INSIGHTS

Why Gold, Anma Pota?

I was six or seven years old when I received a Swiss gold coin for Christmas — a Gold Vreneli.
The reaction of those around me was part of the magic.
Suddenly, this small object became something special.
I showed it to everyone: friends, classmates, strangers.
I carried the coin with me — always.
One day, it was gone.

There was searching, agitation, reproach.
The loss intensified its meaning.
It was not the material value that mattered, but the feeling:
gold is more than metal.

The coin reappeared later —
in the toy cash register of my little sister.
She must have been short of small change.

Since then, gold has accompanied me.
Not only emotionally, but also rationally.

All the gold ever mined by humanity would form a cube
with an edge length of around 22 meters —
approximately 120,000 tons.

Gold cannot be multiplied.
It is not consumed.
It does not corrode.
What exists, remains.

It is one of the few materials that can be transformed almost endlessly
without losing its essence. So it is possible that the gold I use today was once worn as a crown, admired as jewelry, or revered as a relic. That potential history alone is fascination in itself.

I am equally captivated by gold as a material.
It can be melted, cast, rolled, hammered, stretched.
It allows for extreme precision as well as archaic force.
It forgives — and at the same time demands the highest level of attention.
Every intervention leaves a trace. Every transformation is reversible.

And of course, there is the idea of value —
carried by rarity and human attribution.
For thousands of years, gold has served as a store of value,
independent of currencies, states, or promises.
In times of stability as well as in moments of upheaval.

All of these qualities interest me as an artist.
I use gold as a working element — as a material that stores memory,
preserves value, and carries meaning. All in the tension between luxury and decadence, between general affordability and real unattainability, with all the facets of extraction, production, trade and use.
I use it, to make emotions and controversies visible.

My works extend gold’s function as a store of value
by adding another dimension: meaning.
My oeuvre aims to carry gold forward —
from history to the present,
from value to meaning,
from material to emotion.

Regarding my comments on the subject of gold, I would also like to draw your attention to the two texts “The Devil’s Splendor” and “The Angels’ Radiance”, especially to my respective “personal remarks” in the introduction to the texts.

Anma Pota / Nōra about GOLD: “Der Glanz des Teufels”

A dark contemplation of gold

Gold is often perceived as a symbol of value, permanence, and beauty.
Yet its shine conceals a far more troubling reality.

“Der Glanz des Teufels“ is an essayistic text that examines the darker side of gold: its extraction and environmental impact, the social and ethical consequences embedded in its supply chains, its role in exploitation, deception, war, and the Second World War — as well as its capacity to erase culture, memory, and meaning.

The text does not treat gold as the origin of evil, but as its ideal carrier.
As a material without memory, gold amplifies whatever is projected onto it — power as much as guilt.

Written in a calm, fact-based tone, the text avoids accusation.
Instead, it observes, contextualizes, and raises a quiet but uncomfortable question:
What does responsibility mean when value is separated from origin?

Der Glanz des Teufels is not a judgment of gold.
It is a reflection on our relationship with it.

Note
This text is deliberately not for sale.
The PDF (German Version) is available for free download —
not as a product, but as an invitation to reflection.
Please ask if you require an English version.

Anma Pota / Nōra about GOLD: Das Strahlen der Engel

A bright contemplation of gold

After critique comes understanding.

Das Strahlen der Engel is an essayistic text that explores gold from a different perspective: not as a driver of destruction, but as a material capable of carrying meaning, memory, and responsibility — when used with intention.

Drawing on early human encounters with gold, its first forms of extraction and processing, and its historical roles in ritual, power, remembrance, and preservation, the text traces moments in which gold was not exploited or consumed, but consciously held, shaped, and protected.

Rather than celebrating wealth or permanence, this text reflects on attitude.
On restraint instead of excess.
On presence instead of spectacle.

Gold appears here not as an answer, but as a medium — one that remains empty until meaning is entrusted to it.

Das Strahlen der Engel does not seek to justify gold.
It asks what becomes possible when material, intention, and responsibility align.

Note
This text is deliberately not for sale.
The PDF (German Version) is available for free download —
not as a product, but as an invitation to reflection.
Please ask if you require an English version.