Lab-taiteilijat 2018: Money-festo

We are making our contribution to individuals/community of Petonen a direct and concrete one, rather than one clouded by assumptions about the power of art to effect change in—and bring about the betterment of this particular community.

We are paying for the privilege of the audience's attention to our experimental project.

We view this as a playful and perhaps subversive experiment in reversing the conventional exchange of money for art - what happens if the artist pays an audience member to be a part of their project, rather than the other way around?  We are interested in creating a certain transparency here in offering money itself, rather than the additional food, experiential elements, or objects that might otherwise be purchased with the budget we have been allotted.

In the experience of this piece, we are trying to facilitate a certain level of attention which requires the participants to engage with their immediate surroundings in a way that is not mediated or disrupted by digital devices. And on a practical level we believe we must pay teenagers to surrender their phones, as they are unlikely to do so out of pure curiosity…  And their participation is desired.

In conclusion, this gesture in our project makes possible our technical and conceptual needs, and calls forth issues of generation, class, and consciousness in daily life and the connections and conflicts between the physical and digital world.