“Bazaar of Banalities” art installation was simply put a flea market table in Jyväskylä art museum lobby. The audience could bring something for sale to the Bazaar’s flea market table. However, you could only buy or sell by switching one good to another! People were encouraged to bring to the Bazaar their old stuff, their own and in good condition of course, and tell a story related to the thing they bring.

The image and story of the “merchandise” was documented into a net art site, that eventually built up a history path of the merchandise events.

It is interesting to follow the relationship between people and their things. What happens when people can switch whatever they see on the table to whatever things they bring? Is the old clay pot you consider ugly someone else’s artistic masterpiece from the past? Why do we give up things, and more importantly, why do we get other ones to replace them?

www.liveherring.org/projects/turhuuksien_tori/

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