Metric Money

2019 / Bars of coins / 120x10x10 cm. (each)

The dollar, an idea set in motion by Thomas Jefferson, was the first currency to include decimal divisions. This ultimately led to the abandonment of the age-old relationship between the weight of metal coins and their actual trade value. For this piece, I have created one-metre rods with each of the coins in the dollar and euro currencies (thus altering the decimal scale), a nod to the original bar of platinum and iridium that was the official standard metre of the French Academy of Sciences. The piece also critiques the Americans’ shameless pilfering of the decimal metric system, an idea they pinched for their new currency.