16 July 2015
The background of 1 For You 1 For Me is Thomas Geiger’s ongoing performance I want to be-come a millionaire that aim is to finance new projects independently. Since 2010 he has regularlystood more than 400 hours in public space with a sign that says “I want to become a millionaire”. He tries to sell signed sheets to the passers-by each with a continuous edition number for 1€. To date he earned more than 19.000€. He invests this money in new projects like Mark Pezinger Verlag, a publishing house for artists books or the Festival of Minimal Actions, a festival dedicated to ephemeral actions in public space. Both projects are realized without any public funding. The exhibited project 1 For You 1 For Me is a transformation of his I want to become a millionaire per- formance. Instead of asking for money he went to beggars in Paris and offered them to place a personal message on 5 of his sheets. For each sheet he payed 1€ to the beggar.
He is reselling these sheets for 10€ to finance the second edition of his Festival of Minimal Ac- tions that takes place in the public space of Paris this autumn. The Festival brings together 22 inconspicuous concepts of art pieces that had already been accomplished by their authors in pu- blic. During the 30-day Festival Thomas Geiger is going to re-perform the actions himself in Paris for the hazard spectators. The beggars, who are a present part of the public space, get integrated into the realization of a festival that aim is to put the focus on the the rules, gaps and visual codes of this very space.
Thomas Geiger (*1983) is an artist based in Vienna. He is co-founder of Mark Pezinger Verlag, a publishing house for artists’ books and initiator of the Festival of Minimal Actions.
www.twgeiger.de
With: Thomas Geiger