Based on the concept of SIFR/Zero, this collection, 2014-2015, by Lebanese multimedia artist Hady Sy, is a critique of the role that money plays in our lives. Each of these pieces attempts to challenge our understanding of money and the excessive control it has over us. The artist replaces George Washington’s image with an illustration of Al Khawarizmi, the Baghdad-based 9th-century polymath, known as the father of algebra, as an homage to the mathematician's contribution to modern mathematics, particularly in his establishment of zero as a numerical placeholder. Latin translations of Al Khawarizmi's work on algorithms in the 12th century helped speed up the transfer of these concepts from India to Europe.

By using the one-dollar bill as a prototype, Sy modifies the note firstly by replacing the one with a zero and then by replacing “In God We Trust” with the ambiguous statement “Truth or Utopia”. This phrase shrouds the insidiousness of being controlled by money: the utopia that is on offer is one where all facets of life are premised on the accumulation of wealth, while simultaneously asking the viewer to see the truth behind the conceit.

Across these large mock dollar bills, the symbolism of the zero, or "sifr" in Arabic, becomes a powerful reflection on the nature of value and wealth in the current age. Sy's project challenges viewers to confront the fetishization of money by presenting the devalued bill as both an image and a tangible object. The importance placed on the dollar bill is humorously tuned around by replacing it with a zero, thus bringing out the absence of intrinsic value in these currency notes, and highlighting the fragility of the system that holds our relationship with money together.

The inclusion of the Arabic word for zero, "sifr" - known as 'Shunya' in ancient India, which stands for "void" or "empty" - highlights the abstract nature of numerical values and their significance in our lives. In this way, money is nothing but paper embellished by ink and a catchy design to which an unreal value is assigned. What is being highlighted is that society, on a global level, revolves on the basis of that fictitious value.

Signed and numbered “2/3” on the verso