Laser cut stacks of uncut money… into skull motifs… that is one QUICK way to grab my attention, and almost want to miss a flight to paris. Almost… thank goodness Linhchi was able to go check out the inaugural exhibition of the OH WOW Gallery, SCOTT CAMPBELL NOBLESSE OBLIGE. Scott Campbell has been much loved on NOTCOT over the years, from tattoo artist, to laser artist, to beautiful collaborations with laser cut leather for Louis Vuitton… and to my favorite, his work with laser cut stacks of uncut sheets of US currency. And this time there is even tattoo inspired art inside ostrich egg shells and burning images into stacks of money…Take a peek into the show and the lush green gallery on the next page!

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Tags: art - events - gallery - money - opening - sculpture - skull

Money as art ~ or faux money as art, rather. Spanish illustrator Xavi Garcia created his stunning ‘Handmade’ banknote illustration as a reaction to soulless digital design. “This note pretends to remind the viewer the amount of work, hours, patience and love that artisans put into the handicrafts they produce and stress how valuable they are, replacing currency for the amount of time spent working on it (3 months were given for this project). Entirely drawn by hand, using different printing techniques, it features security measures common in banknotes such as watermarks, tactile elements, see-through images and invisible UV ink.” On the front it says “Tempus Neminem Manet” meaning “Time waits for no one” and on the back it reads “Tempus Fugit” meaning “Time Flees.” As you stare at his work, it makes you wonder about the world it may have come from… and i love the concept of time as currency. After all ~ Time is Money, right? How nice would it be to be paid with one of these 3 month notes? How would you spend it? See the details up close on the next page…

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Tags: art - illustration - money - print

A floor literally tiled with thousands of copper pennies... it's pretty surprising to look down and see them when you walk into The Standard Grill in the Standard Hotel New York, below the Highline. The design was selected by the restaurant's designers,
Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of New York-based design firm Roman
and Williams. See some more peeks of it on the next page!

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Tags: hotels - luxury - money - new york - restaurants - standard - travel

The press release starts off "In these days of soaring gas prices, yelps of cash crunches and real estate depression, the last thing anyone would do is destroy money. Well, anyone but Yoko Devereaux that is. Launching for spring/summer 2008, Old Money, is a collection of coins hand cut into works of art Yoko has attached to aged sterling silver necklaces. As Creative Director, Andy Salzer, explains, "It is about taking something that is so relevant in our society and then destroying it."

Somehow, i think the destruction of pennies, to turn them into 88$... is not exactly the dumbest way to "destroy money" in a recession, but that's just me. Personally, i have always admired some of the more gorgeous designs to appear on money, and this is a beautiful way to isolate those elements... now if only they would make one with that one pound coin that has the dragon on it! See a close up on the next page...

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Tags: accessories - fashion - gifts - jewelry - money - shopping

I bet you're having one of those "i wish i had thought of that first" moments... yes we all have $$$ bills and scanners, have probably played with origami or silly money folding tricks in our childhood... but Dan Tague has stepped up and taken it to the next level using this combination to make politically provocative prints 20 something inches wide (and bigger!).

Dan Tague - "Cash Rules Everything Around Me" runs from March 29, 2008 through Apr 19, 2008 at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans. Above - THE END IS NEAR & TRUST NO ONE... LIAR. See some of my favorites from his show after the jump - including: We Trust Liars, He is a liar. State of Fear. The American Idol. I Hate War. Hunt For Oil. The Heat is On. In God We Trust, Serve The State.

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Tags: art - money - prints

The German Theosaurus - the porcelain piggy bank with nostrils so large you're sure it ought to be able to sniff out some truffles for you... or, at least, help you save up some coin to buy some! After CA Boom V (which took merely an hour to cover) ~ i headed over to Abbot Kinney and stopped in on Andy over at A+R, where he had just gotten the Theosauruses in, and he even has an exclusive on them this month! These adorable piggy banks showed up on .org as #7013, but seeing them in person, you can't help but want to pick it up and bring it home... really, it's one worth checking out in person, and would make a darling gift for nearly anyone, once you figure out which one to buy. We debated whether the sitting or standing was more cute... and personally, i think the sitting one is most adorable when next to the standing one, however if i only got to go home with one, definitely the standing one... in porcelain with the blue pattern! Although, the sitting one does have a locking bottom, versus the two cork feet of the standing one... and the family of the 4 did look most adorable together. Anyhow, take a look below to see how they look in context of the real world (versus the uber-clean product photography world).

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Tags: gifts - money - porcelain - shopping