Series: Money Illusion
Lia Bagrationi
terracotta, gold
2003
13x23 cm.
How did the concept of money illusion come about? Why do we empower colored paper with a certain value? Coins and banknotes gain worth when we assign numbers to them and agree they are now currency. The same idea is at the core of the composition Money Illusion where clay banknotes are inlaid with precious metals. Clay is common earth, while copper, gold and platinum are held in high regard by all cultures. The combination presents an aesthetic, creating Money Illusion. Each is titled Object with a corresponding number, the indication being that if you have a number higher than one, it was preceded, and possibly followed, by another. This follows in a particular way, the logic of money itself. “Money is any object or record, that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past, a standard of deferred payment. Any kind of object or secure verifiable record that fulfills these functions can serve as money.”
HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money