Money No Object

Bristol-based artist Heidi Hinder’s latest project, Money No Object, explores the relationship between money, exchange and gestures. As many societies abandon cash in favour of digital transfers, Hinder’s project considers new ways to create value and trust in financial exchanges.

Financial Growth (pictured) is a piece that reveals how much money can communicate and transfer beyond its financial value. The coins have been submerged in petri dishes of agar jelly in order to cultivate the bacteria present.

In another element of the project, Hinder explores how physical gestures or movements can facilitate financial exchange. She has experimented with using near-field communication (NFC) technology embedded in gloves to allow money to be exchanged through a handshake, and created t-shirts with contactless payment capabilities for payments-by-hugs.

In today’s digital age, cash is becoming a rare commodity. Digital payment systems such as debit and credit cards, contactless payments and internet banking have been gaining ground for some time, while disruptive cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin have made headlines around the world. For further insights into the world of digital payments, see Mobile Wallets: Where Next, and Lift: The Future of Money.