Small Change Project
In Small Change Project, I pave set cubic zirconia into quarters. Pavé setting is a laborious process in which holes are drilled and then shaped with metal burrs to fit the shape and size of the stone. The stone is then held in place with small metal burrs that are made with an engraving tool by hand. The burrs are then shaped into beads, or ball-shaped forms, by hand with a beading tool. Pavé refers to way the stones closely set with the metal beads seems to "pave" the surface with a bright, diamond-like finish, and was done historically to make lesser-quality or smaller stones appear more costly. It is most closely associated today with "bling" hip-hop culture, in which it is a tool used to signify wealth, and by extension, personal worth. I use the stones to highlight or obscure parts of the state quarter designs, drawing attention to the beauty of or adding another message to an often overlooked, ubiquitous object.
I am interested in how people perceive value, and how those perceptions may be different, or may be changed. Coins have value because our government deems it so, cubic zirconia have value because they look like diamonds. Why, then, do diamonds have value? Money was originally based on the gold standard – why does gold have value? We consider certain objects precious, and call them intrinsically valuable, but it is our culture that creates these values. As an artist, a culture maker, I find myself in a position to redefine our cultural ideas of value. The way in which I seek to do this is to add value by adding hand labor (Marx might have argued that only my labor makes the coins precious). I sought to take an object that has a small, specific value (25 cents), and make its value questionable by taking away the bureaucratic symbols that declare its value and replace them both with another object that pretends to be an object of intrinsic value (cubic zirconia), and my labor.
I spend each quarter in a different kind of machine, in a different location. I digitally photograph each quarter, the desired object of each transaction, the moment that I inserted the coin, and the outcome of the transaction, whether object or not. I write diary entries for each transaction, numbering them and giving the date, time, place, and details of the transaction (purchased item, any change given). By spending them, I am activating them, giving them a life in the circulation of money and goods, and making their value more important by using it in exchange for goods and services. I also want to give them to an audience that would not approach them as a gallery audience would, with a pre-conceived idea of their preciousness, but would see them instead as artifacts with a mysterious history. I like to imagine the life cycle of each coin: what happens to it when it leaves my hands? It could be hoarded, collected, pawned, spent, discarded, given as a gift. Each time the coin is found or shared, the viewer (in this case, the person who accidentally finds it, not the gallery viewer) assigns his or her own value to it. It doesn't speak of its birth or ownership because there is no signature. It doesn't tell the viewer that it is art, so they are free to treat it however they wish.
In the gallery, museum, or other space where the project may be seen, the art collector, enthusiast, student, or professor feels an intense desire to own it, or at least to hold it. The object is ethereal and intangible. Many question why one would spend time creating art only to give it away, or as they may see it, exchange it for frivolous goods. The charm of this project for me lies in this reversal: the very people who own, make, and consume art are left with only that desire, while the people who find the art object own it without desire, without the urge to consume, but as a gift given anonymously with no strings attached.
I am interested in how people perceive value, and how those perceptions may be different, or may be changed. Coins have value because our government deems it so, cubic zirconia have value because they look like diamonds. Why, then, do diamonds have value? Money was originally based on the gold standard – why does gold have value? We consider certain objects precious, and call them intrinsically valuable, but it is our culture that creates these values. As an artist, a culture maker, I find myself in a position to redefine our cultural ideas of value. The way in which I seek to do this is to add value by adding hand labor (Marx might have argued that only my labor makes the coins precious). I sought to take an object that has a small, specific value (25 cents), and make its value questionable by taking away the bureaucratic symbols that declare its value and replace them both with another object that pretends to be an object of intrinsic value (cubic zirconia), and my labor.
I spend each quarter in a different kind of machine, in a different location. I digitally photograph each quarter, the desired object of each transaction, the moment that I inserted the coin, and the outcome of the transaction, whether object or not. I write diary entries for each transaction, numbering them and giving the date, time, place, and details of the transaction (purchased item, any change given). By spending them, I am activating them, giving them a life in the circulation of money and goods, and making their value more important by using it in exchange for goods and services. I also want to give them to an audience that would not approach them as a gallery audience would, with a pre-conceived idea of their preciousness, but would see them instead as artifacts with a mysterious history. I like to imagine the life cycle of each coin: what happens to it when it leaves my hands? It could be hoarded, collected, pawned, spent, discarded, given as a gift. Each time the coin is found or shared, the viewer (in this case, the person who accidentally finds it, not the gallery viewer) assigns his or her own value to it. It doesn't speak of its birth or ownership because there is no signature. It doesn't tell the viewer that it is art, so they are free to treat it however they wish.
In the gallery, museum, or other space where the project may be seen, the art collector, enthusiast, student, or professor feels an intense desire to own it, or at least to hold it. The object is ethereal and intangible. Many question why one would spend time creating art only to give it away, or as they may see it, exchange it for frivolous goods. The charm of this project for me lies in this reversal: the very people who own, make, and consume art are left with only that desire, while the people who find the art object own it without desire, without the urge to consume, but as a gift given anonymously with no strings attached.
