A Cycle of Cultic Proto-Money by László Szlávics jr. 1996-1997

· László Szlávics worked with minted coins for a long time. Aware of the ever-stretching limits of coins and medals as an art form he has now formulated his message making use of new means. Prompting by his interest in primitive cultures took him into the world of the earliest means of exchange using them as models for his own ancient money.
· Whether deliberately or by chance, the subject is one of the most pliable concepts of our age - value. A timely theme given the multitude of values in out society. Today the concepts of money and value are confused, undergoing many reinterpretations. Means of exchange created by need and common con sent have lost their intrinsic value. Not so long ago, in what anthropologists used to call primitive cultures, the objects that served as means of exchange usually also served in rituals as well as being useful in themselves. They included bracelets, strings of clay or glass beads, strings of polished red and white shells, feathers fixed by string or onto bark, strung teeth of animals, small bones, curious snails as well as limestone discs with holes in them ranging in size from a few cm-s to several meters. When making each of these pieces, Szlávics added other objects that had once been valued.