Found Objects is a series of photographs depicting coins as they are found around urban areas. Each coin found is inventoried into a collection where each photograph is accompanied by its matching physical coin.
The series started in 2008, evolving into what would later become a documentation, in real time, of the transition from the old money system into the new era of crypto.
It takes its name from artist Marcel Duchamp’s definition of the “Found Object”, as these coins represent “small insignificant objects with no value or meaning”. Once a mere object without face value, they can be re-evaluated as artworks and attributed with multiple interpretations of their symbolism.
In 2021, NFTs became the perfect media for this series. Creating an NFTs’ collection from these photographs equals to “REMINT” Fiat Currency into Cryptocurrency. By associating its original face value with the single unit value of a Cryptocurrency, the coins absorb the Cryptocurrency’s higher value as a token for Art value.
Usually, art is valued through money. Found Objects, however, reverses this valuation process and values money through art instead. Building a collection of disappearing fiat currency and replacing its face value with “art value” adds up to the illusion of their uniqueness now that they have been “rescued” and repurposed as artworks.
The photographs evoke nostalgia for past times of high moral and institutional standards. Some appear fresh and shiny, as they were recently dropped; others, bring us to abandon ruined trashy landscapes, where the magnified coins appear deteriorated, decomposing under a prolonged exposure to the elements. The system of values they us to represent is now decaying and bound to disappear. They offer an insightful view, charged with meaningful symbolism, of the transformations the World Financial System is undergoing into the future.
The collection is ongoing. It is being shot between Miami and Miami Beach in 2022, using a Canon M200, 24.1 Megapixel, EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 Lens (Macro 4+). It has been minted on the Polygon blockchain offering significantly reduced purchase and transfer transaction gas fees.