scratch-off postcards by soltani+leclercq reveal instant artwork from the rijksmuseum

making reference to the scratching technique that was made famous by hip hop artists, soltani+leclercq presents ‘scratch my rijks’. swapping vinyl records for art, the duo has covered postcards from amsterdam’s rijksmuseum with gold scratch-off film, and using a coin, users can reveal the hidden artwork that lies beneath.

gold scratch-off postcards of the museum collection

all images courtesy of soltani+leclercq

with the project soltani+leclercq aims to convey the museum’s primary missions of storing, restoring, and displaying art pieces. these tasks are emulated in the postcards, which depict the museum collection, by ways of masking, scratching, and revealing the underlying image – thus turning the casual patron into an archivist, a restorer, an artist, and a viewer; and transforming the kitsch by-product, the postcard, into an original piece.

the is art either restored or created by scratching off the coating on the postcard – here revealing a fragment of ‘the merry family’ painted by jan havicksz steen c. 1668

the gold colour of the scratch-off film is further used to bridge the high culture of the past with the emerging subversions of present mass culture. on the one hand alluding to the dutch golden age, arguably the momentous cockpit of rijksmuseum’s collection, and on the other, evocative of glitzy modalities of sweepstakes advertisements and instant win games ubiquitously integrated into everyday shopping experiences, mail, or online browsing.

a glimpse of ‘the milkmaid’ painted by vermeer c. 1660

rembrandt’s masterpiece ‘night watch’ c. 1642 – is this vandalism, restoration, art, none or all of the above?

project info:

project name: scratch my rijks

by: soltani+leclercq