Gem Mint Abundance
A mixed-media installation that transforms Tarot archetypes into graded trading cards and algorithmic data—revealing how commodification fails at the very moment it seems most complete.
Exhibition Details
January 7–25, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, January 9, 6:00–9:00 PM PST
The Gallery George, Vancouver, BC
Joyful January Collection
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24"×36" archival print
Grand, spiritual, commanding
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3.5"×2.5" trading card in graded slab
Measured, priced, tradeable
QR-activated protocol
Reduced to pure information
Artist Statement
Gem Mint Abundance merges the sacred symbolism of Tarot with the commodified value of Trading Cards. In this series, spiritual virtues like "Hope" and "Radiance" are not just practiced; they are graded, encased, and sold.
The work reflects the human desire for a meaningful life while revealing how easily that longing turns into a product. The installation creates a physical tension between the grand spiritual ideal and its reduction to a tradeable commodity.
The Flattening of Human Experience
Each artwork consists of three components, creating a conceptual journey from the sacred to the speculative. This progression demonstrates the flattening of human experience—from art to commodity to data—yet reveals something irreducible at its core.
Large fine-art prints (24"×36") evoke the spiritual ideal—grand, colorful, and commanding. These works present Tarot archetypes as vessels of hope, destiny, and radiance.
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Archival Giclée Print
24" × 36" (framed)
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Archival Giclée Print
24" × 36" (framed)
_Mixed Media Installation_24x36_$2950.png)
Archival Giclée Print
24" × 36" (framed)
Archival Giclée Print
24" × 36" (framed)
Each artwork is paired with a holographic trading card encased in a "Gem Mint 10" grading slab. The spiritual ideal is reduced to a tradeable asset—measured, graded, and priced. Hope becomes a collectible. Destiny becomes a commodity.
Within the exhibition, viewers encounter a QR code activating Protocol 04 // THE ASSET. This mobile experience represents the final flattening: the viewer themselves becomes a data point, measured and graded by an algorithm.
The Human Signal Persists
At the moment of maximum compression—when art becomes commodity, when person becomes data point—the system refuses to complete the reduction.
Protocol 04 // THE ASSET assigns each participant a "spiritual rarity tier," grading them as the physical artworks are graded. But at the end of the experience, the Data Log declares:
PHILOSOPHICAL NOTE
───────────────────────────────────────────
A value is a signal. Or is it an illusion?
The logic of the marketplace, of the machine,
wants to put a price on everything.
But we choose different.
You are priceless.
───────────────────────────────────────────
ARTIFACT STATUS: VERIFIED
───────────────────────────────────────────
The algorithm designed to grade you declares you beyond grading. The system meant to price you refuses to price you. Even within the flattening of human experience, the human signal cannot be destroyed.
This is the core revelation of Gem Mint Abundance: commodification fails at the very moment it seems most complete. We remain irreducibly human.
About Avery Lake
Avery Lake is a Swiss-Canadian conceptual artist and ethicist whose work asks what remains profoundly human in the Intelligence Age. With a PhD in bioethics and a background in theology and philosophy (Zurich, Oxford, Vancouver), Lake spent a decade researching human enhancement before turning to art to visualize the same ethical questions.
His practice explores how spirituality, technology, and consumer culture shape our ideas of beauty, joy, and worth. Lake's work moves beyond academic critique, inviting viewers to participate in the systems they inhabit.
Gem Mint Abundance stands as its own critique of marketplace logic and the flattening of human existence—a critique that ultimately reveals commodification's failure. This exploration resonates with Lake's broader Digital Audit of the Human Condition project, which includes interactive web protocols and the album THE SIGNAL (releasing January 26, 2026).
Avery Lake is the artistic name of Dr. Johann Roduit
Press Materials
High-resolution images available for download.
Related Projects
Protocol 04 // THE ASSET: asset.averylakeofficial.com
The Digital Audit: digital.averylakeofficial.com
THE SIGNAL Album: press.averylakeofficial.com
Official Website: averylakeofficial.com
Media Contact
For interview requests, high-resolution images, or additional information:
Represented by The Art of Avery Lake