Slime Currency & Bohemian Conversationalists: Berlin Collective Comes to NYC

Friday night’s event “Faster, Capitalism! Kill Kill!” was a parody of how we (western capitalist democracies) have let a desire for material goods and wealth fuel our society and value system. ZIA have tried to replicate this idea in a microcosm, as explained in their press release: “Join the Slime Economy: Swap your greenbacks for a pot of Slime currency and start speculating! Waste it on drinks at the bar or try to make a slimy fortune at the casino. But watch out: when the Federal Slime Reserve floods the market with vast quantities of freshly minted slime, the bubble will certainly burst.” Some of the anti-establishment events also included a PowerPoint karaoke contest and slide show.

The event was part of a recent trend of arts and multi-media collaborative functions like the Unemployment Olympics – meant to not just console those who have recently been affected by the economic downturn, but also to put their misfortune into a sociological context, and make them think about the nature of the systems of finance we have put into place.

Wyoming House, and it’s fellow downtown Goethe outpost Ludlow 38, have recently been putting out consistently good events and lectures including the recent Reinventing Goethe Series featuring internationally acclaimed sound artist Carsten Nicolai, and also held an installation by multimedia adventurist Michaela Melián. These events have been bridging the gap between German and American artists, writers, theorists, and intellectuals, and introducing New Yorkers to international creatives that otherwise may have missed their cultural radar. Perhaps someday soon we’ll all be calling downtown Manhattan the new Berlin.