When in Paris i fell in love with the Palais de Tokyo. Yummy food at the bar, great hours –noon to midnight!, excellent selection of books, gadgets and clothing to blow your budget at the shop and a very cool Notre Histoire exhibition which showcases the works of young French artists (btw, even drunk i wouldn’t give any vote to the other show i saw at the Palais, Ultra Peau).
I was so pleased to see again Matthieu Laurette‘s hilarious Money Back Life! Mobile Information Stand for Moneyback Products which i had discovered at the Venice Biennale in 2001.
The installation made of a wax sculpture of the artist, a shopping cart filled with moneyback products and 9 television sets explains how Laurette exploited supermarkets’ money-back and exchange offers and managed to live virtually for free for months. He would only buy garments, food or cosmetics with satisfaction guaranties. Having purchased the goods, he would state that he was not 100% satisfied with them and have the full purchase price refunded to him by the respective manufacturer.
Of course the money-back guarantee only works because very few people actually make use of it.
Another part of Laurette’s strategy is to heavily promote his actions in the press, explaining, for example, the secrets of food shopping for free on popular TV.