Like most art, Mark Wagner’s collages require money. But unlike most art, money serves as the actual material from which Wagner’s art is constructed. Using cut-up US banknotes, he creates mind-boggling collages that make for an interesting statement.
“I’d been doing collage out of a whole bunch of different materials, and initially, I wanted a piece of paper that was just super common — something that everyone could recognize,” he explained in an interview with Kai Ryssdal. “There’s a power behind taking something that’s familiar to everyone and making it into something completely new.”
Based in New York, his artwork has garnered both online and offline attention, collected by dozens of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the US Federal Reserve Board, and the Smithsonian Institution. It has also been shown extensively at The Metropolitan Museum, The Getty Research Institute, and the National Portrait Gallery.
But though undeniably noteworthy (pun intended), his collages are also kind of breaking the law, as the law clearly states that you can’t destroy American currency. “Any time I see my stuff referred to online, there’s always, like, a roll call of nannies and hall monitors complaining about it being illegal,” said Wagner. “When people ask me that, I like to say, ‘Should it be illegal?’”
Take a look at some of his finished work in the gallery below.