------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT IS THE VALUE OF ART? Besides purchasing a work of art, you will be helping to collectively find the answer to this question with your contribution. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allow me to introduce myself:
I am Mauricio Waisman, a contemporary artist from Mendoza, Argentina.
I am currently working as the Director of the “Exchange Bureau for the Collective Construction of Answers”, an organization that seeks to answer the question of the value of Art through artistic interventions and social experiments.
Saturday June 21st, 2014, I was involved in a meeting where the coordinators of Espacio Cultural Julio Le Parc (Mendoza, Argentina) invited a group of several artists to be part of the “Distancia Focal VI” collective exhibition. In such a meeting, the coordinators described the ideas through which the Distancia Focal programme works, as well as the objectives to be reached.
Among the different concepts/ideas discussed, the role of the artist as ‘worker’ deserving a proper payment for its time and work stood out. At the end of the meeting, it was informed that $2000 (argentine pesos) would be paid for the involvement in such exhibition.
*Note for 'non' Argentinian people: $2000 (agentine pesos) is not a lot these days.
This event marked the stepping stone of the “Exchange Bureau for the Collective Construction of Answers”.
A question that had always concerned me was: What is the value of Art?, however, the answer to this question is yet to come since I realized that a concrete answer was impossible. After careful thought and consideration, I remember what Don Luis Quesada once told me: “An artist should solve that which has no solution.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AND SO HERE BEGINS THE WORK THAT WE ARE SHARING WITH ALL OF YOU!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE #1: Aesthetic Axiology
I decided to use the payment given by the institution to participate in the exhibition and transform it in a work of art that would allow me to get closer to the answer that seemed impossible.
It was in this way that the $2000 were changed for 1000 bills of $2 (two pesos) and marked with two seals: at the front, there read the question “What is the value of Art?”; at the back, the statement: “Even though this bill still keeps its original value – it is now a work of art.”
These bills were serialized (1000 respectively), signed and placed in two symmetrical walls facing one another displaying two mosaics of 10 lines and 50 columns (4.00m x 1.70m) of bills on each side, one showing the front, the other evidencing the back of these.
“Aesthetic Axiology” was shown at Espacio Cultural Julio Le Parc during July 30th and August 17th, 2014.
STAGE #2: Exchange Bureau
As a way to give closure to “Aesthetic Axiology”, the Bureau decided to perform its first action/exchange.
Each contributor/participant approaching the Bureau would hand in ‘something’ and the Bureau – on its own accord – would hand in 1/1000 (one thousandth) part of the work of art (namely an ‘intervened/modified bill’) shown in the exhibition at Espacio Cultural Julio Le Parc. The action/decision of each participant would then become 1/1000 (one thousandth) part of the answer.
Each participant was photographed and his/her contact information was transferred to a form.
The main objective of this action was to find a collective answer to the question What is the value of Art?, through the action/decision of each participant.
Such action was carried out between 16th and 17th of August, 2014.
84 exchanges were made.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS IS WHERE WE STAND TODAY!
We have already achieved two stages of this project, however, we still have two stages left to go for which we would like and need your involvement.
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STAGE #3: Globalized Bureau
The Bureau wishes to continue with the exchange of the remaining 916 bills, but does not believe in the physical presence as a limitation to obtain such a coveted answer. This is the reason why Stage #3 is meant to be global. The Bureau and Ideame are working together to achieve an unprecedented project. Now the question (What is the value of Art?) will be answered by ‘you’ (dear reader/participant). How? All the awards for this collective project are equal. In any of the cases, what you will receive after your collaboration would be 1/1000 (a thousandth) part of the work of art, i.e. an ‘intervened/altered bill’. What is it that changes in this case? That would be the value that you are willing to pay for such a work of art:
$2 (two pesos), $5 (five pesos), $10 (ten pesos), $20 (twenty pesos), $50 (fifty pesos, $100 (one hundred pesos), $200 (two hundred pesos), $500 (five hundred pesos), $1.000 (a thousand pesos), $2.000 (two thousand pesos), $5.000 (five thousand pesos), $10.000 (ten thousand pesos).
Every action will contribute to finding an answer.
*Note: the abovementioned values will be automatically changed to fit your local currency.
STAGE #4: Publishing of Results.
Once the 1000 replies are obtained (i.e., 1000 exchanges fulfilled), the Bureau will publish all gathered material (photographs, statistics, memoirs, etc.) in an attempt to promote such experiment.
All funds obtained through this campaign (Stage #3) will be used to publish the abovementioned book in 500 copies that amount to a total of $43700.
Hence, by clicking on one of the ‘rewards’ you will not only be contributing to reach a collective response, but also to the collective financing of the book publishing.
We hope we can count on your collaboration!
Best Regards,
MAURICIO WAISMAN
Director of the Exchange Bureau for the Collective Construction of Answers
Argentina
