by Rosaleen Ortiz

Laura Gilbert's idea of a zero dollar first came with the crash of Bear Stearns during an ominous weekend in March.

The U.S. government acted quickly to broker a deal for JPMorgan Chase to take over the storied investment bank. The government's controversial move would protect Bear's creditors, but would wipe out investors and result in massive layoffs at the 85-year-old firm.

"I started thinking about what is the loss of wealth," said Laura Gilbert, who on Oct 7 — two days after Congress approve a $700 billion financial stimulus plan — went down to the corner of the New York Stock Exchange to distribute some of the 10,000 copies of her Zero Dollar print. "It just seems to be an image that has real answers to people. It sums up a situation that is simultaneously frightening and ironic."

Gilbert is not the only artist with money in her mind.

From "annotated" portraits of Wall Street's most infamous CEO's to staging a literal meltdown of the economy, many artists are responding to the financial upheaval with their own interpretations of the crisis.

"One of the things that the artists are doing is that they are channeling what is a mass anger into something that is palpable," said Randy Martin, head of the Department of Art and Public Policy at New York University's Tisch School of Arts.

In one for the history books, this year saw the demised of some of Wall Street's most iconic firms as a result of massive losses resulting from failed bets on mortgage-related assets.

And the reverberations of the U.S. financial debacle are being felt worldwide.

"We're living through this enormous page in history and it certainly can't go unlooked, I want to mark this," said London-based artist Natasha Archdale.

She has used clippings from the Financial Times to compose nude female portraits.

On Oct. 29, the 79th anniversary of the Great Crash, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese displayed a 1,500-pound ice sculpture of the word 'economy' in front of the New York Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan. The art work's message resonated with onlookers, many of whom would say, 'yes, the economy is melting!'

"Ice is about metamorphosis, it's about change. It changes its state. Yes, the economy is melting, but hopefully it indicates that there's going to be a change in the way we look at our economy, we look at our culture and how we value each other," said Ligorano.

While people posed for pictures and the local media descended in the area, Ligorano and Reese waited for the 'economy' to melt. By 8 p.m.only two letters, the E and the C, had crumbled.

"I guess that guy was right," said an observer, referring to the controversial remarks made by presidential hopeful John McCain during his run for the White House. "The fundamentals of our economy are still strong."

Perhaps he spoke too soon.