Dada Economics
September 4 – 7, 2009
Olympic and Orcas Rooms
2009 Bumbershoot Festival
presented by Vital 5 Productions
curated by Greg Lundgren
www.bumbershoot.org
Vital 5 will be curating a large-scale exhibition at Bumbershoot this Labor Day (September 4 -7), outlining the submissions and documentation of its Arbitrary Art Grant series. Not only will Dada Economics showcase the hilarious and often brilliant submissions collected over the year, three grants in Photography, Architecture and Fashion Design will be in full swing and active to Bumbershoot participants, creating a swelling mass of creativity and live performance. Check back through the spring and summer for new announcements and previews, or join our mailing list so you can find out about our seemingly absurd grant program.
DADA ECONOMICS – LESSON PLAN 1
There is an art grant for $500.00 that 500 people apply for. Each person takes on average 4 hours to complete the application, formatting images of their work and writing an argument why they should receive the award. The total amount of time spent applying for this grant is 2,000 hours.
A committee of 10 meets and spends 6 hours each reviewing the applications and selecting a winner. The total amount of time spent selecting a winner is 60 hours.
The winning artist receives the $500.00 and spends 30 hours creating their work.
The total amount of time spent to create this 1 artwork is 2,090 hours.
Some people think it is great. Some people think it is horrible, but all would agree that 2,090 hours is a lot of time to spend on 1 act of art.
There is an Arbitrary Art Grant for $500.00 that 500 people apply for. Each person takes on average 1 hour to create a work of art based upon simple instructions. There is no time spent on applications.
The total amount of time spent applying/performing a creative act is 500 hours.
There is no committee to labor over the entries, but instead, the winner is selected through an absurd and entirely random way, to insure that all applicants have a fair chance at winning the $500.00.
One person is awarded $500.00 for their 1 hour of work.
500 unique pieces of art have been created in 500 hours.
Some of the pieces are great, some of the pieces are horrible, but all would agree that 500 pieces is a lot of artwork created for $500.00.
