Vaguely reminiscent of the idea of potlatch1 and devised around a relation of exchanges between organiser and participants that implies some sort of retribution, a party is organised, for which the attendants are invited to bring the vinyl records they detest the most, being these exchanged for drinks, and played afterwards, as the party’s ‘playlist’. As the party attendants demonstrate their displeasure towards the music, playing is stopped and the records thrown to the dance floor, for the attendants to do whatever they please with them.
The record breaking party is an ongoing series of projects that develop always in two distinct phases, with the party acting as a common starting point, leading to different outcomes that deal with specific elements and context of where they take place. As in celebration, the host would distribute gifts according to each guest’s rank or status. Between rival groups the potlatch could involve solemn giving and destruction of riches, as a display of superior wealth and as a provocation demanding an answer. That answer should take the form of a new potlatch, a short time later, which would have to be forcibly more generous than the first: he must pay back with interest. When a rival failed to answer another’s provocation he was dishonoured as he was showing that he attributed the most value to physical property.
1 In George Bataille’s essay «The Accursed Share» he mentions potlatch as
a ritual destruction of riches in the form of a sacrifice, where goods
lose their orientation towards a future use and are consequently free of
utilitarian domination.
