A 15-minute video in which the Mattes staged a suicide and filmed the reactions of viewers. It was performed on a website connecting strangers from around the world through webcam conversations.
Video excerpt
For hours, Franco hung from a noose, slowly swinging in our New York studio. Thousands of people watched without knowing whether what they were seeing was real or staged. The spectators unknowingly became the subject of the work.
A laptop visible in the corner of the feed simultaneously broadcast a real-time image of the connected viewers, allowing them to see themselves and confirming that the scene was happening live rather than being a pre-recorded video.
The work is usually displayed on a laptop placed on an inflatable mattress, which provides seating for viewers and brings them into an intimate viewing position.
Installed at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Installed at Carroll/Fletcher, London
Screening view, Spectacle Cinema, New York
No Fun embodied an emerging attention economy in which shocking and emotionally charged content competes to capture and hold attention.
