Monday, 15 February 2016

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / PRIMARY RESEARCH / SHOW ME THE MONEY

We attended the exhibition Show Me The Money in the People's history museum, showcasing a variety of different currencies from around the globe, exhibiting art work that demonstrates currency's importance and even control on our societies.

 

Seeing examples of real money affirmed my schema of how money should look. There is almost always an element of history featured on currency, or a very important and influencial person. As can be seen by these examples, money is almost always presented in a certain way, with a lot of corresponding details. The detail on money communicates a sense of luxury and wealth which is of course ultimately what money is. The portrait of an important person is there to pay homage to whatever that person achieved, and to possibly remind the individual of great moments in history, related to their country.

It is also interesting to note how currency changes, for example the British bank notes range from 5 - 50 pounds, whereas in America, a dollar has its bank note.


The exhibition was also interactive, with an area where the audience can 'dress up' as a banker or broker. The idea behind this from my own assumptions is to demonstrate the effects money can have on the quality and quantity of material goods such as clothes. It is definitely an engaging way to get people talking and thinking. 


This area of the exhibition contained a carpet of lottery tickets, demonstrating our society's participation in placing a prediction on a set of balls with numbers on, just for a taste of the fantasy world of wealth and luxury. All the while the odds are very low to win, meaning these lottery tickets now all represent loss and 'squandered dreams'.

This was highly engaging as it was quite a unique part of the exhibition, and got me thinking.

The exhibition was overall very exciting and engaging in places, some more than others. It has shown that bank notes all take a very similar stance on the aesthetic choices which is something I want to gear away from in order to keep up with our contemporary society. The idea of using important men and women would seem too similar to existing bank notes, and I would prefer to try and think differently and produce something unique for the project.

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