America, your bank notes are boring. I don’t mean to be cruel, but there’s something disgusting about a sickly, wan, olive-green colored dollar bill which is just uninspiring.

The Euro, however, is somewhat different. Used across many European countries, these notes are colorful, vibrant and cool. They were brought into circulation a decade ago, and because they were the product of a European Union bureaucracy (never a good thing at the best of times), there were some rules.

For one thing, only countries which were part of the monetary union could be depicted on the map. This means that there is a penis-like outcrop where the Scandanavian countries are (Google it).

It also means that the pictures and diagrams on the notes had to be neutral. People were worried that using real life monuments would give precedence to some countries, and make others unhappy. They therefore made it totally nondescript.

These bridges could be anywhere. That’s the point of them. They weren’t of a particular place, so no-one could get pissy.

A Dutch artist (two words which are sure to give people a hint as to what’s coming next) called Robin Stam wasn’t keen on that.

He’s decided to build the nondescript, generic bridges in a real place in the Netherlands as a kind of artistic fuck you to the establishment. Now the European Union can’t really claim to be neutral. Essentially, he’s doing what all the best artists do: pissing on The Man’s parade.

“Now they are real and in a Dutch suburb,” he said. “It’s kind of a joke now that everyone is so busy with the crisis.”

Too true, Robin. Too true.

For all that it’s the msot dickish of dick moves, the bridges are actually cool. When all completed, they’ll be exactly like the ones on the notes – so that means the same pastel color scheme, which is nice in what is a fairly shitty part of the Netherlands.

Continue reading “Making Fake Bridges Real” »