MINIMUM WAGE MACHINE
Blake Fall-Conroy (US)
The Minimum Wage Machine allows anybody to work for minimum wage. Turning the crank will yield one cent every 3.892 seconds, for €9.25 an hour, Ireland’s standard minimum wage for an adult worker. If the participant stops turning the crank, they stop receiving money. The machine's mechanism and electronics are powered by the hand crank, and coins are stored in a plexiglas box. The Minimum Wage Machine can be reprogrammed as minimum wage changes, or for wages in different locations.
PROFILE
Blake Fall-Conroy is an artist and self-taught mechanical engineer. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he moved to Ithaca, New York in 2002 where he later received a BFA in sculpture from Cornell University. As a mechanical engineer, he works in industrial robotics, where he designs and fabricates remote-controlled robots that climb vertical surfaces.
As an artist, Blake’s art-making practice is conceptually motivated, commenting on a wide range of issues — from consumerism and the American spectacle to surveillance and technology. His projects often incorporate mechanical and electronic components, as well as objects or motifs found within the routine of everyday life.