Inverted NFT logic
Physical receipts are the object. The NFT is demoted to an indestructible proof of purchase, literalizing the critique that "NFTs are just receipts" while forcing blockchain-native collectors to handle paper.
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Installation
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Executive Summary
Self Checkout is a functional retail installation positioned inside Art Basel. Attendees pay whatever they want. Remote participants through the ONLINE ORDERS kiosk do the same. Each transaction generates a printed receipt as the primary artwork, and unlocks a non-transferable NFT companion via seed phrase printed directly on that receipt. The entire booth operates as a live economic performance where the artist's $74,221 exposure, collector behavior, and ultimate market verdict are transmitted in real time.
High-stakes transparency
A split-flap kinetic display begins at -$74,221 and updates with each contribution. Payment size sets receipt length, making hierarchy visible and unavoidable on the fair floor.
All outcomes valid
Loss, break-even, or profit each delivers a different critique: market failure, perfect collective valuation, or proof that abundance-based pricing and social pressure can outperform tradition.
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Work Overview
Infrastructure
- Three Self Checkout kiosks for in-person flow
- One transparent Online Orders kiosk mirroring the website for global access
- Integrated whitepaper-card, contactless, and online payment rails
- Thermal printers calibrated so every additional dollar extends the receipt
- Split-flap kinetic tally mirroring live PNL
Collector journey
- Choose any amount and optional tip
- Pay via kiosk or online form
- Watch the display update from -$74,221 toward break-even
- Walk away with the receipt that proves (and measures) the decision
Unlimited edition, immediate fulfillment, and transparent economics challenge the default Basel script of scarcity, whispered prices, and institutional mediation.
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Process
From kiosk to ledger
- Collector chooses amount + optional tip on the kiosk UX.
- Payment clears, the split-flap display advances in real time.
- Receipt prints with the exact inch count tied to spend.
- Seed phrase transfers ownership of the immutable record.
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Conceptual Framework
The artist
- Checks out of the gallery system. No intermediaries or commission splits.
- Deploys personal capital like a founder funding a booth-sized startup test.
- Rejects scarcity by letting anyone buy as much as they want.
- Exposes the business model by broadcasting risk and receipts as the art object.
The collector
- Sets the price alone, under the gaze of a public scoreboard and visible receipt length.
- Balances aesthetics, ethics, social signaling, and curiosity in every transaction.
- Holds evidence of participation that doubles as wallet seed phrase—trust becomes material.
- Decides whether to engage online or in person, knowing the experience differs.
The market
- Sees low-status retail hardware take center stage at Basel's highest-status venue.
- Watches online orders feed the same scoreboard, collapsing exclusivity.
- Encounters blockchain rendered moot because custody reverts to paper trust.
- Becomes data: every inch of receipt and every tick on the display is recorded.
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Market Structure Commentary
The installation elevates the receipt as the entire artwork. This documentation is usually hidden by galleries. Length equals value equals contribution. The split-flap display functions like a hybrid stock ticker, fundraising thermometer, and scoreboard, making economics legible without prescribing emotion.
Receipt hierarchy
Every receipt is technically the same edition yet materially different. A two-inch slip and a two-foot streamer are both "Self Checkout" but communicate wildly different choices.
Display as theater
The number on the wall is both suspense and evidence. It shows whether Basel could pull an independent artist out of debt, looked away, or over-subsidized the critique.
NFT sabotage
Soulbound tokens prevent on-chain trade, yet the printed seed phrase reintroduces informal resale. The system collapses trustless tech back into trust-heavy human exchange on purpose.
Democratized access (any amount, anywhere) meets late-capitalist critique: self-checkout kiosks usually save labor costs; here they become Basel's most transparent gallery.
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The Tip Function
Without the display, tipping would parody service-industry expectations in fine art. With the live PNL and receipt-length mechanic, tips become public subsidy. Visitors must reconcile whether they're rewarding labor, underwriting a critique, chasing a longer receipt, or all of the above. The moment the tip clears, the number moves, and everyone sees it. Including the next collector in line.
Tipping someone who already spent $74,221 to be here feels absurd; tipping someone losing money in real time feels charitable; tipping someone exposing the system feels like participating in the performance. That tension is the point.
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Broader Conceptual Resonances
Authenticity questions
What separates this receipt from CVS ephemera? Context, risk, and intent.
Infinite reproducibility vs. material differentiation
Unlimited edition, yet length creates status and collectibility gradients.
Experience vs. object
Buyers purchase agency, visibility, and narrative participation as much as paper.
Social artifact
Receipts become portable conversation pieces, photo props, and lasting reminders of the decision made under public pressure.
Display as experiment
Numbers change behavior. This introduces herd mentality, FOMO, guilt, and spectacle across the fair's timeline.
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All Outcomes Are Valid
Loss
Negative balance documents market failure in real time. The final number plus receipt distribution becomes expensive evidence that transparency wasn't rewarded.
Break-even
Hitting $0 means the audience collectively valued the experiment exactly at cost—perfect crowdsourced appraisal and proof of shared responsibility.
Profit
Going positive proves alternative pricing can outperform tradition. Or that social pressure and status competition are powerful economic forces. Either validates the thesis.
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Why This Work Functions
Collectors challenged
Traditional patrons lose price guidance and face public accountability. Crypto natives confront paper as the asset. Status seekers must decide how long a receipt they want to carry.
Artist vulnerability
The artist literally works the kiosk while his debt scrolls overhead. The piece is both business model and performance.
Institutional mirror
Basel witnesses a transparent, abundance-based system thriving inside its walls. No back rooms, no gatekeepers, no scarcity theater.
Documentation
Every receipt, every tip, and the final display value become the archive. Visual evidence replaces folklore.
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The Mechanism of Complicity
Participation equals complicity. Anyone engaging with the kiosk accepts retail choreography inside a blue-chip fair. Every collector leaves with proof of how much responsibility they assumed for the experiment's outcome or failure. Remote buyers share the ledger but miss the social theater, creating two layers of engagement that still converge on the final number. The artist retains the master receipt. The final display photograph shows precisely how the market answered the question: "What was this worth?"
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Installation Requirements
Hardware + space
- Four custom kiosks (3 × Self Checkout, 1 × Online Orders (Transparent))
- 5 m × 3 m booth footprint, power + internet drops
- Variable-length thermal printers with custom stock
- Split-flap kinetic numerical display with data feed
Software + ops
- PCI-compliant payments + email capture tied to NFT delivery
- Online ordering platform accessible via QR / URL
- Soulbound NFT smart contracts with automated minting
- On-site artist/technician for monitoring across December 3-7
Estimated Expenses
- Art Basel booth rental fee (Positions sector)
- Custom kiosk fabrication (powder-coated steel, 3 units)
- Split-flap display hardware (custom frame, motors, flaps)
- Split-flap control electronics and driver boards
- Industrial thermal printers (3 units + spare)
- Thermal paper stock (bulk rolls, archival grade)
- On-site electrical installation and power drops
- Dedicated internet line / high-speed cellular backup
- Freight shipping (kiosks, display, tools) to Miami
- Installation labor (contractors, riggers)
- Travel and accommodation (artist + technical team)
- Payment processing hardware and integration fees
- Software development (frontend, smart contracts, backend)
- Insurance (liability, equipment)
- Contingency fund (15%)
The artist self-funds every component, reinforcing the stakes: the display's starting -$74,221 is not a thought experiment. It's the ledger.
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Contributors
- Jalil Wahdatehagh
Software · Hardware - Joseph Paul
Hardware - Zach Jenkins
Fabrication - Eli Scheinman
Curation - Benny Redbeard
Curation - Fabrizio Santamato
Logistics - Celia Butcher
Life Support
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Receipt Simulator
LIVE PNL DISPLAYSTARTS AT -$74,221
- $74,221
Every purchase or tip instantly reduces the loss and prints a receipt whose length is locked to the payment.
PROJECTED LENGTH
9.00 in
PNL
- $74,221
VV
SELF CHECKOUT
- ART0.00
TIP.0.00
TOTAL0.00
PNL- $74,221
THANK YOU!RECEIPTS.VV.XYZ