With Art Basel at Miami Beach once again filling the headlines of the arts world, intriguing exhibits are standing out across the art fair. One particular exhibit has attracted a great deal of attention with its novel if not unsettling premise. Aptly named art collective MSCHF alongside partner Perrotin has developed an ATM—titled ATM Leaderboard—that feels like equal parts cheeky installation and late-stage capitalist dystopia that shares your bank account balance with the world.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, MSCHF has been making international headlines with their imaginative and deviant endeavours—from creating a slew of counterfeit Warhols alongside the genuine article and selling them all together to partnering with Lil Nas X to design and sell his “Satan Shoes” back in 2021. The group is notorious for its odd presence in the art trade and has gained a great deal of notoriety and following for its strangely unique offerings. This ATM at Miami Beach seems to tread the fine line they carve between prankster art and manipulation of art buyers.
While it mostly looks like a standard ATM, MSCHF’s ATM Leaderboard has a very visible unit attached at the top of the machine marked “LEADERBOARD”—a term, most especially in this context, connected to arcade cabinets to show the highest scoring individuals on a particular device. And in this case, the leaderboard of the ATM shows the largest bank accounts of individuals that put their debit card in, accompanied with a picture of the person taken by the machine at interaction.
American DJ Diplo was shown skyrocketing to first place at the machine on his socials at $3,004,913.06. The machine itself sold at Art Basel for $75,000, it being currently unknown where the machine might pop up again, but it’s stated that the leaderboard results will remain.
ATM Leaderboard is an in-character move for MSCHF, seemingly gunning for the top spot of the ever-competitive title for Best Modern Art Prankster. This work especially occupies the mental space of both lampooning wealth worship while seemingly engaging in the act itself. It’s hard at times to pin down the intentions of the group, but it’s safe to say they know how to make themselves known.