1/18
Installation view of the American Sportsman model prototype.
2/18
Overview of "The Voting Booth Project: Where Democracy and Design Collide".
3/18
Installation view of the American Sportsman model prototype.
4/18
Transporatable BuyUS Brand voting boothes ensures culturally consistent results with six regional models.
5/18
The American Sportsman model voting apparatus has its cultural epicenter in Hunt County, Texas. The voting instrument appeals to and is famililiar to the majority of the electorate.
6/18
Demographic study for American Sportsman market/electorate.
7/18
Instructions for use. Ballots are shot from varying distances; liberal voters cast their ballots from a distance of 100 yards, while conservatives fire from a distance of 50 yards.
8/18
American Sportsman ballot-target.
9/18
With its cultural epicenter in Berkeley, California, the Zen Zone model offers voters a contemplative experience. Voting apparatus includes yoga mat, long-burn matches, candles and timer.
10/18
Demographic study for Zen Zone market/electorate.
11/18
Liberals are allowed to vote immediately, while more conservative voters are required to meditate up to one hour prior to lighting a candle for their candidates.
12/18
Liberals are allowed to vote immediately, while more conservative voters are required to meditate up to one hour prior to lighting a candle for their candidates.
13/18
The Good Odds model provides the opportunity for constituents in swing states to force their electorate off the fence. Cultural epicenter is Trumbull County, Ohio.
14/18
Demographic study of Good Odds market/electorate.
15/18
Voters can win up to 35 votes for a straight up vote (A).
16/18
The Capital Elite model combines the logics of voting and cash machines in a sensible unit that allows votes to be bought and sold.
17/18
Demographic study for Capitalist Elite market/electorate.
18/18
Voters feeling disenfranchised can list their available votes eBay-style on the voting booths of their district. Those with the means may purchase votes based on the fair market value of each candidate.

BUY US

Parsons School of Design, New York, NY

Proposal 2004
Project 2004
Completion 2004

The 2000 Florida election marked the fall of the Votamatic, the infamous voting machine, originally designed in the 1960s, that threw the outcome of the presidential election into chaos, leaving Bush v Gore to sort it out. RLA's project, part of an invited exhibition entitled The Voting Booth Project: Where Democracy and Design Collide, used one of these retired machines in a speculation about how a fictional company, “BuyUS (pronounced “bias”) Brand Reconditioned Voting Booths” might retool these voting instruments and market them to local municipalities to help secure culturally consistent election results. Five models are represented in a fictional ad campaign - each with a socio-political bias based on a mix of cultural stereotypes and actual regional market research statistics.

Accompanied by instructions for use, each model includes a series of twelve graphic icons that assist buyers in choosing the model that offers the best demographic fit. This matrix documents market tendencies, from partisanship and patriotism levels to income, vehicles of choice and diet.

The Voting Booth Project, Parsons Gallery, New York, October 8–December 5, 2004. (Catalogue)

Lyn Rice for OpenOffice
Design Associate: Astrid Lipka
Project Team: Anne-Rachel Schiffmann, Jonathan Garnett, Joanna Gulik

Curator: Chee Pearlman

Exhibition Conceived by: André Balazs, Rick Finkelstein, Paul Goldberger, and Ken Lerer

Catalog Design: Pentagram