Some people might call it impolite to talk about money in public, but an art collective is displaying work at Art Basel in Miami Beach that allows people to share their bank account balance.
The work, “ATM Leaderboard,” is an interactive sculpture, the art collective MSCHF told USA TODAY. The sculpture is a functioning ATM that can be used to check balances and make withdrawals, but the work captures a photo of each person who uses it and their bank account balance.
Users are then ranked on a leaderboard according to the amount of money in their bank account.
Daniel Greenberg, co-founder of MSCHF, told USA TODAY the art collective does not gather additional information about participants willing to use the ATM. They do not have users’ names or other data.
Greenberg also confirmed the work has been sold, and the collector “intends to place it in public exhibition in the future.”
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‘The higher you are … the more the piece is making fun of you’
Art Basel in Miami Beach is an extension of the art fair in Basel Switzerland, and it has become a magnet for celebrities, fashion brands and more. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the fair.
“ATM Leaderboard is an extremely literal distillation of wealth-flaunting impulses. 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,” Greenberg told USA TODAY.
“In some ways, the higher you are on the leaderboard the more the piece is making fun of you.”
Footage of the ATM quickly went viral online, garnering millions of views.
The work also inspired jokes on social media. Some pointed out that they may not want to share how much – or how little – money they have in their bank accounts.
Others questioned the sculpture’s potential security risks.
Wondering about the top bank account balance on “ATM Leaderboard”? As of Friday afternoon, the top-ranked participant was the artist Diplo, who appeared to have over $3 million in a bank account.
The artist shared a video on Twitter showing himself using the ATM.
The work is a partnership between the art collective and Perrotin Gallery, CNN reported.
MSCHF and rapper Lil Nas X made headlines last year, after the organization and the rapper announced the release of limited edition “Satan Shoes.” The modified Nikes featured pentagrams, an inverted cross and other satanic-related imagery. The shoe company sued the collective, and the parties later settled, with MSCHF agreeing to buy back the original shoes.
Contributing: Chris Quintana, USA TODAY