Honey pot, Lawrence Percolator, Lawrence, KS.
This show explores the objet d’art in notions of social inequity, currency, and stores of value. Various pieces rearrange and juxtapose imagery, social and functional, some vandalizing state-issued currency, others converging images to problematize otherwise “innocent” images.
The BTC bullion project incorporated modified fiat bank notes submerged in acrylic blocks. Each block was drilled out to hold a paper wallet scroll. The holes were then covered with security stickers, physicalizing the bitcoin and challenging the location of value in the objet d’art. Some of the superimposed images include Robert Mapplethorpe's image of anal fisting into George Washington's face, a cluster bomb on a Laotian bank note, and drawings by family members, friends, and local artists. blocks were given away for $300 in 2014. Each block had 0.05 BTC on the paper wallet scroll. 0.05 BTC is worth roughly $5,000 as of 2025. Patrons who have these works in their collections are encouraged to follow best practices for updating the storage methods of the bitcoin contained, and are encouraged to consider how removing the scroll may destroy the artwork.
In another work, the functionality of a cryptocurrency wallet is applied to the body with a tattoo of Bitcoin public keys on the artist’s arm. Anyone is able to view the history and balance of these keys - or to potentially deposit funds that could “put a price on the their head,” literailzing the value of the body.
Permission is a digital collage showing school age children in Kenya reaching up in interest to the camera. Rough cut diamonds replace the foreground, interrupting perspective.
