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FUTOYU GINKO – ZERO on NO MAN’S LAND

2010
printers, PCs, mirrors, printing paper, illuminator, etc
Dimensions Variable

Description
The exhibition “NO MAN’S LAND” was held at the old French Embassy building in Hiroo Tokyo, in 2010, immediately before it was knocked down. The title referred to the land which was just about to be handed back to the government of Japan from that of France; it was a desolate land without an owner.

I created a make shift “mint office” at the exhibition space in order to give an imaginary value in the no man’s land. I brought in 2 large printers, PCs and fluorescent ink, all sponsored by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, along with other things such as a large quantity of printing papers, large mirrors and an illuminator.
During the exhibition, the large printers kept printing “zero yen notes.” I allowed the audience to take home the notes as a souvenir poster. When the audience first saw the ‘zero yen’ notes, they were underwhelmed, saying the notes were meaningless or worthless. However, upon learning that they could take them home as a souvenir, the audience became delighted. Soon, outside the exhibition venue was filled with people with “zero yen” poster in hand.

広尾の旧フランス大使館で開催された展覧会「NO MAN’S LAND」とは、解体直前の旧庁舎の建つ土地、フランスから日本に返還される直前の誰の所有でもない無人地帯を意味した。その無人地帯に架空の価値を築くべく会場に「貨幣印刷所」をつくった。EPSONの協力を得て2台の大型プリンタやインク、グラフィックのデータをプリンタに流すためのパソコン、蛍光インクを出力する為の特殊な技術などを借り、また大量の用紙や大判の鏡、照明器具なども一緒に持ち込んだ。
会期中、大型プリンタは「零円」紙幣を出力し続け、刷り上がったものはポスターとして持ち帰り可とした。「零円」という字面を見た来場客は意味がない価値がないと言ったが、貰えることが分かると喜んで持ち帰った。会場周辺は零円ポスターを持った来場者であふれた。