J.S.G. Boggs, artist and trickster, has died | Hacker News Reader

J.S.G. Boggs, artist and trickster, has died

economist.com

66 pointsanigbrowl12 comments

This is sad, I loved this guy.

I saw him featured on a show about money and counterfeiting. And the question he raised was really really interesting to me. If he made a drawing of a cat or a dog and offered to trade that for a meal it would be simple barter, but because it looked so similar to currency it freaked out the authorities.

And that makes you ask "what is money really?" and "what is value?" His drawings of currency were always "worth" more than their face value to collectors. And as far as I have heard he never tried to "trick" someone into believing it was actual currency. It was just a really detailed drawing.

Now I think I'll never get a chance to own one of his bills.

He might not have ever tried to trick anyone, but how can he control that none of the recipients down the line would not try to do so?

The NYT also has an interesting obituary which includes this quote.

“He was just short of being a con man, but no more than anyone in the art world, or for that matter in the world of finance — which, of course, was his whole point.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/arts/design/jsg-boggs-dea...

In College, I learned about him in a class on Symbolic Economies.

His was an amazing artist. I cannot fanthom how the government could argue that his art was "counterfeit currency".

I wonder about his thoughts on Bitcoin.

What was the class like?

I second jbpetersen. What was a class on symbolic economies like? Sounds fascinating, even to know what was on the syllabus.

"The inspiration dated from 1984, when a waitress in Chicago accepted his sketch of a dollar bill on a napkin for a doughnut and a coffee."

Something to tell the grand-children.

I'm hoping the coffee shop was an independent one and that they framed the note.

Interesting bit on the authorities viewing him as a counterfeiter. I'd guess that if parties are willing, and none are misrepresenting the note as currency, it's alright and a transaction of goods/services in exchange for art. His Wikipedia article [1] profiles a few cases where he ended up arrested - interesting. I suppose in some cases, like the waitress example in the article - the waitstaff may not be able to legally accept the fake note on behalf of the establishment (so hopefully the waitstaff would put one of their own $10 in the register...)

Further, I suppose, there's an argument for counterfeiting of bills being legally interpreted simply as their production even without the misrepresentation bit. This'll lead me on a merry chase, I'm sure.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._G._Boggs

I think there's a crucial legal notion of "uttering" forgeries as currency, but other stricter laws do exist to protect currencies against illegal replication. AFAIK.

Hanging above my desk is a sheet of thirty two dollar bills which I purchased from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington DC and had framed. It's a conscious nod towards Boggs and his art.

Arrested and then jailed for possession of Meth in 2006. He would have been 51!

Feels like something is missing from the story, or the US government harassed him without cause.

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