Form/Space Atelier Program October-November 2012
Exhibit Title: "The Money Project"
Exhibit Duration: October 12-December 4, 2012
Vernissage: October 12, 6PM
"The Money Project" is the first solo exhibit of Megan Harmon at Form/Space Atelier. The exhibit consists of sculptural objects materially composed of uncirculated currency (attached image of money-coated apple), and a projected single-channel video exhibiting in Form/Space Atelier's luxuriously sumptuous Video Projection Cloister, a decadent, bawdy boudoir (behind black curtains) adjoining Form/Space Atelier's austere and impeccably deconstructed stairwell exhibit space. BAWDY BOUDOIR BEHIND BLACK CURTAINS.
Megan Harmon received her BFA from Western Washington University. She is a principal of the Seattle art collaborative Pigeon Vision Studio and an employee of the Seattle Art Musuem.
The following press appears courtesy the writer, Amy Kepferle ·
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Megan Harmon isn’t in a financial position to destroy the funds she
needs to pay her bills every month, but that didn’t stop the Western
Washington University BFA student from utilizing legal tender in
“Another Day, Another Dollar,” a one-day exhibit she’ll be showing at
Lucia Douglas gallery on Mon., May 2, 2011. We caught up with the
artist to talk about money, and why it matters.
Cascadia Weekly: How did you first become interested in using money as
an artistic medium?
Megan Harmon: While working in photography I shoot black and white
nostalgic images reminiscent of the “American dream.” In printmaking,
I use text and iconic imagery to create slogans that portray a modern
view of value and worth. Working with paper currency, or the actual
object I associate with as “money,” was the most natural next step in
exploring my curiosity with value.
CW: What were the primary things you wanted to get across when you
started working with currency?
MH: I am trying to convey to the viewer that money is an object. I am
exploring how we identify with money as an object and questioning my
relationship to it.
CW: Can you explain in further detail how you get a hold of the money?
MH: I am a college student, and am in no position to shred my own
money. I buy shredded money from eBay and the Bureau of Printing and
Engraving in Washington D.C. All of the money I use has been shredded
by federal authorities.
CW: I saw the “apple” image and “grapes.” What other images are there
in the exhibit?
MH: I will be displaying photographs of the objects I have covered in
money––apples, grapes, pears, and silverware––large screen-printed
text pieces, mixed media with money and gloss medium, and small
installations of the money-covered objects.
CW: How much legal tender did you go through?
MH: I used roughly three pounds of shredded money for the purposes of this show.
CW: In your press release, you wrote that “money in its physical form
is merely paper, and electronic money is intangible.” What other
epiphanies did you have in the course of putting this exhibit
together?
MH: The most interesting things that have happened are the
conversations I get into with people who see me carrying, or working
with, shredded money. The first question is always, “Is that real?”
Some of the people that have approached me about my work are complete
strangers, but seeing shredded money compelled them to ask questions
about it. It is this response that people have to my work that
interests me the most. Money is a symbol that evokes a strong feeling
in the viewer, especially when they start to see a relationship
between my work and the currency they use on a daily basis.
CW: Is money an easy tool to use?
MH: Shredded money is shredded at 1/16 of an inch and is as long as a
regular bill. It is a very tedious task to cover objects in this
material. However, it is an act I find pleasantly repetitive and
therapeutic.
CW: Will the art be for sale, or is that adding a whole other layer of
monetary mischief to the mix?
MH: Yes, the work will be for sale.
CW: If you were super-rich, would you use “real” money in your art?
MH: I am currently using real money. The shredded money I receive is
real U.S. currency.
