ART CITIES:Berlin-₡ U R R € ₦ ₡ ¥

The evolution of Conceptual Art overlapped with the end of the gold standard in the USA in 1971, and since then, the entwinement of art and finance has become evermore abstracted. The artworks assembled in the group ehibition “₡ U R R € ₦ ₡ ¥” make manifest a double value – that of the artwork on the market, and that of the money and materials employed to make this work.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: NOME Gallery Archive

The etymology of the word “currency” relates to flowing, running, and circulating. Aligned with this liquid condition, “₡ U R R € ₦ ₡ ¥” brings together works by: Marco Cassani, Paolo Cirio, Goldin+Senneby, Igor Grubić, Michal Helfman, Agnieszka Kurant, Navid Nuur, Pratchaya Phinthong, Ana Prvački, David Rickard, Miri Segal, Slavs and Tatars, and Jan Tichy,  that deal with money as channel, money as concept, money as formal (or informal) structure. Paolo Cirio’s work illustrates a global currency through the creative formulation of an equation and trading algorithm for the currency exchange market. “(W)orld Currency” (2014) addresses the inherent instability of various currencies, as well as the need for a new independent global reserve currency that could potentially empower and unite the world population. The conceptual work is represented by the artistic expression of a mathematical equation and a diagram of the algorithm, suggesting how the value of the currency is calculated and how its liquidity is created and maintained, while an accompanying text explains how the equation works.For one year Marco Cassani regularly visited the fountain of a Balinese temple and collected the coins that locals and tourists had thrown in the water while making their wishes. Through producing a sculptural epitome for the accumulation of money, a tall vertical stack of coins, the artist obliterates their monetary value. As an artwork, of course, the object is valued anew. In “Fountain (Gunung Kawi)” (2017), as in previous works, Cassani reflects on the global economic system; in particular, the precarious state of interhuman agreements, and the subtle distinction between trading and economy (i.e. value creation), which is at the base of cultural production. Goldin+Senneby;s contribution,  “VWAP MEAN REVERSION STRATEGY WITH DONALD MACKENZIE (SOCIOLOGIST OF FINANCE), PHILIP GRANT (ANTHROPOLOGIST AND FORMER EQUITY FUND MANAGER)” (2013), comes from the duo’s series of confidential trading strategies, acquired by the artists from financial experts who are also interested in the arts, in exchange for artworks. The strategy documents are bound in files with cover illustrations by the designer Johan Hjerpe, which visually interpret the main dynamics of the strategies. The tricks of the trade remain sealed in glass boxes, out of access yet performing as art. Michal Helfman’s drawing “Untitled (1 Dollar)” (2015) functions as a door to a universe she has been in the process of ‘constructing’ through exhibitions and installations. In this universe the figure of the artist is freely associated with figures in society that are apparently disconnected from art. The figure of the smuggler, the currency-exchange store owner, and the terrorist become metaphors, channels to a deeper understanding of the current situation, both in art and in reality at large. With “Untitled (rice)” (2014), Pratchaya Phinthong investigates the role of Thailand as the world’s largest exporter of rice, and how this role effects society and politics. In 2013, Thailand’s prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra created the so-called “Rice Pledging Scheme”, a plan through which farmers could consign rice and receive a mortgage paper. The plan aimed to gain the support of the rural population, and at first generated a consistent cash flow, until several factors intervened – namely the decline in Thai rice prices on the global market and the corruption within Shinawatra’s political party – causing the scheme to crash and millions of farmers to miss the repayments of their debts. The starting point for David Rickard’s “Stolen Pound” (2018) is a moment in the late 20^th Century when the UK government realized that, due to a rise in copper prices, the face value of one and two penny coins was being overtaken by the value of the copper they were made from. In response to this, in September 1992 the Royal Mint changed the coin composition from 97 percent copper to copper-plated steel. However, some of the older “higher value” coins remain in circulation. Carefully collected by the artist over a number of years the work consists of a long line of original copper pennies. Together, 280 coins form a one-kg rod of material, which has an estimated scrap value of £3.80. The material that forms the work has been significantly devalued by becoming currency and therefore the stolen pound is not the coins themselves, but rather the value that has been taken from the material. The value of copper will rise and fall in line with the metal commodities market, so the length of the sculpture will be adjusted over time to equate to one British pound of stolen value. For a whole year Igor Grubić wrote the message “Resist the epidemics of greed” on 1,300 banknotes of different values. The message, at the core of his work “Banknotes” from the series “366 Liberation Rituals” (2008-09), refers to the wave of consumerism that had a huge impact on Croatians during the transition process from socialism. Shopping malls opened and became places that generated a new way of community life, of leisure and fun, where whole families would spend their time together. One of the most visible signs of this new era was how Croatian citizens were spending more money than they earned, a gateway to another lifestyle.

Info: Curator: Lucie Fontaine, NOME, Glogauer Str. 17, Berlin, Duration 2/3-19/4/19, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 15:00-19:00, http://nomegallery.com