Moodbank - How do we feel and what is it worth?

A pop-up bank and art project will open in Wellington to record the mood of the occupants of the city. At an ATM-style mood machine people will be able to deposit their emotions instead of withdrawing cash. At the ‘Moodbank’ visitors will be invited to visualize and exchange how they feel.

When Wellington based artist, Vanessa Crowe, and, design lecturer, Dr. Sarah Elsie Baker came up with the concept for the Moodbank they wanted to explore the diverse emotional life of the city.

“Governments and businesses have come to see the value in finding out how happy we are, but we are interested in complex and contradictory moods. Sometimes we feel grumpy, rushed and excited at the same time” says Dr. Sarah Elsie Baker, Lecturer in Design Culture+Context at Victoria University.

The Moodbank will also document the collective mood of Wellington and allow people to consider how factors, such as whether it’s raining, the amount of traffic and who won the rugby, influence how we feel.

At the pop-up bank, individuals and groups will be invited to book appointments with the Mood Manager for a detailed visual mapping of their mood. Throughout the project the collective moods of Wellington will be displayed via posters, video and a customised stock market mood ticker, giving a unique insight into how the city feels.