An ATM at Art Basel publicly ranks its users by their bank account balance : NPR

Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF created an ATM that displays and ranks the cash balance of users.

MSCHF

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MSCHF

Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF created an ATM that displays and ranks the cash balance of users.

MSCHF

What if everyone in a room knew your bank balance?

A Brooklyn art collective has created an ATM that lets people put their balance on display at the Art Basel in Miami Beach.

The ATM created by MSCHF puts the cash balance of those who use it on display at the art fair and ranks people by wealth. American DJ and music producer Diplo posted on Twitter a video of him taking the No. 1 spot on the ATM at $3 million on Friday.

“ATM Leaderboard is an extremely literal distillation of wealth-flaunting impulses,” said Daniel Greenberg, co-founder of MSCHF. “From its conception, we had mentally earmarked this work for a location like Miami Basel, a place where there is a dense concentration of people renting Lamborghinis and wearing Rolexes.”

The ATM was sold for $75,000 at Art Basel, Greenberg told NPR. Wherever the ATM crops up next is up to the discretion of the buyer, but top scores on the leaderboard will remain on the ATM after each showing to encourage people to top previous users.

MSCHF collaborated on the ATM with Perrotin, a contemporary art gallery that has also presented quirky pieces like a banana duct-taped to a wall priced at $120,000 in 2019.

MSCHF creates products that often go viral with the help of top influencers.

Kylie Jenner, with over 370 million followers on Instagram as of Dec. 3, shared a photo of a pair of imitation Birkenstock sandals made with leather from Hermès Birkin bags she snagged from MSCHF last year. Lil Nas X partnered with MSCHF to create “Satan Shoes” — an aftermarket Nike sneaker with drops of blood that sold out in under a minute. MSCHF was sued by Nike last year for selling their shoes, which cost $1,018 a pair, unauthorized.