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Va-cage-tion rental by owner

Miao Jiaxin rents cage to Matthew Silver after Airbnb bails

By Danielle Furfaro - Source: http://www.brooklynpaper.com

Time out: Performance artist Matthew Silver does some hard time in Miao Jiaxin’s art cage. Photo © Miao Jiaxin

Time out: Performance artist Matthew Silver does some hard time in Miao Jiaxin’s art cage. Photo © Miao Jiaxin


The cage a Bushwick artist set up as an Airbnb guest room might have gotten the boot from the do-it-yourself hotel website, but it has had at least one return occupant.

Performance artist Matthew Silver spent five nights in the cage Airbnb wouldn’t let artist Miao Jiaxin rent out to adventure-seeking vacationers. Per the terms of staying in the cage now, and before on the short-term rental website, Jiaxian requires that guests stay in the cage for three hours a day, during which time they are not allowed to speak, use electronic devices, or exercise. Silver, who spends his outside time assailing passersby with absurdist love messages while clad in a Speedo, said the mandatory confinement is a useful thought experiment.

“It was about pushing myself to my limits in those three hours and then I had my freedom,” said Silver. “It was very difficult for me because I use the internet for a lot of what I do.”

Read the rest at: http://www.brooklynpaper.com

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