PASADENA.
Robert Wechsler has been commissioned by The New Yorker to create something for their “Money”. The outcome was sculptures made from coins of different countries and fitted to form geometric shapes. Penny Molecule is a sculpture made of US pennies that have had notches precisely cut into them so that they fit together like a puzzle. The shape resembles a molecule or symmetrical object, whose structure is fixed by the chemical bonds between the atoms that form it. Wechsler’s whimsical yet revelatory work makes one wonder what holds the monetary system together, and whether it’s just as fixed as in the molecular world.
Wechsler is an American artist living and working in Los Angeles, California. Wechsler has had numerous national exhibitions, including shows at the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, and at International Art Objects, Los Angeles. His practice often involves altering public space and/or ordinary objects—nine bikes have been welded into a carousel of sorts, and a drinking fountain has been rerouted to water plants, not those who are looking for a drink—in order to reveal what is seen but not always noticed.
Photos: Robert Wechsler.
