An Uncommon Monument to the Common Currency

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,795930,00.html


A Dutch artist is providing some much needed levity amid the ongoing euro crisis, undertaking a project to build the seven fictional bridges portrayed on the euro banknotes. The stylized fake bridge designs were meant to prevent inter-European rivalries, but now they're all located in a single country.

Few people are likely aware that the architectural features found on euro banknotes never actually existed. Worried about offending member nations, the European Monetary Institute commissioned designs for windows, gateways and bridges to fit in with the generic theme "Ages and Styles of Europe" ahead of their 2002 launch, in an attempt to avoid "national bias."

Their sensitivity to potential rivalries turned out to be prescient, particularly in light of the resentments and prejudices that have arisen amid the ongoing currency crisis in the European Union. But while politicians may be approaching the increasingly desperate situation with grave determination, a Dutch artist is gaining attention for his literal and humorous interpretation of the euro banknotes themselves.

Robin Stam is making the stylized bridges portrayed on the backs of the seven euro banknotes a reality.

"At first the statement was about how the European Union used the bridges to explain the tight collaboration and communication between all the countries, but the bridges weren't even real," the 30-year-old Rotterdam-based designer told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Now they are real and in a Dutch suburb. It's kind of a joke now that everyone is so busy with the crisis."




*****more pictures at the link -- very good.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. While life imitates art in the Netherlands

bridges crumble in the good ol' US of A.

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2. indeed. nt