The condition of a country’s currency is perhaps one of the most effective barometers of its economic state, a topic that has been amply examined by economists. Currency as artistic medium is lesser-explored terrain and yet its study can prove revealing of a country’s economic and historical circumstances while poignantly commenting on the whimsical nature of the art market and the commercial value of works of art. For this study, I will explore the work of artists who employed currency as commentary on their country’s respective economic crises and the political conditions that led to them. I have selected a small sample of artworks with currency focusing specifically on the circulation of the US dollar, or rather it symbolic dominance, in Latin Ameircan economies. In this study, I examine three case studies spanning several decades, among them: a series of banknotes by Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles entitled Zero Dollar, created during the late 1970s and 1980s; a multimedia installation Circulante (Circulating) from 1998 by Ecuadorian artist Patricio Palomeque, and the video piece Inversión from 2011 by Cuban artist Glenda León. All three artists used their work to foreground the instability and fragile structures underpinning currency while critiquing the expansion and reach of the US dollar in their countries.

中文翻译：

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货币、艺术和经济危机

一个国家的货币状况可能是其经济状况最有效的晴雨表之一，经济学家已经充分研究了这个话题。货币作为艺术媒介是鲜为人知的领域，但它的研究可以证明揭示一个国家的经济和历史环境，同时尖锐地评论艺术市场的异想天开的本质和艺术作品的商业价值。在这项研究中，我将探索使用货币作为对各自国家经济危机和导致危机的政治条件的评论的艺术家的作品。我选择了一小部分带有货币的艺术品样本，特别关注美元在拉丁美洲经济体中的流通，或者更确切地说它是象征性的主导地位。在这项研究中，我研究了跨越几十年的三个案例研究，其中包括：巴西艺术家 Cildo Meireles 在 1970 年代末和 1980 年代创作的一系列名为“零美元”的纸币；厄瓜多尔艺术家 Patricio Palomeque 于 1998 年创作的多媒体装置 Circulante（循环），以及古巴艺术家 Glenda León 于 2011 年创作的视频作品 Inversión。这三位艺术家都用他们的作品来突出支撑货币的不稳定和脆弱的结构，同时批评美元在他们国家的扩张和影响。