Artist: I'll trade a (replica) kidney for that $17k Apple Watch
Apple's forthcoming luxury smartwatch has already become a topic of division and debate months ahead of its release. While Apple is counting on five to six million orders once it does go on sale, critics of the device have slammed it as the latest status symbol for wealthy douchebags. Now, San Francisco-based artist Qinmin Liu is ratcheting the hyperbole even further by offering to trade one of her kidneys for the $17,000 flagship model. Well, not literally one of her kidneys (this isn't 2011 China, people) but rather a sculpture of one that she's made. What a deal!
This stunt follows a performance piece from last year, wherein she wandered around the streets of San Francisco coated in nothing but rice to protest "society's obsession with social media." Because clearly the best way to get people to stop Instagramming and Tweeting is to make a public spectacle of yourself. The upcoming kidney-watch swap takes similar aim at the pitfalls of our connected society. "We have trapped ourselves in the iPhone and the computer," Liu told the Daily Beast. "There is no longer any physical connection with people. Yes, these innovations have made our lives more simple and convenient, but on the other side we have lost all connection with one another." In all, Liu hopes to collect as many as 50 watches (some $850,000 worth) then display them, along with the faux-kidneys and her own body, in a public exhibition/performance this June.
