{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/65734"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/65734","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Using money to suspend heavy or fragile objects","abstract":"The author suspends a 700-lb steel money safe from the ceiling, using ropes constructed from approximately 10,000 United States $1 bills. The role of money in this artwork is compared and contrasted with the role of money in artworks by other contemporary artists. It is noted that the presence of money has an irritating effect on most viewers, and hypothesized that this effect is based on the installation's exposure of differences in financial wealth between different persons. Accordingly, a proposal is made for the reduction of economic inequality by wasting the excess wealth of the very rich, and it is suggested that the author's artwork both enacts and visually supports this proposal.","abstract_html":"The author suspends a 700-lb steel money safe from the ceiling, using ropes constructed from approximately 10,000 United States $1 bills. The role of money in this artwork is compared and contrasted with the role of money in artworks by other contemporary artists. It is noted that the presence of money has an irritating effect on most viewers, and hypothesized that this effect is based on the installation's exposure of differences in financial wealth between different persons. Accordingly, a proposal is made for the reduction of economic inequality by wasting the excess wealth of the very rich, and it is suggested that the author's artwork both enacts and visually supports this proposal.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ela, Jedediah Smith, 1979-"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Krzysztof Wodiczko."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003","date_published":"2003","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:24Z","subjects":["Architecture."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65734","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Krzysztof Wodiczko."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ela, Jedediah Smith, 1979-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2011-09-13T17:44:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-09-13T17:44:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2003"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Architecture."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65734"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003.","Includes bibliographical references (p. [102])."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The author suspends a 700-lb steel money safe from the ceiling, using ropes constructed from approximately 10,000 United States $1 bills. The role of money in this artwork is compared and contrasted with the role of money in artworks by other contemporary artists. It is noted that the presence of money has an irritating effect on most viewers, and hypothesized that this effect is based on the installation's exposure of differences in financial wealth between different persons. Accordingly, a proposal is made for the reduction of economic inequality by wasting the excess wealth of the very rich, and it is suggested that the author's artwork both enacts and visually supports this proposal."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Using money to suspend heavy or fragile objects"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Krzysztof Wodiczko."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."],"dc:creator":["Ela, Jedediah Smith, 1979-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2011-09-13T17:44:36Z"],"dc:date.available":["2011-09-13T17:44:36Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2003"],"dc:description":["Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003.","Includes bibliographical references (p. [102])."],"dc:description.abstract":["The author suspends a 700-lb steel money safe from the ceiling, using ropes constructed from approximately 10,000 United States $1 bills. The role of money in this artwork is compared and contrasted with the role of money in artworks by other contemporary artists. It is noted that the presence of money has an irritating effect on most viewers, and hypothesized that this effect is based on the installation's exposure of differences in financial wealth between different persons. Accordingly, a proposal is made for the reduction of economic inequality by wasting the excess wealth of the very rich, and it is suggested that the author's artwork both enacts and visually supports this proposal."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65734"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Architecture."],"dc:title":["Using money to suspend heavy or fragile objects"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:24Z"}