“When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money.â€
– Oscar Wilde
Above video edited by Daniel Nogueira. Filmed by Daniel Nogueira and Andrea Montenegro.
A Dutch artist, Dadara, has founded the Exchangibition Bank which prints art as money (or is money as art?). You can buy their bank notes at the current exchange rates using other currencies, and then use the notes to exchange for other goods and services.
From Art as Money:
During today’s financial crisis, art has been frequently cited as an advantageous alternative asset class. But do the millions of dollars that might buy you a Koons or a Picasso speak about the social and spiritual value?
Do you want to buy art as an artifact of beauty and spirituality or as a financial investment? Money has always invested in art, though in an admiring, even worshipping way, since it respected art as its superior, something, which can’t be measured by financial values. But today’s hyper-investment in art seems to be an implicit attempt to overwhelm it, demonstrating in this way that money is superior to art.
Some of Exchanghibition Bank’s stunning bank notes:
Here’s a video of a talk about the project at a Pecha Kucha evening in Amsterdam:
I liked your other article today stating that you are for decentralized local currencies & I could not agree more. If someone wants to print, print, print useless worthless currencies then let them take the fall-social problem spillout into other better run economies, causing a draging effect on those absorbing-economic refugees & inflation on housing.
Central Banks are a real problem. Europe with the ECB & EFSF monitrist positions & effects are going to hurt US big time as it will cover for those who fail-countries/nations & it does not have the ability in my opinion.
I have suggested & others feel the same to sell out of Stocks as they rise & don’t buy.
I suggested to Max Keiser in a tweet that 6k was somewhere where the market will fall to. Yet with Europe & US liabilities for ECB & EFSF another suggests 2900, or half my estimate. Yet I was implying that strong buying wood enter then to save anything that was salvagable.
The guesses on Gold & Silver all figure in high price rises & I can only agree but where ceilings & floors for both it’s difficult to predict with any great certainty. Like a crazed crowd or mob of people some will be crushed & others trampled upon. Falling to 3k, the Social Nightmare is to awlfull to contemplate. I’ve said enough.
PS: I had a go a Darkpoltrics with their fig of $120k to each taxpayer & they finally got the point that I was making that that fig is Bullshit & the true much higher. Taking this into account & the real actual Taxpayer. The US is fucked! I’ve known this for too long & my thoughts & sentiments fall to the Native American Indian & others that I should not let my mind forget. MR
Where is the world without art? I think you set a really good point here with your writing.
Amazing. Time to get rid of our boring two hundred year old dollar design……