In 1969, Alan Smith became a co-founder of the Edinburgh Ceramic Workshop, a charitable trust that played a key role in bringing international artists to the Scottish capital. Despite their success, the organisation was forced to close in 1974 due to a lack of core funding. A clause in the constitution stated that in the case of closure, any remaining funds had to be donated to a similar association. Exasperated at this, the members of the executive committee resolved to re-write the charter, enabling them to entomb the charity’s remaining funds of £1512 as a permanently sealed investment.

British law prevents investments being locked in ‘eternity’, although there are certain exceptions for works of art. With the help of legal expert Henry Lydiate, Smith and his colleagues managed to create an artwork that consumes money. Designating their funds as the medium of an artwork, the reworked constitution stated that the Edinburgh Ceramic Workshop continued to exist as both a non-profit distributing art organisation and a work of art. Invested in high-yield Treasury bonds, the interest generated is continually added to the initial sum and reinvested so that the funds almost double every five years. According to calculations made in 1974, by the end of its first century, the artwork will have a value of £410.7 million.

£1512 formed the centrepiece of this installation and consisted of a black, executive style briefcase, c.1977.  Also on display was a ‘precious’ painting in the Renaissance style, illuminated by a flickering candle. A highly conceptual piece, this work reflected upon the complicated and often contradictory relationship between art, value and money.