Beijing International Art Biennale – The Value of Human Values
A new interpretation of the Value of Values project, initiated by Maurice Benayoun with Nicolás Mendoza Leal as an extension of the Brain Factory artwork.
This new mutation of the extensive original project was presented during the 10th Beijing International Art Biennale, co-curated for its first media art exhibition by the artist and curator Fei Jun, opening in Beijing on December 29, 2025.
The Value of Human Values in 10 Steps
The work invites visitors to become “Brain Workers”. Then, using EEG headsets, to shape 3D forms from their own brainwaves. Each form is linked to a chosen human value such as LOVE, POWER, FAMILY, or MONEY. These forms are minted as digital tokens on the blockchain, entering a living economy where values can be kept, gifted, sold, or bartered.
Every transaction generates a piece of Transactional Poetry: an ethical statement that reframes the deal as a moral proposition. Through Crypto Calligraphy, an AI Reader, and the AI Interpreters, the work bridges neuroscience, Chinese calligraphic tradition, and the language of contemporary markets.
A final Periodic Table of 42 Values maps how human priorities cluster, travel, and shift, forming a collective portrait of what we, as individuals, citizens, nationals, truly care about.
Morphogenesis of Values
A filmed walkthrough of the project (recorded at Asia Society Hong Kong) introduces the journey: how a personal value becomes a form, a collectible, a trade—and then a mirror of society.
The Value of Human Values
We’re used to pricing objects. But what about ideas, beliefs, and principles? Here, “human values” are treated as real forces that shape our decisions and communities. Can they be compared, ranked, or exchanged—and what happens when we try?
Neuro Design Station
Visitors become “Brain Workers.” With an EEG headset (a tool that reads electrical activity from the scalp), your brainwaves help shape a 3D form linked to a chosen value, POWER, LOVE, FAMILY, MONEY, and more. Your attention and emotion become a kind of sculpting tool.
A Token of Value
When the shaping ends, the new form becomes a digital “token”—a unique trace of your encounter. It’s released online and joins the growing Brain Workers collection.
Trading Human Values
To collect and exchange tokens, participants use a digital wallet. Tokens can be kept, gifted, sold, or swapped, for example: I offer MONEY in exchange for TENDERNESS. The artwork turns the language of markets toward the language of ethics.
Transactional Poetry
Every swap generates an “ethical statement”, a short piece of text that frames the trade as a moral proposition, not just a deal. The transaction becomes a poem about what we’re willing to give up, or ask for.
Crypto Calligraphy
Owning a token also means owning a form you can use creatively. The 3D model can be turned into new artworks—like a contemporary calligraphy where words such as MODESTY or STRENGTH are written in shapes born from brain activity.
The Reader
An AI called the Reader “reads” this calligraphy-like form, searching for echoes and similarities with Chinese calligraphic traditions. It translates visual features into a chain of descriptive words.
The Interpreters
Two AIs respond to the Reader’s words:
- One wants to be an artist, it produces a visual interpretation.
- One has a marketing bias, it searches for persuasive language to “sell” the value (LOVE, MONEY, COMPASSION…), revealing how values are packaged in contemporary culture.
Trading Monitor
As tokens move between people, the artwork becomes a living map of exchange. Anonymous trades show how values rise and fall over time—what people desire, bargain with, hoard, or give away.
The Periodic Table of Values
Like the periodic table organizes elements, this table organizes 42 values by how they cluster in collections. Some values tend to travel together: MONEY near to POWER and STRENGTH, and TENDERNESS near to FAMILY and LOVE, forming a shifting portrait of shared priorities.
Credits & Team
- Maurice Benayoun (MoBen)
- Initiator & Lead Artist
- Nicolás Mendoza Leal
- Co-initiator, Value of Values
- Fei Jun
- Co-curator, 10th Beijing International Art Biennale
- Dr. Wang Xiao
- 3AIL, Nanjing University
- Philip Y. Zhang
- 3AIL, Nanjing University
- Sherry Lin
- 3AIL, Nanjing University
- Sam Chan
- 3AIL, Nanjing University
- Ann Mak
- Photography & documentation
3AIL – Nanjing University Art and Architecture Intelligence Lab, with the support of CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) and Osage Gallery. Photography by Ann Mak and MoBen.
