Yoshinori Niwa
Exchanging between Turkish Lira and Euros in Istanbul until there is nothing left
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 Exchanging between Turkish Lira and Euros in Istanbul until there is nothing left 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 arguably the common factor between our existence, and it is monetized 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.