Travis Purrington’s USD Proposal Stemmed From Knowledge About Central Banks

Travis Purrington became popular as an artist for his USD proposal, in which he, for his masters thesis at the Basel School of Design, redesigned the US banknotes as we know them today. He chose this project because of the hold that money has over the collective mind of humanity.

“I guess the inspiration came from the medium and the fact that paper money is, well, paper, and essentially wallet sized flyers that represent value,” Purrington told me in my article for Medium. “There are approximately 35 Billion US dollar notes being circulated in the world. That represents a significant amount of real estate to present a brand and/or message (for better or worse).” For him, it was a matter of practicality and opportunity.

“To pass up an opportunity to utilize such an avenue to share relevant practical and intellectual information in lieu of elementary patriotic establishments seems unwise,” he told me.

Money has played a major role in the development of western civilization and modernity. It breathes through each and every aspect of daily life, and no matter what it is you want or need in modern life, there is a good chance you’re paying for it in money. And, if you’re in the US, you’re using the subject of Purrington’s imagination: USD. He chose the USD because of the role the US has played in creating the modern conscious and modern society.

“I love the term ‘currency’ because it mimics with its title the blood of modernity and the trade wind of progress,” Purrington says. “It flows in patterns from central control points to limbs sustaining and invigorating culture, communication, livelihood, art, science, infrastructure. It moves and shapes whatever it touches.”

“The idea of money is the greatest common abstract thought conferred throughout civilization, it is the idea of proxy and symbolism,” he opines. “We agree that when obtained appropriately money alchemizes stones, or metal, or shells, or whales teeth, or paper to time, energy, effort and intent. It is therefore the storage device of our combined specialized thoughts and movements. To play a hand in such a large, volatile game that helps determine the direction of coming tides in the future is worth some thought.”

He chose the project because he wanted to design something that would be seen, and something that would provoke thought, in true humanist fashion. He did not want his art to end up discarded or in a landfill, and he wanted it to be something of educational value.

“In the end I tried to think about what singular piece of design could potentially enact widespread positive change…and the USD just was just an obvious choice,” he told me. “The US influences the spending habits of so many more economies than it’s own.” He wanted people to ask, “why?”

“I liked the idea of attempting a theoretical change by bringing the question of heuristic value back to the banknotes so many of us have taken for granted, upset the system, and give the greater population a reason to ask ‘why?”’ he said. The process for Travis was not straightforward, as he took many months to decide upon how he wanted to complete this project.

“I veered from concept-to-concept for several months, but from the beginning I was reluctant to depict presidents or specific personages though it was constantly requested by others in experiments,” he told me. “I then became aware in researching USD history that George Washington was attributed with saying that ‘no man, living or dead’ should grace the portraiture of the US currency and cemented my stand on the matter.” Purrington sees Washington’s wish having been ignored.

“This seemed wise direction from General Washington which is exactly the opposite of where we are today with the US dollar design. The opportunity to design a non- “monarchal” dollar became my focus…and I began to separate the note family into themes of principled advancement and philosophy,” Purrington said. “I also played with altering reality by inferring our central bank system could exist as a nationally owned bank instead of the privately owned Federal Reserve or changing “In God we trust” to “of God and man.”

“Other details highlight areas where I envision the true value of money credited, a look at ourselves as a species from a variety of vantage points and a call to action for the aggregation of our powers to be used wisely.”