The Scopus Award is granted to a deserving honoree who has excelled in his respective field, and whose humanitarian endeavors and outstanding commitment have contributed to a better world. This year’s award was presented to LORD NORMAN FOSTER in the distinguished presence of MARINA ABRAMOVIC, creator of the award and featured artist in the evening’s KREËMART happening. The 2016 Hebrew University of Jerusalem Scopus Award Gala honored Lord Norman Foster with a 3D golden replica of his brain, designed by Abramovic in collaboration with Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Stephen Jones.
In the presence of the institution’s close friend, artist MICHAL ROVNER, and the visual contribution by PUSENKOFF & PUSENKOFF. In a performative fashion, participants apply 24K gold leaf to their mouths before tasting the Gold Ball dessert. The ritualistic application of gold leaf to the lips is meant to lead to spiritual purification.
It also creates a memorable transformation of the ordinary sensory pleasure of eating dessert into an idiosyncratic Abramovic action that is both participatory and performative. The artist encourages participants to take pleasure during this experience of embodiment and transformation. This experience is commemorated with a set of Golden Lips, which are a chocolate reproduction of the artist’s mouth created by Ladurée. Each set includes four Golden Lips and is an edition of 500. These editions were distributed exclusively to guests of the 2016 Golden Brain Scopus Award Gala.