Watie White

The great money give-away episode! At Arthaus11 event five on Wednesday evening, our surprise presenter was the renowned artist Watie White. I shall be posting on his delicious presentation separately, but must tell you about one specific part of the evening… Watie talked about how he had come to realize his art was inherently tied to and improved by interaction. As part of and as an extension to this concept, he took his presenter honorarium ($75 in this case), stuffed it in a neon yellow envelope and drew a name from a hat… and Amy Mather was given the task of giving away the envelope. Her broad directions were to give it to someone she didn’t know; if for a transaction then for one of minimal or no monetary value (for example, a tip for a cup of coffee); not to a recognized charity; to take place within one week and otherwise unconstrained.

It is surprising how onerous and challenging is the act of interacting with someone and giving them something of overt socially recognizable value… what happened Amy?!