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Monolith mystery solved? The Most Famous Artist takes responsibility, asks $45k for Utah art and erects another

The Most Famous Artist group, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been teasing information about the monoliths over the last few days on Instagram

Ending the mystery behind the popping up of monoliths at random places in the world, a group of artists has reportedly admitted responsibility behind the trendsetter. The first monolith was spotted in Utah on November 18 in the desert when a helicopter was counting bighorn sheep.

Since then, two more have appeared in places in Romania and California. Just as both state officials, as well as the common people, were stumped as to the origin of the monoliths and their subsequent disappearances — many suspecting that aliens might be behind it all — a group, known as The Most Famous Artist has claimed responsibility for the unique pieces of art.

The Most Famous Artist, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been teasing information about the monoliths over the last few days on Instagram. Taking to the social media platform on Friday, December 4, the group shared a photograph of the Utah monolith along with a description of the piece and a price tag of $45,000.

When a user commented on the snap, asking "Was it you?", the group replied, "if by you you mean us, yes." They also hinted at the fact that they were nowhere near finished teasing the masses with their art. When one user wrote, "I was hoping it would pop up somewhere more accessible that I would come across one day," the group responded with "Patience", following by a smiley, suggesting that they might continue planting monoliths in other places. 

A few hours later they posted a photo of another piece of the futuristic-esque artwork based in Joshua Tree National Park in California. Sharing two photographs of it yesterday, the group wrote, "ANOTHER Monolith outside of Joshua Tree. That makes 4. What does it mean?" They also posted a photo of their workshop where one of their artists were hard at work building a monolith. "You mean it wasn’t aliens?! Monoliths-as-a-service.com" the group mocked in the caption. 

Matty Mo, the founder of the group, also teased that it was them to Mashable in an interview where he said, "I am not able to say much because of legalities of the original installation. I can say we are well known for stunts of this nature and at this time we are offering authentic art objects through monoliths-as-a-service.
I cannot issue additional images at this time but I can promise more on this in the coming days and weeks."

Mo added, "What better way to end this f**ked up year than let the world briefly think aliens made contact only to be disappointed that it’s just The Most Famous Artist playing tricks again."

The third monolith also appeared on California on December 3. It didn’t last long, however, as a group of vandals traveled from Orange County and live-streamed themselves pushing it over. They then replaced it with a large, wooden cross instead. They chanted, “Christ is king!” while tearing down the structure, one of them wearing a MAGA hat. They then dragged the remains of the monolith down the mountain to their car. 

The vandalism angered local officials. “We are upset that these young men felt the need to drive five hours to come into our community and vandalize the monolith,” Atascadero’s mayor, Heather Moreno, said in a news release. “The monolith was something unique and fun in an otherwise stressful time.”