How to Make Benjamins

Mr. Moneybags a.k.a. Damien Hirst set new all-time records for the art market. Price ceilings were smashed and the idea of derivatives within the world of the arts began to take a whole new level of ridiculousness. The very term art market bubble implies the aspect of risk and speculation -- whether the bubble will burst any time soon, sending ripples through investment wallets.

The record prices that Damien Hirst has achieved might not be what all artists aim for in their careers, but the extraordinary number of dealers are willing to pay for artworks is proof that there is more than supply and demand for art.

For an art dealer, the act of buying art is about investment, firstly financial and secondly for cultural investment.

So what about buying art purely for its cultural value? Got some art you want to trade in for some Benjamins?

Illustrator Adam Turnbull is turning this concept upside down. In his latest project, Turnbull asks for art in the exchange for money, money that has been illustrated by the illustrator himself. The project, 'Mo Money,' began as a call out among Facebook friends, and as has now attracted artwork from all around the world.

The art world is very small and there are a lot of restrictions in place on who can have access to the art that's out there. The goal is to expand the idea of what art can be acquired with and what it can purchased with.

Quid pro quo or artistic counterfeiting, the project utilizes Facebook as its platform for art exchanges. The act of pinning art and posters on the wall is something that has become outdated with the rise of sites to the likes of Pinterest or even Facebook, where people religiously pin without physically owning the art work. Mo Money undercuts this, art in exchange for art a simple yet poignant message about how art is traded.

In exchange for:

From Ned Walker, living in NYC.

From Thoka Maer, Illustrator living in China.