Entertainment
Microscopic Handbag ‘smaller than a grain of salt’ sells for over $63,000
A microscopic handbag that is “smaller than a grain of salt” has been sold for over $63,000.
The miniscule handbag, made by Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF, was auctioned last week by Joopiter. The auction house, which was founded by Pharrell Williams, sold the yellow-green fluorescent purse for $63,750 on 27 June. This came days after it was first auctioned for a much lower price of $15,000.
The microscopic handbag was made using two-photon polymerization, a manufacturing technology used to 3D-print micro-scale plastic parts. It was sold alongside a microscope equipped with a digital display through which the bag can be viewed.
On Instagram, MSCHF described the bag as “smaller than a grain of salt”. According to the company, the handbag is “narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle”.
“This is a purse so small you’ll need a microscope to see it. There are big handbags, normal handbags, and small handbags, but this is the final word in bag miniaturization,” the brand explained in the caption of its Instagram post.
Known for teasing the art world for its excesses — whether selling forged Andy Warhol drawings or cutting up Damian Hirst paintings — the collective has also turned its attention to luxury fashion.
In 2021, the group ripped up four Birkin handbags to create sandals (dubbed “Birkinstocks”) that it offered for up to $76,000 a pair. More recently, its cartoonish rubber boots, known as “Big Red Boots,” became a viral sensation after being worn by stars including Doja Cat, Iggy Azalea and Janelle Monáe.
Prior to this week’s sale, MSCHF declined to answer CNN’s questions on the creation of its handbag. However, a statement published alongside the auction listing posited that the fashion industry’s love of small bags had seen them “steadily more abstracted” to the point that the accessory is “purely a brand signifier.”
“Previous small leather handbags have still required a hand to carry them — they become dysfunctional, inconveniences to their ‘wearer,’” the statement added. “‘Microscopic Handbag’ takes this to its full logical conclusion. A practical object is boiled down into jewelry, all of its putative function evaporated; for luxury objects, usability is the angels’ share.”
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