Exit Smile

,  

2016

The work is a sort of iconic altar that sanctifies national fetishism — to establish a startup that will sell for millions, a so-called exit. In the ironically interactive work, the viewer is asked to connect the amount the ‘stratupist’ (the startup entrepreneur) had made  on exit to his smiling face. If successful, flashing bulbs light up like an arcade game. The piece criticizes the high-tech culture, whose main motivation in Israel is maximum profit in minimum time to win the winner’s smile. This motivation and its results distort Israeli society and polarize it into two classes – those who made the exit and those who did not. The work gives the viewer the opportunity for a moment to participate in the celebration.