Migrant Gladiator Fights: Syria vs India 0-1

In January 2016 RxAxLxF was invited to do something at the ‘Dada: The Revolt of Art’ Festival in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The Festival’s aim was to celebrate 100+ years of Dada as a revolutionary cultural movement.

RxAxLxF proposed to set up a photo booth which he would fill up with all kind of fake Euros (the European currency). Fake Euros printed on toilet paper, rubbers or napkins which are legally being sold in shops all over the European Union. In the photo booth, a visitor would find massive amounts of those fake Euros and would be free to do anything with them. Throwing them out of the window, wiping one’s ass or burning them would all be within the options. In a spirit of ultimate freedom of speech each visitor could relieve their emotions about the European currency.

Migrant Gladiator Fights: Syria vs India 1-1 (after injury break)

RxAxLxF would photograph the action and each visitor would receive a set of digital images by e-mail for free. It was RxAxLxF’s statement on the political and corporate made crisis of the European currency, which was at that time at it’s height. The work also fits in his long term theme about the Powers of Money.

The place of the festival, the alternative cultural centre LBB, had at that time huge problems with the city of Maastricht. Acting as well as public alternative centre and as informal residential squat, the city council threatened the residents to evict the whole place, to make place for gentrification of the area. At that time, the city of Maastricht even stationed government officials 24/7 inside the building to watch over its residents, officially ‘as fire protection’.

Economic Gladiator Fights: Banker vs Disabled Person: 1-0

Being severely intimidated by this, the organisation of the festival asked him to drop the proposal of the fake Euro photo booth. The organisation was afraid ‘that being so disrespectful with our money in the height of the Euro crisis’ could provoke the city of Maastricht to hold it against the LBB and pack it on the list of reasons to evict them. RxAxLxF was asked if he would like to be responsible for a whole group of people being kicked out on the streets, which he of course did not want to be responsible for. The organisation then suggested to him that maybe he could do a photo booth with kitchen equipment, as that could also be fun.

Realizing the very difficult situation of the residents of the LBB, RxAxLxF agreed at last to this idea. With the kitchen equipment, he organized gladiator fights between migrants and also invited bankers to beat up disabled people with the kitchen equipment.
(As RxAxLxF is making Art – which is the abbreviation of  ‘Artificial’, RxAxLxF made sure the participants sustained no lethal injuries, other than in real life. Smaller injuries could not be avoided though.)

Economic Gladiator Fights: Banker vs Disabled Person: 24-0

The city government might have not been happy with that either, though at least RxAxLxF was not made responsible for a possible eviction.