What if the game of capitalism and showing off your wealth was a real game?
That is a question the Brooklyn art group MSCHF sought to answer with an installation at this year's Miami Art Basel, one of the world's most premiere—and spendy—art festivals.
The set up of the interactive piece is this: it's a regular ATM that you can take money out of, but as you're doing so, the ATM will take a picture of you, note your bank balance, and put both picture and balance on a "leaderboard" above the ATM for everyone to see.
It's supposed to be reminiscent of old arcade games, including slightly hokey animations with voice-overs that appear while the ATM is processing the photo and balance into the piece.
Talking with CNN, co-founder of MSCHF Daniel Greenberg said placing this installation at Art Basel was a careful choice.
"From its conception, we had mentally earmarked this work for a location like Miami Basel, a place where there is a dense concentration of people renting Lamborghinis and wearing Rolexes."
"These are analogous implicit gestures to the ATM Leaderboard's explicit one."
You can see the art installation at work in this video.
This ATM Shows Your Balance and Photo to EVERYBODY! | Art Basel 2022 youtu.be
In the video, people were excited to engage with the piece of public art, lining up to take out cash—it's a functioning ATM—and wind up on the leaderboard.
Many had amounts smaller than $100 in their accounts but seem excited by the prospect of playing anyway. Throughout the video, the anonymous leader on the board, a man wearing a pink shirt with over $2 million in his account, remained on top.
People commented on the art piece and the point it was trying to address.
\u201c@OfficialJoelF It\u2019s human nature to be intrigued. We want to see content that doesn\u2019t exist anywhere else. Our bank statements are a true blueprint to who we are. @Venmo\u2019s public feed has only just scratched the surface in terms of productising this. Surfacing transactions & letting others see\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF And this is how they pitched social media to you.\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF And I thought stats in cycle classes were invasive\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF It\u2019s crazy\u2026 it\u2019s like some sick joke, some people are literally making millions while families are going hungry and struggling to keep a roof over their heads.\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
Yet others saw this leaderboard as an opportunity, whether for matrimony or grand larceny it still up for debate.
\u201c@OfficialJoelF OK let me get dressed and head on out there. If you are a leader on this leader board, can you kindly stick around if you are single. I\u2019m trying to see something.\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF @GhettoBabyEas Somebody getting their ski mask ready \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF See y\u2019all winners in the parking lot\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF Can anyone tell me where this is at? I just wanna hang around the area since it seems pretty cool\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
Many people commented on the leader of the board, the man in the pink shirt.
Some were impressed by the amount, some less so by the idea of keeping that much money in a mere checking account.
\u201c@OfficialJoelF shoutout to my man who keeps $3M in checking\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF Why would anybody keep $2.9M in a checking account? That\u2019s weird.\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF Isn\u2019t this just a checking account? Anyone who has $2m in a checking account doesn\u2019t actually understand money.\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@jowyang @OfficialJoelF With 2 Mill in cash I\u2019m sure he has money invested already this is just his liquid\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
\u201c@OfficialJoelF The dude in the pink knew what he signed up for and saw the other statements and still wanted everyone to know his bank statement. Sorry but that was unnecessary.\u201d— Joel Franco (@Joel Franco) 1669923086
The piece remains up, so maybe the number one spot will get taken by someone else who's keeping over $2 million in their checking account.
At the very least, it sure is keeping people talking.
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