Wearable Payment Systems

Alongside sex and war, physical money has been a constant in human history. But coins, cash and credit cards, are arguably obsolete now that digital representations of currency are beginning to substitute these material objects. Yet trading still relies on trust. So how can we trust what we cannot tangibly experience, what we can no longer touch, see, smell or hear?

Money No Object has re-imagined the designed object of money, exploring what could happen if financial transactions offered a different kind of value proposition, and in a new creative economy, could trigger more enriching points of exchange.

The artist has created a series of wearable payment systems, that each effect a financial transaction through a social gesture, such as a handshake, hug, high-five or even a tap-dance:

The concept for Money No Object, was initially developed during the artist’s Craft + Technology residency at Bristol’s Pervasive Media Studio, supported by Watershed, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Crafts Council.

Watch the Craft + Technology residency video below:

Photos: Jonathan Rowley       Film: Benjie Croce