The Banker

The Subprime Crisis of 2007-2008 exposed how major banks profited from reckless speculation while millions suffered. Around the same time, a study published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences found that 90% of U.S. banknotes carried traces of cocaine—a sign of the deep ties between drug money and global finance. Banks have long been key players in money laundering, turning illicit profits into clean capital.


The Banker is an allegory—a machine that does not just process banknotes, but exposes the hidden links between finance and crime, speculation and addiction, power and secrecy. 
At the top, a banknote counter tracks and sorts the bills, just as banks count their profits without questioning their origins. The bills then move to the washing unit, where special solvents remove traces of cocaine—just as international banks "clean" illicit money through legal loopholes. The contaminated liquid, or "dirty juice," is extracted and sent to the next stage.In the lower section, a centrifuge separates solid residues, mirroring the way financial institutions separate themselves from direct criminal involvement while still benefiting from it. The final step uses High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Mass Spectrometry to analyze and extract pure cocaine crystals, revealing the raw product behind these transactions.

By making the invisible visible, The Banker is a critique of the lack of transparency in global finance. It reflects a system where banks, drug cartels, and speculative markets are deeply intertwined—where financial crises and drug epidemics are symptoms of the same unchecked greed.


Banknotes counting machine with a system
to extract traces of cocaine transported on banknotes.
Miscellenaous materials.
Dimensions: 103 x 120 x 586 cm