First, there were aliens. Then, there were angry Utahns. Now, there is...a group of artists who specialize in larger-than-life stunts.
A community of artists known as The Most Famous Artist has posted photos and clues on its website and social media channels that seem to take credit for the triple-sided metal monoliths that have been popping up. In mid November, one monolith was spotted in a remote area of federally-managed desert land in Utah. A second was later spotted in Romania (which may or may not be by a copycat). And just Monday, hikers spotted a third sculpture in Atascadero, California.
The mystery of the monoliths has gripped the internet, with people alternatively suspecting aliens, or a self-promotional stunt from a brand.
The answer, it appears, falls somewhere in between. The Most Famous Artist posted two photos on its Instagram account of the monoliths, one from the Utah site, and the other apparently in transit on a dolly near a warehouse. It posted a third photo of the Atascadero site on its website. When followers in the Instagram comments ask "Was it you?," the account repeatedly responds "if by you you mean us, yes."
No photos of the Romanian one have been posted on social media or the website, but when asked if it was connected to the other two, the founder of the group told Mashable, "I only had 3 spots for photos on my site." That third spot was filled with the dolly shot. The webpage has more than three photos on it, so take that cheeky response as you will.
The founder, Matty Mo, is known for works that critique and — as his name implies — question the value or meaning of art, and the status-driven hype of art collecting. Members of The Most Famous Artist have collaborated on high-profile (and sometimes illegal) stunts before, such as the pink house and the fake jet. Members also take on solo projects, like Zachary Fernandez, aka Jesus Hands, who transformed LA's famous "Hollywood" sign to read "Hollyweed."
Mashable reached Mo via Twitter direct message. Despite the fact that his collective has added a section of its website devoted to the monoliths, Mo would neither confirm nor deny that he was taking credit, and wouldn't share additional proof.
"I am not able to say much because of legalities of the original installation," Mo wrote via DM. "I can say we are well known for stunts of this nature and at this time we are offering authentic art objects through monoliths-as-a-service. I cannot issue additional images at this time but I can promise more on this in the coming days and weeks."
The San Juan County Sheriff's office and the Bureau of Land Management have paired up to investigate the monolith placed on federal land in Utah. That one was toppled and removed in the dead of night by four men who were upset about the sculpture's impact on the land, both in terms of the monolith's installation and the crowds coming to take photos with it.
One head-scratching aspect of The Most Famous Artist's sort-of-maybe credit claiming is that the collective is putting up monoliths for sale for the low, low price of $45,000, which they are calling "monoliths as a service." Whether you'll actually get a monolith if you pony up the cash remains to be seen. Given the financial aspect here, the artists inserting themselves into the narrative of this stunt could just be a way to make money — also possibly it could be critiquing art collectors' willingness to pay big bucks to get in on a cultural moment. Then again, being actually behind the monolith stunts would achieve that same extremely meta end.
Alternatively, the act of claiming credit could just be "the art" itself that Mo is going for. Yes, yes, the writer here realizes that by writing this article, she is indeed playing into this potential commentary on our societal obsession with anonymity and...ow my head hurts.
The world will have to wait for that so-called additional proof. In the meantime, when Mashable asked Mo "in god's name, WHY?" he had a maddening response befitting the underwhelming ending the embittered internet was expecting.
"What better way to end this fucked up year than let the world briefly think aliens made contact only to be disappointed that it’s just The Most Famous Artist playing tricks again."
UPDATE: Dec. 4, 2020, 1:16 p.m. EST
Matty Mo has been posting more photos and videos as promised, and we're still not quite sure what to make of them. The latest posts on social media depict "concept art" the artist claims are from August 2020. There is also a video showing a three-dimensional virtual rendering.
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There are more potential clues on Instagram. One apparent collaborator, Carlos Estrada, aka @sliizzz on Instagram, posted "did me and @themostfamousartist make the monolith?" The Most Famous Artist responded in their own story: "NOT NO."
Another possible collaborator is photographer Erik Junke, aka @photojunke on Instagram. Junke imposes vertical strips of color gradients on landscape and other photos. Back in September and October, they posted two such gradient images of the California desert, and captioned the posts "Doorway" and "Doorway II." Junke also tagged both posts #monolith. Junke posted several of these images to their Story — which The Most Famous Artist reposted — with the following tantalizing captions.
"Are people talking about monoliths or something? It's like they didn't see it coming."
"They're everywhere and there will be plenty more to locate. Go straight to the source to find out more and get your very own @TheMostFamousArtist @TMFACommunity"
"A lot have asked if 'I' knew all along... It's not 'I' folks, it's 'we.' It's @tmfacommunity."
Also, here's a shot from this weekend's trip to Big Sur. Who knows, maybe the next monolith will be found there?"
We shall see!!
UPDATE: Dec. 8, 2020, 5:27 p.m. EST This story has been corrected to note Zachary Fernandez, who is a member of The Most Famous Artist collective, was behind the Hollyweed stunt.
