Dublin artist opens shredded $2.3 billion house to public

Dublin Contemporary, Ireland's International Art

DUBLIN (AFP) - An artist is welcoming tourists to his Dublin home - made from 1.4 billion euros (S$2.3 billion) of shredded bank notes - to stimulate debate about Ireland's ailing economy, he told AFP on Monday.

Mr Frank Buckley built the three-roomed apartment-cum-gallery over three months, from bricks made of mulched, decommissioned notes provided by Ireland's Central Bank.

With the help of some donated timber and a door and a window given by a friend, the total cost to the struggling artist was just 35 euros, spent on wallpaper paste.

Mr Buckley, who finished the construction in January, said he hoped opening his home would boost sales of the 'cash-on-canvas' collages which hang on the walls as part of his exhibition, entitled Expressions of Recession.