New Online Exhibition Fuses Money And Digital Art

_MON3Y AS AN 3RRR0R is not a colossal typo or the harbinger of a global server and economic crash; it’s merely the all but unspeakable title of the debut thematic exhibition produced by M0US310n, a brand new independently managed open collection founded and directed by Bernardo Villar for the promotion and support of net and digital art.

The sparsely designed home page creepily resembles a bland computer file folder, but those who fight off the convulsions for long enough to click on the drop down menu bar below the blue digital folder shall be rewarded with (in the following order): a one sentence mission statement under the heading “m0us310n.net”, an announcement for The Open Collection (opening on New Year’s Day),  a “Texts” section which will soon “offer theoretical text on matters relating to the Net.art & Digital Art,” and a “Contact” bar that enigmatically directs the explorer to email Info@m0us310n.net.

The middlemost selection of the menu is entitled “Open Exhibitions,” and introduces _MON3Y AS AN 3RRR0R, cheekily declaring that “**This is very EXPENSIVE” and promising more curatorial text “very soon.” Click on the hyperlink for free admission to the “expo.”

Curated by Vasily Zaitsev and having enjoyed its online vernissage on September 23rd, this art party is about nothing other than money. The home page image, a U.S. dollar bill by Miron Tee with an evasive George Washington out of the frame makes that clear from jump:

Miron Tee

As if out of the ether, 200 international digital artists came forth to contribute, among so many other things, GIFs, musically accompanied scrolling wallpapers of the Euro symbol, crazed animations, hypnotic videos, glitch portraits, an interactive Benjamins, instruction manuals, counterfeit certificates, panic radio broadcasts, composite illustrations, vintage ad spoofs, maps, Beetlejuice style commercials, and even a visual riff on Mitt Romney.

 Playdamage, Curt Cloninger

Adding to the mysterious bipolarity of democracy/anarchy, worship/irreverence, and commentary/satire crackling in this exhibition is the knowledge that curator “Vasily Zaitsev” is actually a shoutout to a famous Russian WWII sniper, and a pseudonym for the anonymous force behind all this madness.

The identifiable artists, selected for their varied and obviously aesthetic and conceptual approach to art through new digital multimedia include, but are not limited to:

Agente Doble | UAFC, Anthony Antonellis, Laturbo Avedon, Benjamin Berg, Adam Braffman, Nick Briz, Marco Cadioli, Alfredo Salazar Caro | TMVRTX, Jon Cates, Jennifer Chan, Thomas Cheneseau, Paolo Cirio,Curt Cloninger, Rollin Leonard, Rafaël Rozzendal and many more, plus the pairings of , Aaron Koblin+ Takashi Kawashima, Lorna Mills & Yoshi Sodeoka, and THEREisaMAJORPROBLEMinAUSTRALIA. Essentially, a current who's who of the medium.

While there was a competitive call for works titled "Happening 2.0,” the curators also recruited those outside the call whose design-related work to the aculmulation of appreciation of the dollar.

The collection intends to spark new conversations on the general topic of money and create exchange between artists. There is no doubt that it will achieve this. Even for the casual viewer, stepping into the collection will easily prove to be an obsessive experience, as each separate click provides total immersion in a new window of mindblowing (or at least brain tickling) content wholly unlike the last.

Below, check out a few of our favorite pieces from the online exhibit:

Paolo Cirio 

Maximilian Roganov

Systaime