Pretium Certum Constitutum
(2016) Dimensions variable. Blown soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, bronze minted currency, taxidermied English Magpie, ink-jet printed contract, cochineal cannabis ink, distilled water, steel.
This project is the first iteration of a multidisciplinary investigation into the thriving economy around hand-made cannabis pipes, the conflicting legal status of medical and recreational marijuana between state and federal law and the unmanageably robust cash economy created by the refusal of banks to accept cannabis money. The project aims to produce an extremely valuable cannabis pipe and sell it to support people incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses.
Pretium Certum Constitutum attempts to create a tangible currency to participate in the informal economy around art-glass-pipes. I minted a coin whose value is determined by the value of the pipe for which it is being exchanged. I have invited established members of the pipe-making community to trade with me, my coin for their pipe. An editioned print of a binding contract is signed in ink made from cannabis oil and crushed cochineal beetle shells (the ink can be smoked) determining the value of the coin in question.
I have 20 editions of the contract and 20 coins, with the image of a magpie on one side and a glass pipe on the other. Each side reads, Pretium Certum Constitutum, Latin for “a set price having been laid down.” The coins are displayed in a massive glass vessel visually similar to a water pipe or distillation apparatus. As I acquire additional glass pipes, I connect them together mechanically, adding to a functional sculpture with an exponentially increasing monetary value determined by prices of other multi-artist collaborative pipes. Once complete, I will sell this object, donating all of the money raised to organizations supporting people incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses.