Meet the man who destroys money to make art šøšøšø
A Q&A with the talented Mark Wagner
A couple of weeks ago we stumbled upon the fabulous Mark Wagner. Heās an artist based out of New York, and has been referred to as āthe greatest living collage artistā and even āthe Michael Jordan of glueā. We agree: his work is spectacular.
His medium? Money. He repurposes thousands of dollars each year to create intricate works of art, and heās been at it for 12 years!
Mark explains his currency collages on his site, http://markwagnerinc.com/blog.
Wagner destroys thousands of bills yearly to create works which pointedly and playfully explore the intersection of wealth, power, value, and American identity. Wagnerās audacious (and unlawful) destruction of this revered icon of American commerce is checked only by his virtuoso material manipulation, which renders what you willā¦ portraits, plant life, fantastical beasts, or allegorical scenes recasting George Washington in every roll.
He expresses that even though we handle money daily, we donāt know exactly what it is. We keep close track of it; we guard it. We are happy when we have it and sad when we donāt. But we are also skittish about money. Ultimately, he says, money is kind of spooky.
After years of taking money apart, his perspective is unique to the point where money has lost all meaning for him as currency.
One day some years agoā¦ back when I was broke and each dollar came dear to meā¦ my studio-mate and I were heading to the corner restaurant for linner, our only meal of the day. I checked my wallet and it was empty. Shit. I sat at my workstation for probably a whole minuteā¦ hungry, annoyed, and complainingā¦ before my friend pointed out that there were 40 or so spendable dollar bills sitting on the table right in front of me. In my mind they had already become something else.
We think that Markās work shows how fluid the nature of money is, as its very destruction demonstrates a change in its value when rebuilt as art.
In doing some more research on Mark, weāve learned that:
- Yes, itās real money he uses. Nothing is digital, itās all scissors and glue!
- Yes, he knows itās illegal to destroy money (just donāt tell anyone heās doing it)
- Not as much money goes into each piece as you might think! He refers to a bank note like acreage: a billās worth of paper = 16 square inches.
- Each note is carefully deconstructed, the individual pieces are then ācategorisedā and organised. Every last bit is used!
- Money is his medium of choice because itās universal for the wealthy and the poor, the thrifty and the extravagantā¦ the dog people and the cat people.
- He believes money is arrogant; that it tends to control conversation and is used as tool for measurement far too often..
- As a highly regarded artist, Markās works are collected by dozens of institutions and has been shown extensively in museums and art galleries.
Watch Mark at work in the video below
As we scrolled through the mountains of incredible work on his Facebook page, we realised we had a few more questions for him. We reached out, and from under the piles of currency, we received word.
1. Weāve found (especially here in New Zealand) thereās a fascinating taboo around discussing personal finances. Are Americans comfortable talking about their personal finances?
Noā¦ Americans are certainly uptight about financial talkā¦ for one reason or another. People donāt ask about money because they donāt want to pry. People donāt offer information about their own finances because they neither want to be caught out boasting or far behind their neighbour.
Do you think this will change?
I hope it will. I try to have frank conversations with friends and fellow artists involving practical financial matters. And I intend to discuss personal finance with my kids much more than both my parents and my wifeās parents did with our generation.
2. You mentioned on your blog about a time when money had lost all meaning to you as a currency. Do you now see banknotes more as an art medium such as acrylic or oil instead of legal tender?
Iām trying to see money now as an illusion totally. I think that would be the height of liberation. I know intellectually that it isā¦ that moneyās only value is through mass consensus. But its a difficult lesson to learnā¦ or rather unlearn.
3. Do you have a bookkeeping system for all the money thatās used in each of your pieces, so you know roughly how much a piece is āworthā?
In the past Iāve counted bills usedā¦ or even counted each scrap of paper glued downā¦ onto a particular piece. But the way Iāve been working the past couple years no longer lends itself to a close tracking. I shovel loads more bills into the process now. Keeping more materials pre-processed has made the work more efficient.
4. Are there specific parts of a bank note that are more valuable to you than other parts? For example, is George Washington the holy grail?
Oddly enough, Its the black background behind George thatās the most āvaluableā to me. There arenāt very many darks on the US one dollar bill, and contrast makes for striking images. Blank white pieces of the bill are also prized.
5. Have you ever come across a rare note that you couldnāt cut up?
Iāve cut up hundred dollar bills. Iāve got some vintage bills from the 1920s in the binder that Iāll use if I ever need them. Iāve used old silver coins before. I donāt mind spending money on making art as long as its effective or necessary. But Iāve never used anything too extravagant. Part of what makes the art interesting is itās made with something common.
6. Your unique understanding of the physical characteristics of money would make you an asset to the counterfeit money industry (on both sides of the law). Have you got a cool dollar bill story?
The US Federal Reserve Board is the primary banking institution here in the USAā¦ close to a state-run bank. I was super duper excited a couple years ago when they bought a piece of my work for their collectionā¦ like the money got to go home.
7. Are you worried for the future of paper money? How do you feel about new cryptocurrencies, bit-coin, etc.?
Not worried no. Seeing whatās happening with electronic money has helped open my eyes to the changing nature of money. Humans have used the concept āmoneyā to describe lots of thingsā¦ an amount of metal, an amount of goods, an amount of debt. This current electronic step embraces that money has become more about performing work than acquiring props.
