Pay per view
Jani Leinonen | 20.2–20.3.2005
Pay-per-View is an installation that was Jani Leinonens final work from the Art Academy in Helsinki and that has been on display in several places for instance in the Plus Ultra Gallery in New York in 2002.
The installation consists of paintings that have been framed by a special frame with in-built slot machinery and a liquid-crystal frame glass. In a normal state the gals is opaque which enables the visitor to see the painting. The paintings are each made of artists selected by Platform and Jani Leinonen; the artist include Fritz Jakobsson, Juha Tammenpää and Sami Lukkarinen and a few more.
The artists' names are carved in a copper plate within the frame. When the viewer sets a coin in the slot, at the side of the frame, the glass turns transparent revealing the hidden painting for fifteen seconds. The different paintings have different prices determined by the artist's position in the art field.
In the beginning of one show that Leinonen made fifteen seconds of Gerhard Richter costed 2 euros, while street artist Kalevi Tulla costed 20 cents. Once viewers start using the works, the prices start following the laws of supply and demand: The more often the price is paid the higher it gets and vice versa.