Zero and Sifr, 2014-2015, by Lebanese multimedia artist Hady Sy, is a powerful critique about the role that money plays in our lives. Each of these pieces attempts to both clarify and muddle 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.

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 the phrase “In God We Trust”, which is ubiquitous to all dollar bills, with the ambiguous statement “Truth or Utopia”. It is a statement that 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, transcends mere numerical significance to become 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 "zero dollar bill" as both an image and a tangible object. By questioning what gives currency its value, these works prompt viewers to reevaluate their own relationship with money and material wealth. The importance placed on the dollar bill is humorously tuned around by replacing it with a zero. In this way, Sy brings out the absence of intrinsic value in these currency notes, and highlights the fragility of the entire conceit that holds our relationship with money together.

The inclusion of the Arabic word for zero, "sifr," which can also stand for "void" or "empty," adds another semantic layer, highlighting 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 he is trying to highlight is that society, on a global level, revolves on the basis of that fictitious value.