Report/Rough Notes on ‘Money 4 U’, 6^th Sep. 08, Permanent Gallery, Brighton, UK

(by Clara García)

Here is a little description of what I experienced and observed on the evening:

When I left home heading to the Gallery I was thinking "this must be the easiest job I'll ever do". Three hours later I got out of the gallery and had to go for a walk on the beach before I could talk to anyone or do anything. I felt seriously rejected, insulted, hatred, annoyed…

There was a quite palpable evolution in the mood of the audience along the evening:

The first intervention created surprise, bewilderment, confusion. Many people didn't realize I was performing, and so really didn't know what they were meant to do or to say. Something like 'Wha what..? What? Is this for the bar?' or 'No no, I don't work here'. Then when I started asking for "money for me" there were two kinds of reactions:

• People who had got a coin from one of the performers quickly rushed to give it back, as if it burnt their hands.
• And people who still hadn't had contact with a performer seemed to think I was a random beggar. Nevertheless, some people donated some money to the beggar...

Second intervention: Most people (all except for a few new-comers) had by then realized we were performers and seemed to find what we were doing quite amusing. Most people were very willing to interact with us and participate on the exchange. They took what we offered, gave it back and even gave some extra cash. I think they were still not knowing very well why we were doing what we were doing though, what it meant.

Third intervention: I think a part of the audience were expecting the performance to somehow resolve into something and, seeing that we were repeating the same thing on and on instead of giving them the solution, some started to get a bit confused again. Some people start giving us random objects, rather than just money. Quite a few ask, 'why are you doing this?' or say 'I don't understand your performance' and the fact that I don’t respond or even seem to acknowledge their questions starts to make them a bit nervous. I see the first signs of exasperation and even anger. A couple of people tell me to ‘fuck off’, others look at me with aversion and disapproval. They all seem to have had enough.

Fourth intervention. Then it really became a hard performance job. The other acts in the programme had finished and most people were trying to enjoy a bit of social time but we didn't stop interrupting their conversations. Some people, obviously annoyed by our repeated disruption, start taking from us as much money as possible and not giving any back. Some others refuse to get involved at all and avoid me or totally blank me when I talk to them.

As the audience starts to leave and the amount of people in the gallery is reduced, the pressure on the few members of the audience left grows. We interrupt their conversations more often and even some of the gallery staff become irritated. A few people from the audience try to test us as performers, to take us out of character. I suppose they were just trying to put an end to the nightmare by any means. People escape to the garden or the front stairs to try to speak but we follow “When is this performance going to stop!!!”

I think it is at this point when the piece really makes sense and becomes most interesting (this is when I think back on it, because at the moment I was really hating the piece as well!). The exchange of money becomes a total nonsense, revealing the utter absurdity of the market we live in. The coins stop meaning anything, people reject them, they don't want to be given money for free! For free? Perhaps the annoyance of these performers interrupting their conversations again and again is a too big price to be paid for those pound coins? I think it was crucial for the piece that it was taken to this nerve-wracking extreme point.

And an Epilogue: the pub. All the anger, insults and loathing dispersed and transformed into a very positive response. “It was hard, you gave us a hard time. It was brilliant”. The piece seems to make better sense after the experience of it, both as performer and as viewer, perhaps when thinking back on what you felt. I think it created such as an intense emotional response that it was difficult to understand until the emotions had gone.

Last thought: I personally loved to observe the journey of the response to such a minimal gesture transforming into so many complex meanings and emotions. A tough challenge I’d be very happy to repeat…