The following open letter was published and distributed from July until September, 2016:

Dear Artist,

Money is slippery; it can be everything without being anything. It seeps into your life and dissipates into a smattering of goods—vanishing without any record of where it came or went. It is decidedly non-specific.

Your work is specific—valuable in a way that is unique and inseparable from its material state. Every mark an index of a choice you once made, a motion you executed with your body. You trade your work for money. But would you trade it for something as specific as your work? Perhaps an experience created and curated just for you, one that lives inside you going forward?

Ask yourself what kind of experience you would want to have in order to part with your work. It could be as explicit and as expansive as the art you create; studied but spontaneous, complex but generous, mysterious and hiding in plain sight. This experience, like your work, could give you freedom within a structure–lovingly coercing those who slide down its rabbit hole into a space of playful disorientation and discovery.

From the vanilla to the extreme, I propose a trade that is somewhat unorthodox. I propose to trade your creativity, your energy, your expression, for mine. Exchange a piece of your work for an experience in fantasy fulfillment with a seasoned professional roleplayer. The tone of the scene can be friendly, seductive, aloof, and/or nasty—the choice is up to you. This is simply an invitation to discuss further the possibilities that exist between us as artists seeking different forms of exchange outside capitalist systems…can we find shared value through uncommon currencies?

If you are interested in taking part in this project, please get in touch via link below. Know that everything we discuss stays between the two of us—discretion is assured. If you prefer to email directly, please include in your correspondence a bit about yourself, link(s) to your work, and a general idea of what you think you’d like for us to explore together (if you know).

Once received, I will send you a confirmation with further instructions for the next step, and we’ll go from there.

Until then,

K

Artist Response Form @ http://tiny.cc/sharedvalue

or email direct @ kimsu.ye [at] gmail

Los Angeles exchanges occurred through the duration of Shared Value at Visitor Welcome Center. Exchanged pieces were added to the exhibition through the closing on September 3rd, 2016.

Some mentions:

Hyperallergic: ArtRx LA | 7/26/16

W Magazine: Best Alternative Art Galleries in LA | 7/22/16