A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

Judging from the aphorisms “a penny saved is a penny earned” or “a penny for your thoughts,” the copper cent at one time possessed a degree of value that it has since lost, but there’s a place for those seemingly worthless coins in your pockets.

Collection Pyramid, 2001

Collection Pyramid, 2001. Installed in the 5th Floor Elevator Lobby

Take the elevator to the fifth floor and when the doors open, you’ll find yourself in a small exhibition entitled Black Lincoln for Dooky Chase. There, you can contribute all of your unwanted pennies to Collection Pyramid, (2011), a sculpture in the making by Clean Penny Service (CPS), a performance duo formed in 2009 by artists Mike Smith and Lizzie Wright. Once the transparent pyramid is filled, it will be sealed, and the piece will be complete.

And take a look at those pennies in your pocket. Have any of them lost their shine?

CPS will be performing at Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum on July 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. The duo’s mission is to clean a dirty penny (I’m sure they’d be willing to do more than one) for each passerby, using “natural” methods whenever possible, free of charge. Stop by with your penny at the South Entrance!

Clean Penny Service

Come get your penny cleaned by Clean Penny Service at Target First Saturday on July 2, 2011.

Eugenie Tsai

Eugenie Tsai

Eugenie Tsai joined the Brooklyn Museum in the fall of 2007 as John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art. With Patrick Amsellem, she organized 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum, a long-term installation that opened on September 19, 2008. Previously she was Director of Curatorial Affairs at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens, New York. Prior to Joining P. S. 1 in 2005, she was an independent curator with projects for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Berkeley Museum; and the Princeton University Art Museum. She held several positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art prior to becoming Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs. Among the exhibitions and installations she has organized are the mid-career survey Threshold: Byron Kim, 1990-2004; Robert Smithson, which received the International Association of Art Critics’ first place award for the best monographic exhibition of 2005; and for Princeton University, Shuffling the Deck: The Collection Reconsidered. Dr. Tsai received a B. A. from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Ph. D. from Columbia University.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
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Contemporary Art, Event