Making Money

This is the first post in a series about making money. And by making money I mean it in the most literal sense possible. I collected iron ore, made iron and engraved a coin.

Money is a piece I made in 2015. Or the process actually started in 2014 in the form of collecting information and figuring out what I was getting into and whether there was any chance of pulling it off. The work, Money, was first on display in August in Gallery Å in Turku, Finland as part of my solo exhibition of the same name.

The gallery version of the piece consists of 25 photographs, many of which are layouts of several photographs, and the coin itself.

I sold the Money “for what it’s worth”, 1 cent, that is. However, there was some small print in the exhibition catalogue with a clause: “The buyer claims only the ownership of the artwork, the artwork and all rights thereof remain with the artist.” I later heard that the couple who bought the piece were pleased about being able to collect art and not have to store it, but at the same time puzzled how they were going to split the expense in half. I think it went to the right home. Or well it didn’t physically go anywhere, it sits in cardboard box under the table in my studio.

I took thousands of pictures in the making, so I figured I could share a more detailed view of process.