Akasegawa Genpei, One-Thousand-Yen Note Trial Impound Object: Mask (1963) and "Greater Japan Zero-Yen Notes" and Bottled Money from Exchange (1967)

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Akasegawa Genpei, One-Thousand-Yen Note Trial Impound Object: Mask (1963) and "Greater Japan Zero-Yen Notes" and Bottled Money from Exchange (1967)
Author	Walker Art Center
Date	2009
Institution	Walker Art Center

The objects presented in this vitrine serve as artifacts of the most notorious scandal in the history of Japanese postwar avant-garde art. Akasegawa Genpei, who founded a trio of performance artists known as Hi Red Center, addressed the fundamental questions of art's authorship, value, and "place" in the realm of everyday society--issues that operated with special significance for these works. In an attempt to operate outside of the gallery system, he created fake banknotes in 1963, which he used as gallery invitations and as "packaging" for everyday objects, sparking a criminal investigation for currency fraud. A highly publicized trial ensued in 1966, which the artist and his defense team used to leverage courtroom dialogue about art's status and value. Ironically, while Akasegawa is commonly positioned within a conceptual anti-art discourse, the trial resulted in art's legitimation, though the artist himself was found guilty of fraud. As if in defiance of these results, Akasegawa went on to generate more currency, this time in the form of "Greater Japan Zero-Yen Notes"--his version of "no-value money."

Akasegawa Genpei, One-Thousand-Yen Note Trial Impound Object: Mask (1963) and "Greater Japan Zero-Yen Notes" and Bottled Money from Exchange (1967)

Akasegawa Genpei, One-Thousand-Yen Note Trial Impound Object: Mask (1963) and "Greater Japan Zero-Yen Notes" and Bottled Money from Exchange (1967)

Akasegawa Genpei, One-Thousand-Yen Note Trial Impound Object: Mask (1963) and "Greater Japan Zero-Yen Notes" and Bottled Money from Exchange (1967)

Walker Art Center

2009