Archie Moore, Gold Possession, 2025 – 2026,
from Remnants Of My Father, 24-carat gold, 21 × 29.7 × 0.08 cm, TCG023812
Pallion Art Collection
POSSESSION
I’ve worked hard all my life. Money slips through my hands. My face in the mirror tells me, It’s no surprise that I am, Pushing the stone up the hill of failure.
(‘Failure’, Swans)
My father said that, one day when looking for a viable water source with a bore drilling rig, he had uncovered a quartz rock with traces of gold. This may have been the moment he abandoned his musical pursuits for earthmoving and ‘boring contracts’, with the hope of discovering more underneath the earth. It doesn’t appear that the rest of the farming family were convinced by the viability of the discovery as they remained focused on the financial certainty of the ‘Golden Fleece’.
This possession – or delusion – driven by hope, quiet desperation and irrational decision-making, was what ‘drove him broke’, an exasperated brother told me when I asked about the gold. I don’t remember anyone taking this promise of riches seriously. I didn’t, but it did remain in the back of my mind as some hope of getting out of our straitened situation.
Many stories later came as excuses for why the exploration of the site never eventuated: some mining representative pulled a gun on him; a lady linked to an exploration company tried to seduce him to reveal the precise location of the mother lode; and others were wary of financially losing out on joint venture in an area not known for precious metals.
I’ve worked hard all my life. Money slips through my hands. My face in the mirror tells me, It’s no surprise that I am, Pushing the stone up the hill of failure.
(‘Failure’, Swans)
My father said that, one day when looking for a viable water source with a bore drilling rig, he had uncovered a quartz rock with traces of gold. This may have been the moment he abandoned his musical pursuits for earthmoving and ‘boring contracts’, with the hope of discovering more underneath the earth. It doesn’t appear that the rest of the farming family were convinced by the viability of the discovery as they remained focused on the financial certainty of the ‘Golden Fleece’.
This possession – or delusion – driven by hope, quiet desperation and irrational decision-making, was what ‘drove him broke’, an exasperated brother told me when I asked about the gold. I don’t remember anyone taking this promise of riches seriously. I didn’t, but it did remain in the back of my mind as some hope of getting out of our straitened situation.
Many stories later came as excuses for why the exploration of the site never eventuated: some mining representative pulled a gun on him; a lady linked to an exploration company tried to seduce him to reveal the precise location of the mother lode; and others were wary of financially losing out on joint venture in an area not known for precious metals.