Wheel of fortune : the re-gifting of art-life

My essay for the Waterwheel project entitled “Wheel of fortune: re-gifting art-life” will examine the Waterwheel project from the point of view of gift economies and discuss the benefits and sustainability of this model for collaboration and cooperation. This essay builds upon the history of gift economies, focusing on the gift as a mode of collaboration and platform for exchange. The alchemical notion of the gift that Gordon Matta- Clark café “FOOD” offers will be discussed as a precursor to the transformation of relations evident in the workshop series organized by Erin Manning and Brian Massumi. In particular, this essay will emphasize the way transformation has been used to rethink the gift as modeling of collaboration and re-imagining of the ties between research creation and social activism. From these discussions the context and ethos by which to understand the aims of the Waterwheel project will be addressed.