WHAT THE MONEY MEANT
What The Money Meant is a performance installation - a Brechtian musical for three and a spectacle for more – about capitalism and desire in a modern age. The show troubles the "special" one-to-one relationship of the waitress to her customer, revealing what happens when this relationship breaks down under the mechanisms of money relations. In a world where every service has a price, how can we avoid being bought?
When an American waitress enters into a devil’s bargain with an overzealous customer, she begins to see the dark side of restaurant tipping culture. To experience this story, an audience of three is invited into the installation’s inner circle, which consists of three booths – the confessional, the rotating peep show, and the fine dining booth. Throughout the evening, these three “V.I.P.s” meet the performer separately in each of these booths, and are encouraged to tip her throughout with the US dollars provided.
Meanwhile, a larger audience act as voyeurs to these intimate interactions through CCTV feeds and amplification - but the boundary between public and private breaks down as the show progresses.
Video Documentation.
