(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Do you have any small and valuable objects? A beloved rubber ducky? The first love letter you ever received? A condom that’s been in your wallet since the late ’90s? If you answered “yes,” you may be qualified to participate in Brooklyn-based artist Cynthia Daignault’s Das Tauschregal (The Barter Shelf).
An offsite project for LES gallery Lisa Cooley, Das Tauschregal invites you to submit an object of value (or rather, a written description of said object) for Daignault’s consideration. Value can refer to price, but it can also refer to sentimental value (the chew toy from your deceased chihuahua, Hercules), inherent power (the Philosopher’s stone), aesthetic beauty (a photograph of a young Denise Richards)… you get the picture.
From these submissions, Daignault will select the 25 most valuable objects and trade one painting for each. It’s being touted as “an experiment in alternative economics.” Starting May 1, these objects will be on display as part of the accompanying exhibition (so you may want to avoid bartering anything too embarrassing).
Daignault’s star is on the rise – her last show at Lisa Cooley, Which is the Sun and Which is the Shadow, was met with a glowing write-up by Art in America and the New Yorker called her a “subtly yearning poet of a painter” last September (find both articles here) — so chances are the painting is far more valuable than any of the crap we own. Though, what the hell, we may try to trade our Ramones bobbleheads for some slightly more mature office art.
Submissions are due April 1. Find all guidelines here.