A Fist Full of Air, 2012 was an exhibition about the symbolic borders between currency and money. It is comprised of documentation between myself and the United States Treasury Department, framed receipts from currency exchange kiosks, 35mm photos from a disposable camera, and 160lbs of shredded currency from the Treasury Department. A Fist Full of Air is an allegorical gesture in attempt to pose the question of value, the hegemonic logic of capitalism, and inquire into the exchange of labor. It also solidifies the gap between currency and money, my interest in repetition and the theoretical conversation between Marcel Mauss and Jacques Derrida on gift theory
In 2011, I went to several different currency exchange kiosks in San Diego to give them the amount of 25 in currency. This included, denominations in dollars, pounds, euros, and pesos in relation to the dollar. For example, I exchanged 25 euros into dollars, then taking that amount in dollars and exchanging it into euros creating a repetitive cycle until I got to zero or the last receipt. What I found out was that I could not obtain a zero level and currency exchange rate kiosk aren't allowed to exchange until the value of 0. Thus, I framed the receipts producing value to a material that seems immaterial in the everyday and documented this performance with a 35mm disposable camera. The 35mm photographs from a disposable camera and receipts extends to the notions of value and documentation, while recording time within this outdated medium.
Inculded in this instllation is a floor sculpture using 160lbs of shredded currency and written correspondence between the U.S. Treasury and myself. The letter written specifically states my intent and use. SEM Data Destruction Products and Services are contracted with the CIA, FBI, and DOD. The information destroyed by SEM is brought down to NSA standards to comply with national security regulations. Mike Paciello of the SEM states "The Federal Reserve doesn't destroy money," he says. "They destroy banknotes. Don't ever call it money." So the space between banknotes (U.S. Treasury calls it shredded currency) and money requires an exchange of symbolic value. As Marx notes symbolic money can replace the real, because material money as mere medium of exchange is itself symbolic.
Sitting on top of this sculpture is the remaining pounds of shredded currency in extra gallon heavy-duty trash bags. In concealing the identity of the material, I elude to the value of the material, which in circulation is nil. The shredded currency no longer holds an exchange value. The signification it carries still holds a presence and becomes a link to the original signifier. We hold this value of money so highly that even when it becomes paper there still remains a lingering affect. What does it mean to re-inscribe value into material when it has none? The symbolic value cannot be determined thus using 160lbs which is my bodily weight further complicates the spaces of value and currency.
“Time is everything, man is nothing; he is at the most the incarnation of time. Quality no longer matters. Quantity alone decides everything; hour for hour, day for day…” -George Lukacs
More Info:
Date: May 14th, 2012, San Diego, CA
Medium: Installation | Performance | Archive | Sculpture | Performative |
35mm photographs from a disposable camera- 5in" x 7in", exchange receipts framed, 36" x 48", written correspondance between US Treasury and artist , 2 framed 8" x 10" letters, 160lbs of shredded currency from the U.S. Treasury and extra heavy duty galloon trash bags, 36" x 48in x 144".
