Synopsis
Presented as a mock behind-the-scenes documentary, "Art & Cash" follows the House of Modeselektor as it scrambles to survive a financial crisis. With investments collapsing and conventional assets deemed too expensive or unfashionable, the group turns to the art market. Two dealers are recruited for an ambitious shopping spree, but the campaign soon exposes the bizarre secret behind the supposed masterpieces: the Fantastic Nobodies, a group of eccentric Brooklyn counterfeiters, have been passing themselves off as works of art.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video's faux-documentary premise turns financial panic and art-market speculation into an absurdist comedy about value, authenticity, and the desire to own something rare.
- The official video credits list the Fantastic Nobodies as the performers, presenting them as Brooklyn-based art counterfeiters rather than as a conventional cast.
- "Art & Cash" was issued through Get Physical Music in 2009 and was also included in the label's *Body Language Vol. 8* mix compilation.
- The version on *Body Language Vol. 8* is identified as a live recording made at the Electron Festival in Geneva in 2009.
- The video belongs to Modeselektor's long-running visual collaboration with the Berlin design collective Pfadfinderei, which also worked with the duo on the *Labland* multimedia release.
- The video's deliberately inflated language about experts, scandals, and international art dealing parodies the tone of serious cultural documentaries and television investigations.