Capital

One Hundred

Technique

Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions

80 × 40 cm

A hundred dollar bill, rebuilt by hand: serial number, ornaments, the line about legal tender, twice, as on the original. Only the middle has been swapped out. Where the president's portrait would be there is an open vault; where the hall would be there are sacks. Around the neck of the figure in the middle hangs the ticker under which gold is traded against the dollar — the only line in the picture that comes from the present. Around it the canvas stays unpainted. The note ends; the surface does not. A currency holds as long as everyone plays along. This picture holds as long as someone is looking.