At the end of the Great Recession, the United States deficit became a looming issue that spanned across news sources and symbolized mismanagement and greed. Americans were told that a very significant portion of this deficit was ‘ours’ and growing exponentially each day.
Yet, as I went through each day, I found at least one discarded penny. So, since August 31, 2009, I have sent my found change daily via certified mail to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (previously the Bureau of the Public Debt), a sector of the Treasury Department whose purpose is to manage the deficit. If by some chance I do not find any change one day, then I send a penny of my own.
I copy the current and previous president on all of my correspondence, archive all of my materials, and maintain a database of the project’s entirety.
Nicole Wilson is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY.
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