This was a personal project.

I see a penny as a physical and diminutive worth of it as trivial, in comparison to its psychological value. When walking down the street I have passed multiple abandoned pennies tossed into the trash because of their minimal value of one cent. Though it makes or breaks a dollar, it is seen as insignificant, yet they represent a token to wish upon or create remembrance with. Pennies have become cherished as a psychological symbol of making desires come true and keeping moments in time alive through memories.
My first piece is of two photos, which represent the memory one makes with a penny. Because the value is only one cent, it is commonly used as an object to place on train tracks and wait for the train to come flatten it into new existence. It completely takes away the currency value of it, but turns it into a piece to look back upon and think of who you were with, where you were, and what events happened the day you compressed that penny into a type of memoir. The first photo is of a penny, which has a hole punched right through it. The significance of this perspective photo is to show the emptiness of the worth in a physical state waiting on the tracks for its destiny. The second photo in this piece shows the train rounding the corner as it heads towards creating the fate for this penny. I see these two photos working well side by side because it shows the loneliness of the penny (through the perspective angle), as it sits still as can be, but the movement of the train and adrenaline from this moment in time in combination.
The second piece is a photo of a man’s foot coming down on drawing of Abraham Lincoln, as he emerges from his penny screaming up to watch out. This symbolizes the unimportance of the actual penny, as it sits in broken glass and rubble, but also bring attention to the idea that the president represented on these trifling coins changed and unified our country and defined morality. We see pennies as miniscule, but when all the pennies sum up to a larger dollar amount the total could be, and usually is, worth sacrificing human morals to obtain. But a penny? Just a fraction of a whole dollar amount? It doesn’t matter… so just throw it away. Abraham Lincoln represents the reminder that ethics are more valuable than money.
The third piece is a collage representing the human’s psychological value of a penny through our desires. One makes wishes, with such a common and inconsequential object, for much larger dreams. Unfortunately, it is common to yearn for personal materialistic gain rather than something significant to the world. When the penny is tossed into the wishing well karma is lost, and selfish wishes overpower the humble. My collage symbolizes a simple wish in support of all, which is for the world to thrive in beauty. Emptiness can be filled, like a frame of film after letting even the slightest bit of light in. In such a world crammed with blank morals and acquisitive mindsets, the idea of “the unknown” nature of a wish is beauty in itself – opportunity, inspiration, and self-expression emerges like a flower from a pile of garbage.
This penny represent the idea that a very little thing, with small or insignificant values, could make up larger things. Whether it be physical or psychological, a penny is just a coin that adds into a bigger purpose – more pennies could mean more dollars, but it also means more wishes…