In recent years, digitalization has progressed in many aspects of our lives, overturning the conventional wisdom of how we buy and sell things. In fact, as more and more purchases are made online, it could be said that the need to touch and feel paper money and coins has disappeared.

The average lifespan of paper money is said to be about 18 months, and after that short lifespan, it is burned and disposed of. Paper money that has lost its value is nothing more than a mixture of cotton and linen. After all, the value of money is something humans arbitrarily assign to it, and money itself is nothing more than a piece of paper or coin.

In July of this year, London-based designer Angela Mathis unveiled her project "VALUE," which explores the future of paper money, which is losing its value. The project involves creating a "stool" out of recycled paper money destined for disposal. The paper money was shredded, then further shredded in a blender, mixed with glue, and flattened. The resulting material was sewn together to form the surface of a wooden stool. The banknotes used as materials were a mix of US dollars, British pounds, Indonesian rupees, and euros, creating a vibrant mosaic pattern, giving new value and meaning to things that had lost their value.


This article has been translated and written with permission from (Source: http://angelamathis.ch/).