inCENTive project attaches wishes to coins

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Ryerson student and budding artist Carly Benkendorf is offering a penny for people's thoughts.

Benkendorf is in the midst of a community-based art project dubbed inCENTive that gives people a chance to share their deepest wishes anonymously by having them affixed to pennies.

The project not only serves as an outlet for secret wishes but also gives a unique value to pennies, which could be seen as a symbol of wishing due to the fact that the nearly-worthless coins are often tossed into wishing wells and fountains.

"I've started noticing people throwing away pennies, but I've always been the kind of person who keeps my pennies," Benkendorf said. "During times of economic struggle, like what we're seeing now, pennies are valuable."

The lack of respect for the lowly penny is evident in the fact that Benkendorf has been able to collect 4,000 of them while gathering only 1,600 wishes. The artist has taken to carrying a notebook around with her and asking people to add their wishes to the list.

"It started off kind of rocky because I wasn't sure how to go about things, but then in one week I managed to get almost 1,000 wishes," she said.

Benkendorf, who lives on Ryerson University campus, hopes to amass 10,000 of each, sticking a wish onto each penny using clear adhesive stickers. Once her project is finished and exhibited next spring, she will put the pennies - with the wishes attached - back into circulation.

"In the end, I want people to value them," she said. "A wish is normally an abstract thing but this is making them a real thing and it will hopefully be a way of inviting people to take pennies instead of just thinking they're worthless."

People's wishes have ranged from general wishes for world peace to specific wishes for the wisher. One recurring theme is loneliness - many have wished for a boyfriend or girlfriend. The important thing, said Benkendorf, is not so much to wish for something earth-changing so much as to wish for something you truly want.

"I think it's great to know someone else's wish without knowing who that person is," she said. "Some of the wishes make your heart sink - I saw one that said 'I wish my mom would stop drinking' - and some make you laugh out loud."

To contribute to the project either by donating wishes or pennies, visit http://i-wish.ca