There was a noticeable change in scenery across the street from the Vox Populi building and its many gallery spaces this First Friday – a big red tent and a crowd of people in the lot on the west side of 11th Street. Bold white letters on the top and front of the tent reveal little more than its name: the FringeArts Proposition Tent. This temporary art space put together by Knight Arts grantee FringeArts is set to appear in this location during the First Friday festivities for the months of May, June and July 2013 in order to challenge the format of what an art show can, and perhaps should, be.

The FringeArts Proposition Tent area as seen from a balcony in the Vox Populi building.

In its first manifestation, the Proposition Tent took on the theme “Cash Money,” which explored the idea that financial systems, much like art, are malleable and can be formed and shaped to achieve a variety of ends. A variety of presenters and participants fleshed out the project, including Time/Bank by Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle of e-flux, a platform by which groups or individuals pool and trade skills and time in order to bypass money; Paul Glover, the founder of Ithaca Hours local currency; South Philly Food Co-op; and a statement by former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia Antanas Mockus, read by Ariel Vasquez.

Attending this experiential event, visitors could also participate in a performance by Miranda July, originally conceptualized as part of the participatory website “Learning to Love you More.” The written instructions on the wall asked people to sit down at the table under the tent with a complete stranger and find an object in their purse or wallet that they were willing to part with. Both individuals then exchanged their things and explained how they came to possess them.

Taller Puertorriqueño’s Visual Arts Manager, Rafael Damast, and I trade objects in the Proposition Tent. Photo by Justin Roman

Both a sort of real life drama by way of meeting a new person for the first time and an experiment in value, Miranda July’s instructions helped many attendees open up to someone they may otherwise not haven spoken with, engage the gathering around them, and the community at large. I joined in on the exchange myself and traded objects with Rafael Damast, who coincidentally works as the visual arts manager for new Knight Arts grantee Taller Puertorriqueño. He received an old train ticket from Japan that was hiding at the bottom of my camera bag, and I received a highlighter that he had recently used in a book he was reading. Our conversation ultimately led to our mutual interest in the arts and the fact that we both had a connection to Knight; small world indeed.

FringeArts will be setting up the Proposition Tent two more times this summer with themes of Pizza (June) and Sweet Lovin’ (July). Their first venture asked big questions about finance, art, performance, and managed to get more than a few attendees out of their shells and interacting with those around them in a direct and meaningful way. After all, what is an economy, if not the exchange of ideas, talents and resources? The Proposition Tent proves there’s a lot more to “Cash Money” than meets the eye…

The FringeArts Proposition Tent is located at North 11th and Carlton Streets; [email protected]; fringearts.com.