“Worth-less” is a project by Lea Mona Kerntke, designed for the project “Message to the Cosmos” 1st semester (2024). In this project, students had to create a message that was kept in a time capsule, intended for discovery by unknown beings. The end result had to be a publication in a time capsule with a kind of ceremony to put the capsule in its final place to wait for discovery.

Mona’s project explores money as an abstract idea, a symbol of value shaped by graphic design and created by universal, yet deeply social constructions. A folded poster is designed to resemble a banknote with a value of “0” to symbolize the paradox between perceived value and worthlessness. It encourages us to critically reflect on the true meaning of value, what we value and how values are communicated through time and space. The intense pattern we see on the front is made up entirely of zeros. On the back of the poster we see a dizzying overview of a stock exchange, with information about money, trade, coins … in between.