Booth: Wood, plexiglass, screws, acrylic paint, fan
Bills: Inkjet on paper
Banner: Inkjet on vinyl
Get Your Money Back! is an interactive installation created by University of Pittsburgh
Studio Art students Casey Yin, Chesney Warden, Christopher Barlow, Emma Shearer, James Richardson, Lucy Zhang, Len Franz, and Sohela Sachdev. The project was supported by Studio Arts professor Omid Shekari.
Motivated by the ongoing misconduct
and breach of ethics by the university’s administration, the intent of this project was to bring
awareness to issues such as refusing to call for a ceasefire in Palestine and unfair tuition increases.
The project was in solidarity with various student organizations including the Fossil Free Pitt Coalition, Free the Planet, Students for International Labor Solidarity,
and Students for Justice in Palestine. Members of these groups tabled for their organizations and efforts as part of the installation.
The idea of a cash grabbing booth as the main form for the artwork came from multiple
class discussions regarding money and the seemingly never ending rat race that is paying to be
enrolled at a university that supports a genocide, ecoside, and land theft. In the booth were various cash bills whereby the original faces were replaced with the chancellor and board of trustee members, along with
quotes and statistics that pertained to each
individual’s transgressions against students and the larger community. Some real money was also mixed in with the other bills.
The booth and tables were strategically placed it in an
area with heavy foot traffic (outside of Wesley W. Posvar Hall on Pitt’s campus). Participants took turns
inside the booth to try and grab as much “cash” as they could. Afterwards, participants
would realize that the bills are unlike the average currency they see day to day, and would be
prompted to see if they recognize any of the faces. The majority of them did not, exemplifying
how students can attend a university whose administration they do know how, and
whose administrators do not know them. Participants were then debriefed on the installation by artists and were encouraged to talk with and learn more about the tabling organizations.
Debrief flyer for installation