Yoshinori Niwa
Selling the right to name a pile of garbage, 2014
Single channel video
29'06 min
Edition 5 plus 1 artist's proof
Copyright the artist
Niwa sells the rights to name a pile of garbage in the suburbs of Manila, the Philippines. This area, represented by the Smokey Mountain, was reported globally in the 1980s...
Niwa sells the rights to name a pile of garbage in the suburbs of Manila, the Philippines. This area, represented by the Smokey Mountain, was reported globally in the 1980s and came to symbolise poverty. To mitigate this reputation, the government vanished the land from maps. At the same time, the fundamental problems remain unsolved. Niwa focuses on this area and through a complex negotiation buys and renames a section of this heap for a period of seven days.
