It’s the new gold standard for cringe.A knee-high cube composed of 186 kilograms of pure 24-karat gold and surrounded by its own security detail sat on an icy patch of slush in Central Park for one day only Wednesday, according to a press release. “The Castello Cube” in Central Park on Feb. 2.The art installation called “The Castello Cube” was also elaborately teased by the German artist who conceived it, Niclas Castello. Taking a page out of Taylor Swift’s hype book of project promotion, Castello plastered mysterious coordinates (which were to be the location of the cube) on the sides of trucks. The vehicles drove around Times Square for days before the slab of yellow precious metal — which has a hollow core, per The New York Times — was revealed.The artist behind the golden cube is Niclas Castello.Castello told the website Artnet that his cube is not for sale, but its material worth is around $11.7 million. He also shared the idea behind his work with the outlet saying he wanted to “create something that is beyond our world — that is intangible.”But just like the very tangible 410-pound block of gold that had its materials literally derived from our world, the real meaning behind the piece is not that abstract. It’s essentially a very elaborate advertisement for Castello’s new cryptocurrency. Castello Coin will be available for purchase at an initial price of €0.39 ($0.44) each, with an accompanying NFT auction scheduled for Feb. 21, Artnet reported. Castello with “The Castello Cube” in Central Park.Cindy Ord via Getty ImagesAnd if you’re wondering how Costello got the funds to pull off this weird advertising campaign, the Times reports that the artist privately presold enough of his digital currency to finance this project. Oh, and according to photos provided in the press release, the gold cube also made it’s way to a fancy-looking Wall Street party after it sat in the frigid cold of Central Park on Wednesday.The cube at Cipriani Wall Street.Yet, according to a report by Vice, there seems to be some aspects of the cryptocurrency campaign that remain somewhat cryptic — like Castello not being listed as part of the team behind the coin or even an adviser to the project on the Castello Coin website. Vice also pointed out that despite the the project debuting in New York City, U.S. citizens are not eligible to participate.And due to the bizarro 2022 tech bro nature of the project and the excessiveness of the gold cube, people on social media couldn’t help but make fun of it. Read the best nuggets from Twitter below. I am going to steal this cube The theft will be performance art You can’t prosecute me for my art, I have a first amendment https://t.co/DCkOHv8Df2— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) February 3, 2022
“Yeah I’m gonna make a $11.7 million worth gold cube and put it right here as a fuck to every poor people in the area, then at the end of the day im gonna take it back to a rich people party!”— Mx. White (@Nayade_bleu) February 3, 2022
has anybody seen my gold cube i know i had yesterday when i was walking around midtown and now i can’t find it— andy™ (@andylevy) February 3, 2022
I had a friend who lived with his dog, Cookie, in the rock formations at Central Park. When Cookie got sick, there was only one vet who’d treat her for free, so every day he walked 100+ blocks to the Bronx because he couldn’t afford subway fare.But sure, let’s add a gold cube. https://t.co/ANbdpAyYJG— Sarah McGonagall (@gothspiderbitch) February 3, 2022
I hate that the first thought I had after “This is absolutely obscene” was “Does the security detail tackle you if you try to lick the gold cube” https://t.co/F4MVJo4NjJ— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) February 3, 2022
If you ever feel like maybe you’re not good enough, just remember that there’s an artist out there who had access to $11.7 million in gold and the best he could come up with was a cube https://t.co/CUfbspk7dC— Willie Muse (@Williesillie2) February 3, 2022