ничьи деньги // No man’s money

No one`s money. 2008
Exhibition-Experiment. MMOMA, Moscow.


In the center of a room there is a base or a table (about 1 meter high). There is the title above it on a wall saying “No one`s money”. All base`s surface is covered with notes and coins of different value of the country the exhibition is taking place. There also can be some money hanging above the base.
So a sculpture or installation literally made out of money is formed.
There are few cameras recording everything and at the same time projecting it into one of the walls or a screen.
If at some point all the money disappears just video recording has to be shown.
On the walls are placed quotations from different philosophers contradicting each other. (attachment 1)

Goals of the experiment:
1.    Research on the notion of property and it`s absence.
2.    Research on the limits of “sanctity” of an art piece. Questioning what is stronger cultural tabu of touching an art piece or cupidity.
3.    (In case if someone buys the installation) Questioning if the money that became material for an art piece can rise or fall in it`s price.
Very often an art piece is turned into object of luxury or into profitable investment. Successful artist spend huge amounts of money onto their production. But instead of making a piece out of precious materials or applying expensive techniques, why not to make it just out of money itself in order to demonstrate the value of a piece?
After “The Death of the Author” by Roland Barthes was published an artist is considered to create not just for his own self-expression but for the viewer. If all the money will be taken it will mean that the piece was literally for the viewer.