"AE101 took part in Oriel Myrddin’s NOSON Public Information Night in Volcano Theatre, Swansea. Their contribution to this vibrant one night event was a game show called Anything for Money (showing on the monitor in the gallery foyer). The title alludes to the nature of those working within the arts industry that often have to take paid work, whatever it may happen to be. Certainly, Dylan Thomas was no stranger to this lifestyle as he negotiated his way through consistent periods of destitution.
AE101 used the popular format of the gameshow as their platform; complete with a spinning wheel and gold microphone. The concept was a social experiment to see how far contestants would go to win money. Contestants were pitched against each other, but ultimately there could only be one winner; only one would be remembered and take the prize. Using coloured lights, glitter, dreadful sound effects, and a hung-over host the contestants were asked to humiliate themselves live on webcam whilst being photographed, uploaded and tagged on Facebook. This social media aspect added a unique dimension to the work in which the private venue of Volcano theatre essentially became a public space. The final round of the game show was to ask the remaining two contestants to outdo each other in order to win the cash prize. They had full control over how far they would go in this voyeuristic and degrading spectacle.
The raised platform in the gallery represents the gameshow stage, complete with props used in the challenges; a shower cap, baby wipes, After-eights and of course – the spinning wheel. A stash of Dylan Thomas ten-pound notes fills a briefcase, a far larger sum than the £100 worth of assets left when he died. This is a comment on Dylan’s destitute lifestyle that has ironically become a cash cow on the centenary of his birth."
AE101 used the popular format of the gameshow as their platform; complete with a spinning wheel and gold microphone. The concept was a social experiment to see how far contestants would go to win money. Contestants were pitched against each other, but ultimately there could only be one winner; only one would be remembered and take the prize. Using coloured lights, glitter, dreadful sound effects, and a hung-over host the contestants were asked to humiliate themselves live on webcam whilst being photographed, uploaded and tagged on Facebook. This social media aspect added a unique dimension to the work in which the private venue of Volcano theatre essentially became a public space. The final round of the game show was to ask the remaining two contestants to outdo each other in order to win the cash prize. They had full control over how far they would go in this voyeuristic and degrading spectacle.
The raised platform in the gallery represents the gameshow stage, complete with props used in the challenges; a shower cap, baby wipes, After-eights and of course – the spinning wheel. A stash of Dylan Thomas ten-pound notes fills a briefcase, a far larger sum than the £100 worth of assets left when he died. This is a comment on Dylan’s destitute lifestyle that has ironically become a cash cow on the centenary of his birth."
