A green diamond manufactured from the carbon found in a hybrid cannabis strain: Bruce Banner crossed with Stardawg, marketed as Star Spangled Bruce Banner. The gem's girdle is laser-inscribed with title, date, artist's name, original carbon material, and diamond certification code.

Cannabis Diamond reflects on the commodification of altered states, anger, and hypermasculine fantasies. Bruce Banner, the mild-mannered alter-ego of the Incredible Hulk, was caught in the blast of his own nuclear “gamma bomb” which he invented for the U.S. military. As The Hulk, his strength increases in proportion to his limitless rage, which has destroyed an entire planet. His durability also scales with his anger, allowing him to withstand nuclear explosions, recover from being blown to powder, and the destruction of most of his body.

Hulk was originally grey but due to a printing glitch in the first 1962 issue, he appeared green on certain pages. Stan Lee preferred the error and had colorist Stan Goldberg make him green in the second issue.

installation view

Cannabis Diamond forms part of Tendered Currency, an installation exploring perceived value, labor and authenticity. Both diamonds and art are symbols of scarcity, emotion, investment, luxury, taste and exertion; both the diamond and art economies rely on cheap labor, careful manipulation of supply, and manufactured demand within insulated markets. As capital moves with increasing velocity, value itself has become an increasingly variable and subjective denominator in society, influencing the definition of art, and what it might obtain in both cultural and economic terms. Tendered Currency collaborates with these systems to investigate what we value and how we value it.