What is the value of a work of art?

What is the measure of that value - is it skill or talent? Fame or infamy? Cool or celebrity?

Is it for love or for money?

A group of the hottest contemporary performance artists presented new work that made a blatant use of that financial exchange. Will you pay to play…?

A fun packed and provocative night of artists’ interactive performances and games, talks and tours, film screenings and music, investigating the relationship between Art and Money.

Games, Treasure Trail and Lottery:
Guests were asked to pay only £1 to enter each of the artist led games, competitions and activities occurring throughout the museum spaces. Play any of the games and you received a V&A lottery ticket, with the Grand Prize Draw at the end of the evening.

PERFORMANCES

• ‘Apple of My Eye’ - Mad for Real – the infamous pair created a theatrical intervention in the main foyer. A ballerina dances for the pinstripe suited Monkey Kings in a choreography symbolising the dynamic between art and money. (Foyer, 7.30pm)

• ‘Bingo Calling’ - Marcia Farquhar ran an anarchic Bingo night in the staff canteen, complete with her own commentary on the etiquette and form of bingo playing.

• ‘Karaoke Talent Quest’ - Ida Barr lead the heats for the karaoke talent competition. Contestants signed up with Ida in the garden bar and selected their song. The finalists from the preliminary heats had the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to perform for the whole audience at the Lottery Show awards ceremony.

• V&A lottery show – the charismatic queen of music hall, Ida Barr, hosted a glittering grand finale, where the prizes for games were awarded and, the moment we’d all been waiting for, the lottery jackpot winner was announced.

• ‘Two Maids A-Milking’ - Helena Bryant and Michelle Griffiths, a walkabout performance inspired by an old May day custom. Dressed as milkmaids with silverware garlands and pails, they solicited money from the audience in exchange for dancing and milk.

• The Fine Art Service Industry – subversive activity drawing attention to the small cogs that support the infrastructure of the artworld. When most cleaners are swept behind the scenes for the main event, David Brinkworth was cleaning gallery exhibits whilst identifying the true cleaners via a credit list.

• ‘Money For Nice’ - Tim Etchells (Forced Entertainment) & Vlatka Horvat ran a stand displaying a sign ‘Money for Nice.’ Sales reps set out to buy 15-minute chunks of time from the visitors, for the price of £1 or in exchange for a lottery ticket. Those who agreed were asked to sign a formal contract, committing them to ‘Be Nice’ for the allotted 15 minutes of the evening.

• ‘Vegetable Accumulator’ - Bob & Roberta Smith Casino meets greengrocer’s as members of the audience gambled their success on an intellectual obstacle course of vegetables. The goal was to pass each stage of veg related tasks or conundrums. Those who completed the course claimed a prize or won a personal performance.

• ‘Get Rich Slowly’ - Richard Dedomenici – Since 1990 all UK banknotes too dirty or damaged for further circulation have been shredded and used as landfill. The Bank of England’s promise to pay holds good for damaged notes, as long as enough of the note survives to prove that it was once genuine. Richard Dedomenici had intercepted a box of shredded banknotes and invited visitors to stick the pieces back together.

• Marseille Figs the alternative three piece Artist band, busked for their wage. Their unique and humorous performance made use of borrowed and original songs, bluegrass, bubblegum, free jazz and punk. Their versatile arrangements included guitars, accordions, saxophones, vocals, melodica, space echo, fake organs, ukeleles, bass clarinets and kazoos.

LECTURE THEATRE

Symposium; ‘Art & Money’;
Discussion preceded by the short film: ‘Kent Beeson’ by Tim Etchells.
Chaired by Louisa Buck, with Doug Fishbone (Artist) Lois Keidan (Director of The Live Art Development Agency) Dr Angus Cameron (Lecturer in State Theory at Leicester University)

Film Programme,

'The Battle of Orgreave' Jeremy Deller, 2001. Co-commissioned by Artangel and Channel 4. Directed by Mike Figgis
'Life without Soap', Lisa Wesley, commissioned for the Shooting Live Artists scheme by the BBC / Arts Council of England / B.T.V
'The Ugly American', Doug Fishbone
'Kent Beeson.' by Tim Etchells