Performance
Lies and spare change supplied by the public, notary public seal and stamp, signature, ledger, leather desk pad, gold electroplating kit, scale, pyrite, paper, gold melting and casting kit, bench, folding table
In Alternative Facts, a performance that questions relative meaning and plurality of truth, Paul Ramirez Jonas acts as a notary public and certifies private lies in public documents. Sitting behind a table where special tools are organized, the performer invites participants to sit on a bench opposite to him and provide an untruthful statement, which he notarizes as a means to attest to its truthfulness. As this notary process requires payment in gold, the artist offers to transform the customer’s pocket change into gold. The performance proposes not only a legal, but also chemical process of transformation. The exchange results in two drawings affixed with the gold-plated coins: a wallet-sized notarized document for the viewer and a larger drawing to be hung on the wall.
