Art Basel ATM Displays Leaderboard Of Bank Account Balances

Art Basel is currently underway in Miami. The annual event makes Miami the epicenter of the art world for a few short days and really stretches the question of ‘what is art?‘ in the strangest of ways.

One art installation has already gone viral this year. An Art Basel ATM is both a working ATM and an installation that then projects every ATM user’s bank account balance onto a leaderboard.

It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out why people are transfixed by this Art Basel ATM. Clips on social media reveal that one user’s bank account balance is just shy of $3 million ($2,989,381.60). One has to wonder why someone would keep nearly three million dollars in their bank account instead of an investment account…

Here is a viral Twitter thread of the Art Basel ATM that’s capture the attention of millions:

Here is a longer video uploaded to YouTube by Joel Franco. It shows the ATM in action, people using it, the leaderboard changing, and the borderline pandemonium caused by this bank account leaderboard:

A new #36!

Update: we have a new number 36 at the ATM #ArtBasel pic.twitter.com/0aYTJdjQxE

— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) December 1, 2022

There were some great replies to this viral Art Basel ATM:

I think there is an interesting psychological experiment going on here. What is the impetus for anyone with a small amount of money in their bank account to use this ATM? And what it is driving the people with say, $30K in their accounts, to use the Art Basel ATM knowing they’ll land at like 35th on the list?

There has to be some weird sort of pride in showing off an account with a hundred bucks when all of your money is tied up in crypto and you’re wearing Rolex and Balmain. But showing everyone in the room how much money you have in your bank account just seems like exposing yourself to people who might seek to take advantage of that information.