It’s All about Making Money

Posted by: Samuel Phineas Upham

In his article “Money-Making Schemes,” Ben Greenman proposes two business ideas that are in fact schemes to make money. It’s a very funny article and shows just how easy it is to scam someone out of money. For example, his first idea is to create an online database that will consist of ideas for conceptual art shows. Artists will be allowed to browse the catalog in order to license ideas they want to use. The fee depends on various factors, but there is a fee. There is one unifying principle behind these ideas. They must contain “some recursive feature.” According to Greenman, “The result is both a comic visual shock and a canny commentary on the ways in which attempts to define works of art can be a form of subversion.”

His second idea is a religion. People who want to join the religion must change their names before they die. This is the only rule or commandment of the religion. Greenman will charge a flat, onetime fee of $1100 to provide the service. But it’s worth the money, of course, according to Greenman. “If you pay it now, you will be ensured peace of mind even while you are resting in peace.”

Read entire article: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/project-one-life-begins-at-conceptual-art