Another Train of Thought/Underground Inspiration

Announcing a new branch in my artistic explorations,

something I've always wanted to do,

inspired by the hundred year old mosaics in the NYC subway system,

made from chopped money,

and I will offer to make for any New Yorker,

or any fan of New York City,

who likes art and wants some,

the station of their choice created in this fashion.

I will do the research, visiting the station and replicating it properly.

The end result will be just like having the MTA in your living room, minus the rats, urine and trash. Want one? Let's talk.

"Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please"

Bugged out and Cut up: Scarab-vs-Scissors

My mission to turn coins from worthless trinkets into something of value continues. This week I pit insect against man, winner takes all.

Chopping up money is addictive, satisfying, but in the end you're left with tons of tiny scraps.

In art, as in life, the tiniest bits of crumbs, accumulated over time, serve to sustain vast ecosystems, populated by diverse organisms.

Scientific observation shows, time and time again, a sophisticated order to things that cannot be ignored nor understood.

The complex moment we all share is built of more things than could ever be known, yet all aspects of everything share certain similar patterns.

Cutting through coins to make objects has helped me to feel as if I'm making an impact on the environment, adding to the pattern, increasing culture, decreasing stagnation.

Unlike the coins we leave lying in the gutter, these are objects that cannot be ignored. They now tell a story to those from the future.

Taking a coin from circulation and designating it as artwork is better than throwing it into a fountain: your wish materializes before you. Better yet, it can be shared with others.

When a coin is converted into art, it becomes special, and there's no way to undo that. Forever and ever, Amen.

Were there a way to tabulate the amount of times a single coin has been spent, some of the oldest pennies might represent thousands of dollars, ticked away over decades, one one-hundredth at a time.

How many pockets? How many purses?

How many cash drawers and rolls, how many vending machine slots? In the end, still worth next to nothing.

I stop the cycle, freeing the coins themselves from an existence of servitude. Like molecules in primordial ooze, from coins life emerges.

When I consider how much money I've ruined in my obsession to make art, I feel no sense of guilt or loss.

If you squint your eyes just right, the entire world is made of chopped money already, I'm just mimicking what's already been true for all time. I am freezing what normally flows.

You break it, You buy it.

Ebay auctions:
Bug
Scissors

Product Placement: Miller Time!

Following several recent breakthroughs in the field of turning money into art, my explorations into the tricky terrain of turning art into money continue.

Within a corporate world, owned and ruled by corporations, it seems only fitting to seek gobs of money straight from the source. Corporate sponsorship, endorsements, and free publicity: where do I sign?

Since nobody's been knocking on my door, I've decided to become a Free-Agent of Corporate Advertising. The money is much worse than if I were under their umbrella, however, I am free to pick my own brands.

Being from Wisconsin, with strong roots in Milwaukee, as well as having an ongoing interest in beer, I have chosen to choose the Champagne of Beers: Miller High Life.

Starting with the cap, a crown of contemporary golden dubloons, I will create a monument to this regal, yet reasonable, beverage.

I would estimate my personal consumption of this local treasure to equal an average of 3 bottles per day, 365 days per year. I guess that makes me a valued customer and an honest endorser.

GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS. (2) CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IMPAIRS YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE A CAR OR OPERATE MACHINERY, AND MAY CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS.

Stay tuned for part II: "the Bottle"

Future Excavation: the Apple of my iPod...

Once upon a time, in a kingdom much like our own, there was built an object of great power.

So powerful, indeed, that were this object to fall into the wrong hands, no good could come. Surely, speculation favors this object as a possible component of that very civilization's demise.

According to legend, the object could, of it's own accord, choose songs at will to perform for a captivated listener.

The songs, although fully orchestrated, required no instruments to produce. How it was able to memorize thousands remains a mystery.

Of most impressive note, the people of this era had the ability to instruct the device to perform particular to their liking. Owing to this attribute, no two of millions discovered are exactly alike.

It is highly probable that persons coming into contact with this object were difficult to separate from its influence, perhaps even becoming overwhelmed with adulation.

Such a powerful creation was surely the product of a civilization of advanced knowledge and skills. Perhaps, were they here today, we could learn something from these great peoples.

Any species capable of producing something as magnificent and substantial as the iPod must surely possess many great abilities.

Or maybe simply a keen grasp of Witchcraft.

Bid on it this week on Ebay...

>>>go to auction<<<

tool making: Two Types of Towers

My recent projects attempt to revalue money through transformation by harnessing the power innate within all objects.

Few objects hold so much power as buildings, and the tallest structure yet was just completed in Dubai.

Twice the height of the Empire State Building, the completion of this structure represents a new pinnacle of human achievement.

When the Empire State Building was constructed, our nation was amidst a great financial crisis, caused by greedy rich people taking advantage of humble poor people.

This time the crisis is global, and was caused in the same way. Money never changes: the poorest ones make it, the wealthiest take it.

The patterns we create seem as ridiculous as inevitable.

Our tool-making skills can be harnessed to create many types of objects, yet two seem to stand out as important above all others: those for construction, and those for destruction.

A builder is a respected individual, hard-working and intelligent, who contributes to the world in a positive fashion.

Every swing of a hammer drives a lasting bond between two separate things. We trust these structures to hold us up.

He who wields a weapon commands a different type of respect.

Having a gun doesn't make people assume you're intelligent, nor necessarily hard-working.

They will, however, do whatever you tell them.

-OR ELSE-

Making these two tools at the same time poses some interesting questions.

Which is more powerful?

Which is more valuable?

And which is more important?

Dedicated to the people who were forced to construct the world's tallest building.