During March 2014 the Moodbank branch opened at 29 Manners St, Wellington, the site of an ex ASB bank, in the heart of the CBD. The Moodbank is a bank that has mood rather than money as it’s currency. By mimicking and subverting the aesthetics of a bank and by contrasting analogue and digital data we aimed draw attention to the processes in which our feelings become commercially valuable in contemporary life.

The NZX building stock exchange ticker displayed our Moodbank advertisement asking 'How do we feel and what is it worth', drawing attention to our exploration of economic versus social forms of exchange.

Concurrently our Moodmachine visited various locations around the city, engaging with members of the public in Te Aro Park, Cuba Street, Civic Square, the Waterfront and Midland Park. Users were given the opportunity to personally reflect on their mood and have their mood acknowledged. Our goal was to make the collective mood of the city visible while providing a social rather than an economic form of exchange.

The Moodbank branch was highly successful in terms of audience participation and engagement. Over 2000 people visited the bank and made deposits. Users enjoyed the opportunity to stop and reflect over personal experience and many commented that the ‘mood acknowledgement’ process was very effective.

By mimicking and subverting the aesthetics of a bank and by contrasting analogue and digital data we aimed draw attention to the processes in which our feelings become commercially valuable in contemporary life.

Visitors were drawn to the aesthetics of the space, interested in finding out more about the project. Most people found the concept very appealing and felt comfortable engaging with the familiar bank conventions that we adopted.

Visitor numbers increased towards the end of the project as news of our presence spread through word of month and via social media. Users posted about their experience of the Moodbank on social media sites such as twitter, instagram, pinsta, tumblr & facebook.

From March 13th - 22nd the Moodbank branch opened on Manners Street in Wellington. Customers were invited deposit and exchange emotion at our branch, make transactions via our ATM style Moodmachine found in various locations throughout the city or use our online banking service.