THE GOLDEN PILL (a lottery installation & performance)

The Golden Pill is a limited edition print run of $5 lotto scratcher tickets, designed by the artist and playable by gallery patrons. This interactive performative work explores desire in relation to chance, façade, and everyday fantasy.

Through the vehicle of the lottery ticket, The Golden Pill explores desire in relation to chance, façade, and everyday fantasy. For the cost of five bucks a player can take their chances and hope to uncover a golden pill, and win. The player scratches off four metallic circles on the face of the ticket to unveil either four words which form an idiom related to luck, hope or desire (the losing tickets), or three words that form an idiom related to success, along with an image of a sparkling golden pill—  the jackpot.  In the manipulation of language on the ticket, winners receive a “monetary-related” prize of a vintage book that discusses money, finance or wealth in terms no longer relevant within the current American economy.  Both winning, and losing, tickets act as a take-away limited edition artist’s print for the patron to keep.