MONEY TALKS.

Time is Money. How many times did we hear this sentence? Problem is, we are always too much in a hurry to pay attention to its meaning and consequences. “Time is Money” is an imperative for all of us to be productive and unquestioning. “Time is Money”‘ also implies a blind faith in Velocity as a measure of efficiency – rapidity of action as a value! But velocity, rather than a value, is a dimension: the rate of speed with which something happens. So it’s a bit disappointing to realize our civilization is built on a misconception.

Brandpowder, always keen to reverse a statement like a smelly sock, tried to swop the terms of the equation, posing a simple question: what if we say “Money is Time”, instead? The flip of the coin is mind opening because, even if we maintain the reflective property of the statement, the value and meaning of both terms changes dramatically.

“Money is Time”, all of a sudden, draws attention to the fact you trade your time (i.e. your life) for money. But while money can be spent or accumulated, the same can’t be said for time. Once you have wasted it, it’s gone. Forever. The question is: are you paid enough? Is your life worth 100 or 10,000 dollars a month? A Stanford analysis calculated that a one year’s worth of human life is 129,000 dollars, a figure calculated on the cost and return of an average health insurance. But shouldn’t life be priceless? Let’s say you were kidnapped, how much would you be willing to pay for your own release?

Brandpowder’s point of view on Money and Time, at this point, is disarmingly simple: Get Your Life Back. And you know why? Because if you spend more of your time and less of your money, you feel happier. The salary kills your thirst for adventure replacing it with the dullness of material comfort. Money, if you think about it, is a compensation for your lost freedom. More than a deal, it’s a bad transplant where you give your precious time away in change of a fistful of papers loaded with the microbes of million hands. What’s the meaning of these banknotes, usually representing a big guy wearing a wig, surrounded by a preposterous parody of sacrifice, humble work and national grandeur? Isn’t it sad and funny at the same time? And dangerous too, considering that today’s money has no backing in precious metals or commodities and has value only by fiat, which is like saying its worth is based on a feeble agreement between you and the Government.

Our Staff, inspired by the topic of Money and Time and their sneaky relationship, came up with a new experiment, generating a new series of surreal banknotes. The exercise, at face value, can be seen as a parody within the parody. But there is something else: money comes out as an eclectic, almost devilish medium, adaptable to every need: it is, at times, a fictitious character, a partner in crime, a bloodstained patch, a hidden truth, a piece of propaganda, an incitement to greed. Something, in the end, we’d better stay away from.

Given the nature of the topic, the Brandpowder Team ddin’t want to be paid for the “Money Talks” project. Only a small portion of bills are published here. The rest will be on display for an itinerant exhibition opening soon. Needless to say, entrance will be free. Stay tuned.