Work entry
*Rusted*
Artist: Teyhu Title: Rusted Selection: place 12 · serial 1002997 · Wave submission Source alias: OUT-012 Submitted location/date: Iran · 2026 Medium: digital self-portrait photograph, lightly colour graded Submitted...

Works in this study
Related workRustedStatus Selected through an acquisition program; unmintedStatus as ofTeyhu — Rusted; Keys and Gates presentation record
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Object data
Artist: Teyhu
Title: Rusted
Selection: place 12 · serial 1002997 · Wave submission
Source alias: OUT-012
Submitted location/date: Iran · 2026
Medium: digital self-portrait photograph, lightly colour graded
Submitted dimensions: 5168 × 3648 pixels · Canon 7D Mark II, 58 mm
Media: Media and source record
Caption
A distant figure with keys stands inside a sequence of damaged rooms and arches.
Close looking
Repetition organizes the image. Arches open one behind another, each revealing another layer of plaster, brick, shadow, and rubble. The figure is small enough to be absorbed by the architecture, while the keys give the body a precise task: to carry the possibility of entry through a place exhausted by permission. The path forward exists as a sequence of apertures; the keys offer possibility while the opening remains uncertain.
Artist’s account
Teyhu describes the space as suspended between collapse and escape and the keys as rusted promises of approval, success, and belonging. The submission calls the photograph a self-portrait and states that no compositing or AI-generated elements were used.
Curatorial interpretation
A key becomes a burden here. Repeated arches render access procedural: one threshold follows another, and the figure carries evidence of a permission that may already have failed. Distance keeps the image suspended between arrival and departure.
Context
The submission gives Iran as the location but leaves the building unidentified. The public profile remains handle-based; the architecture supplies no basis for a political history or safe location.
Status and source note
Status: Selected; not yet minted or accessioned; not in the permanent Collection. Rights/source note: The submission states that the work is released under CC0 and identifies it as a self-portrait; exact site, likeness status, safe geography, and final rights wording remain to be confirmed. See the rights and source record and institutional record.
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Research context
Research context
- Related acquisitionKeys and GatesStatus Selected through an acquisition program; unmintedStatus as of