Clean bills

Mel Chin is one of the artists featured in the last publication of the International Sculpture Center (Sculpture:March 2010, Vol.29#2). Among other subjects, the artist explains in the article his ongoing project related to New Orleans, "The Fundred Dollar Bill Project/Operation Paydirt" started after the disaster that struck the city in 2005.



Schoolchildren will draw $100 bills called "Fundreds". Three Millions of these "Fundreds" will be collected and delivered to Congress to be converted in real dollars which will be spent to clean lead-contaminated soil in New Orleans. This would become a landmark: when art becomes a public health project!

In the interview, the artist not only appears genuinely preoccupied by the hardship in the community, ecology, world politics, he does this with humor and is trying to stay "free", avoiding the entrapment of the art world.
I will quote him: "the moment that you're captured by some other possibility, the moment when you discover art that's new to you, other philosophies, other music- those moments are very rare, but they transform you. Art can change who you are."

Hope this project comes to fruition.