I find our society and the people who live in it to be highly amusing; the things we do and say to each other for political and monetary gains are peculiar and at times, baffling. This project was instigated by the nation’s gossip of the depreciating value of the U.S dollar; it is meant to question the behaviors of humanity and why we do what we do.
At its most basic level, a dollar bill is nothing but a piece of paper; it is worthless. It used to be that our dollar was backed by stable commodities such as gold and silver. However, we have surpassed that precedent, and live off of a fiat system which encourages our society to live beyond its means. What gives these things, these pieces of paper, any worth is the value we attribute to them. It’s the belief that they are worth something that gives them their value.
My intention for the project was to exploit the absurdity of this system and the idea that somehow our dollar is worth less when it was always worthless to begin with. The original context for the dollar bills that I created were to be crumpled up and tossed around the city, however, after a few short weeks the operation had to be shut down when someone actually tried to use one of my fake dollar bills. Instead I’ve resorted to framing the pieces along side photo-documentation of the project and placing them in a traditional gallery setting.
This piece will be shown as a diptych (two dollar bills framed in an 11x14 frame along side a photograph in a 11x24 frame) at two different galleries. The Art Trust Gallery at Meridian Bank in West Chester, PA and at 13 North Gallery in Merchantville, NJ. Opening receptions are both on October 3rd and the shows will run through the end of October.
This piece, along with two other books I've produced ("The Little Black Book" and "Her Name was Mona") will also be exhibited at Houghton College for the Homecoming Exhibition.
