plinth

Crypto Connection is a polished bronze sculpture by Federico Clapis, about three metres tall, installed in public space on London's South Bank, at Observation Point on the Thames between the OXO Tower and the BFI. The work was commissioned by Eidoo, a company developing a multi-currency crypto wallet, which presented it as the first public sculpture devoted to the cryptocurrency ecosystem and kept it on view for about ten days. The installation views also show the piece beside the brick facade of OXO Tower Wharf.

The sculpture depicts the torso of a pregnant woman, opened at the belly to reveal a foetus absorbed in a smartphone, set on a mirror-finish plinth that reflects the paving and the passers-by. Photographed against the river and the skyline, it drew walkers, children and tourists, many of whom recorded it with their own phones, a reaction that seems to extend the subject of the work. The classical medium and the contemporary subject were meant to raise questions about the future of finance and the effect of cryptocurrencies on the generations to come; Clapis, as he often does, leaves the interpretation open to viewers.

The project brought into a monumental public format the theme that runs through his sculpture and video art: technology as a metaphor for the present, observed from the moment before birth. It also anticipated his move into crypto art: the baby from the sculpture later became an NFT titled Little by little.

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