Exchanging between Turkish Lira and Euros in Istanbul until there is nothing left

2011 - Film & Video (Film & Video)

25:10 minutes

Yoshinori Niwa

---

Yoshinori Niwa’s investigation into the monetary system and material goods is witnessed across a range of his works. As the title of this work indicates, Niwa visits several currency exchanges in the market in Istanbul and proceeds to continually exchange from one currency into another until he has no money left, going against the grain of the economy. The laborious act of exchanging the currency back and forth does not create any profit. Instead, only time itself disappears – time is arguable to actual common factor between all our existences, and it is monetised accordingly within our society. As a result the staff at the currency exchange offices get increasingly confused and angry, frustrated, perhaps, that the laborious act no longer makes any sense in their business context.

---

Yoshinori Niwa’s practice takes the form of social interventions, executed through performance, video and installation. Through the construction of absurd scenarios, Niwa deploys a nonsensical vernacular to examine systems of exchange that drive contemporary society, as well as disjunctures in collective conceptions of history, ideology and value —an artistic strategy whose roots can be traced to the post-war Japanese avant-garde. Niwa graduated Tama Art University’s Department of Moving Images and Performing Arts in 2005. Niwa’s work has been exhibited internationally. His latest exhibitions in 2016 include: solo exhibitions at Minatomachi Art Table (Nagoya, Japan) and 1335MABINI (Manila, Philippines); and group shows at Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (Marugame, Japan) and Setouchi Triennale 2016 (Naoshima Island, Japan).Niwa was selected as one of ArtReview’s Future Greats in 2014.

---

Colors:

---

• money.n.01
• economy.n.03
• exchange.n.03
• value.n.01
• labor.n.02
• commodity.n.01