Initial Public Offering

Initial Public Offering (IPO), 2001-03
Performance
Various locations in Minneapolis and New York City

Participants: Kelly Kivland, Nora Stevens, Rebecca Davis

On several locations in NYC and Minneapolis, working with a team of three participant/performers we create a performance with the purpose of arousing questions from the street-public about lavish corporate promotions of products that target them as potential consumers. The mock corporation mandymachine, comes with a product The Co-Dependent Suit, and a promotional button with the motto “Who Decides What Matters?” The Co-Dependent sales pitch underscores that –by design- our economic well-being is dependent on relentless consumption.

The IPO concept riffs on the hoopla surrounding the stock market launches of company shares, underwritten by investment banks, that are publicly offered for sale to institutional and retail investors and listed on stock-exchanges.

This project was made with the support of the University of Minnesota’s Visiting Artist Program