Cassidy Toner – What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping?

Cassidy Toner directs an ironic, critical, at times cynical – yet always self-aware – gaze at the values that shape much of our existence: expectations, beliefs and rules that are present in the art industry as much as in religion and other areas of life built on shared agreements.

For Manifesta 16 Ruhr, Toner modified two flipper slot machines: The work 'What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping?‘ is on display until October 4 in the foyer of PACT Zollverein, the other work with the title 'What Do You Get‘ is currently on display in the community room of Gethsemane Church in Bochum. The machines are free to play, and they don't hold a promise of a life-changing jackpot win. Rather, they offer a bittersweet commentary on the ethos of diligent, hard work as well as luck and chance as ways of self-betterment and distinction.