Money is Just Paperwork
Randy Grskovic
Opening Reception: Friday, September 7 at 8pm (as part of SWARM)
Artist Talk: Sunday, September 16 at 2pm
Exhibition: September 7 – September 29
Money is Just Paperwork (MiJP) explores the value of printed paper and the authenticity of print artifacts through a series of analogue collage works.
Printed paper money, which evolved from promissory notes, obtains fluctuating values assigned by independent investment banking organizations, cultures and governments. Paper bills hold the value of their denominations, and over time become more valuable when the edition of a print is out of circulation (similar to other printed matter, such as hockey cards or publications). However, as these objects of exchange become more valuable to collectors they assume increasing irrelevance in world economies: As major money movements occur almost exclusively by digital means, the bills that the majority of society uses are transformed into tokens of small exchange.
For MiJP Grskovic will source vintage issues of mass-market magazines like Popular Science and Mechanics, Life or National Geographic from online retailers. He will collect images of money, gold and jewelry, which he will arrange in compositions that deal with representations of wealth and the value of printed paper. This treatment will explore these physical objects’ lack intrinsic value, but will also present them as more precious than their original states by framing them as art and therefore infusing them with social capital.
As image multiples will be collected rather than copied, Grskovic’s work will circumnavigate current laws of redistribution, also illuminating moral and legal implications around copyright.