Collage Artist Mark Wagner on Money as Art

Below are comments made by Paper Collage Artist Mark Wagner about his money collage art, work that makes us look more closely at currency. The video directly below has none of the quotes, but features Wagner talking to CBS Sunday Morning about his art. The quotes come from the second video on the page below from Avant Garde Diaries, titled “Money is Material”:

“The taboo around destroying a dollar bill makes people pay more attention to what … I’m doing than if I was using any other piece of paper”

“The object in question is essentially just a piece of paper. Money and currency don’t actually exist in the real world, they’re just something that we’ve made up”

“Sometimes I stop thinking of it as a dollar bill, I just think about it as materials. I have to remind myself sometimes that it’s worth money”

“It’s basically the most popular piece of paper on the planet”

“The dollar bill is ostensibly the most successful publication ever printed” – Mark Wagner

James Madison on Protecting the Opulent

James Madison Money Quotation saying during debates about framing the constitution, that the Senate should be charged with the protection of the rich. James Madison said about the government:
 

 

“Landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority” — James Madison

In this quote, James Madison expresses the view that property owners (“landholders”) should have a role in government in order to represent the interests of property and wealth, and to act as a counterbalance against the potential tyranny of the majority. Some key points in interpreting his perspective:

• He aimed to convey that the economic elite (“opulent minority”) deserved political influence to safeguard their assets and social status.
• Madison wanted the system designed to institutionalize checks against the popular would override minority rights, in this case property rights.
• However, he also believed in broad participation, so this quote alone does not fully represent his more nuanced view of balancing competing interests.
• Reasonable people can disagree on the appropriate calibration of majority rule and minority protections in a democratic system.

Overall, the quote reflected Madison’s stance that political influence should be apportioned not just by numbers but also economic standing. But a balanced interpretation recognizes this as one viewpoint among others, and that debates continue around balancing political equality and protection of rights in a pluralistic society.

Birthday: March 16, 1751 – Death: June 28, 1836

Mark Wagner on Dollar Bill as Materials

Mark Wagner Money Quotation saying about dollar bills, that as a paper collage artist he uses dollars as artistic medium and the message. Mark Wagner said:
 

 

“Sometimes I stop thinking of it as a dollar bill, I just think about it as materials. I have to remind myself sometimes that it’s worth money” — Mark Wagner

In this quote, Richard Wagner seems to be saying that at times when he is working on creative projects, he stops viewing money primarily as currency and instead thinks of it more abstractly as the “materials” needed to bring his visions to life.

He suggests that in the flow of creating, he can forget for a moment that the resources he is using like equipment, supplies or studio space actually represent dollar values.

Wagner has to periodically “remind” himself that the materials, tools and assets required for his work in fact have monetary worth that must be accounted for.

His quote implies that when deeply engaged in the artistic process, he is more focused on the practical implementation than the financial aspects, and needs occasional reminders to bring his mind back to the economic realities of funding his work.

Mark Wagner on Dollars as Popular Paper

Mark Wagner Money Quotation saying the popularity of the dollar bill is greater than any other piece of printed paper in the world. Mark Wagner said:
 

 

“It’s basically the most popular piece of paper on the planet” — Mark Wagner

In this quote, Mark Wagner seems to be making an observation about money and currency. By referring to money as “the most popular piece of paper on planet”, he is highlighting how ubiquitous and widely used paper money is in global society and commerce.

Despite being a simple physical object, paper currency has become the most prevalent medium of exchange around the world, serving as the standard form that most financial transactions and stores of value take.

Wagner appears to be commenting on the irony of how much power, influence and importance something as basic as printed paper can hold, due simply to its role as a shared symbol of purchasing ability.

The quote reflects on how much control over economic systems something so physically inconsequential as bills and notes have gained, due to their widespread social acceptance as representations of wealth.

Mark Wagner on Dollars as Successful Publication

Mark Wagner Money Quotation saying more dollar bills are printed than any other publication printed on paper. Mark Wagner said:
 

 

“The dollar bill is ostensibly the most successful publication ever printed” — Mark Wagner

In this quote, Mark Wagner is drawing an analogy between dollar bills and publications or printed media. By calling the dollar bill “the most successful publication ever printed”, he’s highlighting how widely circulated and impactful paper money has become globally as a medium for transmitting information and ideas.

Just as popular magazines, newspapers and books spread messages through mass production and distribution, currency disseminates the core concepts that underpin modern economic systems – value, exchange, debt – to virtually every person on earth through widespread use.

Wagner appears to be commenting on the immense reach and influence that paper money has as a vehicle for propagating the basic functions and principles of commerce. The quote reflects on how the dollar bill, through its role at the foundation of financial transactions, might qualify as the most pervasive and impactful printed form of communication in history due to its universal circulation.

Mark Wagner on Money Existence

Mark Wagner Money Quotation saying that use of money in collage art makes us examine the real value of currency. Mark Wagner said:
 

 

“The object in question is essentially just a piece of paper. Money and currency don’t actually exist in the real world, they’re just something that we’ve made up” — Mark Wagner

Mark Wagner seems to be making a philosophical point about the nature of money and currency. By saying that money is “just a piece of paper” and that its value is something “we’ve made up”, he’s arguing that monetary systems are socially constructed rather than having intrinsic worth. Money only has meaning and power in society because people have agreed and legislated that it does, not because paper bills or coins have value on their own.

His point appears to be that currency is an abstract human invention without real-world substance, since paper and metal only represent purchasing ability through shared belief rather than inherent properties. The quote suggests money only exists conceptually in economic and legal frameworks, not materially, challenging common perceptions of it as a tangible commodity rather than a social construct.

Overall, Wagner seems to be commenting on the subjective and fabricated nature of currency systems.

A photo posted by Mark Wagner (@markwagnerinc) on Oct 2, 2015 at 1:11pm PDT

Jon Stewart: Balancing the Budget

Jon Stewart from The Daily Show recaps how to cut the federal deficit and balance the budget with a long list of funny money quotes. Republicans and Democrats agree to cut 1.1 Trillion over 10 years, but argue over where those cuts should be made. Stewart can’t figure out, so asks IBM’s Watson, of Jeopardy fame but Watson can’t seem to answer that question either.