Opened Friday 10th May from 5.30pm.


When and how does a piece of paper or an artwork acquire an exchange value? How is its' value determined and put into practice? Commissioned by CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand, WUNDERSCHEIN is an installation by Guillaume Cailleau. Focusing on the physicality of money (especially notes) the project models, imitates and fabricates money to address ideas of value in finance and art.

The title gestures to the complex responses inspired by money. While sounding very close to Wunderschön (‘beautiful’), the title is a German neologism composed from ‘Wunder’ (wonder) and ‘Schein’ (which can be translated as a ‘bill,’ ‘glow,’ or ‘pretense’). On opening night, screen printers will produce counterfeit notes onsite. While not seeking to directly represent state-sanctioned currency, the ‘money’ produced onsite at the opening addresses the value of labour in comparison to what is produced.

Features a collaborative text with Wellington artist Matilda Fraser.


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Guillaume Cailleau is a Berlin-based French artist and filmmaker who is CIRCUIT’s international artist in residence for 2018-19.

Supported by CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand and Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe


Photography by Pippy McClenaghan
Design by Brad Heappey