‘I just won Art Basel’: Famous DJ’s bank balance on display at ATM exhibit in Miami
Diplo was the king of Art Basel, temporarily.
On Friday, the world famous DJ tweeted a video at The Perrotin Gallery’s much-publicized “ATM Leaderboard” brought to us by Brooklyn art collective MSCHF that doubled as “art.”
Perrotin, Basel watchers may recall, is the same gallery that presented the famed banana attached to the wall with duct tape that sold for $120,000 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in 2019.
As for the aforementioned ATM, the fully functioning machine came with a large, lit up board displaying your balance for all to see, which could be super embarrassing for regular folks slogging through a post-pandemic inflation.
Diplo’s music is doing well, apparently; the “Worry No More” artist grabbed the No. 1 spot with a staggering $3,004,913.06 in his account.
The Mississippi native proudly wrote in the caption, “I just won Art Basel.”
In actuality, he didn’t seem very proud.
“So gross,” the 44 year old electronica superstar says under his breath as people around him applaud and Rich Uncle Pennybags, aka the Monopoly Man, flashes on the screen.
But Diplo didn’t hold the top spot for long, this being Art Basel and all.
The Daily Beast reports another flush visitor’s balance clocked in at $5,502,121.13 on Sunday.
So what’s the deal with this thing? Is the ATM a “gross” shrine to capitalism or something else?
“It’s a very pure visualization of status symboling,” Kevin Wiesner, one of the artists who helped create the installation, told the Miami Herald last week.
“It’s the same impulse as, ‘I can wear a Rolex,’ or around here, ‘I can rent a Lamborghini for the day.’” The work also explores the vulnerability people feel with regard to finances.”
Kicker: Someone actually bought this work for his or her own personal use. The ATM sold for $75,000.
This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 12:19 PM.
