Fiat Is Disappearing

Valentina Picozzi is a Bitcoin activist artist who has spent over a decade merging economic and political themes with a pop aesthetic. She openly critiques the contemporary system and sparks dialogue through her work.
As a visual storyteller deeply embedded in the evolving cryptocurrency and hacker communities, Picozzi makes complex topics like economics, finance, technology, and coding accessible. She aims to ignite curiosity and inspire a movement, much like Pop Art did for post-war society, by applying this historical lens to our current technological revolution.
Her art moves beyond technicalities to represent the collective memory and values of the crypto community. She narrates the rise of virtual currencies, the shift from paper money, and critiques the financial system, all while analysing the ongoing currency war.
“Images create culture. Culture outlines ideals. And ideals influence the future.”
Globally recognised as a leading Crypto-Artist, Valentina Picozzi integrates her multidisciplinary practice with various research and educational initiatives.

Fiat Is Disappearing

Fiat Is Disappearing by Valentina Picozzi consists of two editions of the same engraved plate. The work explores the fragility and complexity of the traditional monetary system through the iconography of a totally black dollar and a totally white dollar. The choice to deprive the symbol of its usual pigmentation is intentional: an act of visual erasure that aims to highlight the lack of real substance behind the value assigned to paper money. The absence of color represents the abstractness of money, challenging the viewer to reflect on the concept of value.

Fiat is disappearing is a deep dialogue about perception and trust in the monetary system, suggesting that our concept of wealth and power may ultimately be a constructed illusion. Like the white version, the monochrome bill disappears in its own color, in this case black, appearing and disappearing depending on lighting and point of view. It thus becomes a reflector of our complex relationship with currency, prompting us to explore the connections between the tangible and the ephemeral, the real and the artificial.

Through this representation of a dollar dissolving into black, the project invites critical reflection on the transitory nature of wealth and the need to reconsider our relationship with money. The work raises questions about the foundations of our financial system, underscoring the need for a more equitable and sustainable vision of economic and social value.

Multilayer embossing on Hahnemühle white 350g paper
80 x 200 cm
Unique work, part of a series of 4 + 1 A
2024