What does a game of strip poker, currently being played for a week straight in a Manhattan storefront window, have to do with the economy? Well, everything — according to the artist at least.

Zefrey Throwell is best-known for his recent stunt "Ocularpation," a satirical protest event predating the Occupy movement that saw performers strip naked on Wall Street. Now, he is staging "I'll Raise You One…" in Art in General's 42 Walker Street storefront project space as part of Performa 11. And the exhibitionism of this particular game of strip poker has a supposedly serious message, which Throwell speaks about with a, ahem, poker face. "I see it as an economic and social critique of how society has its wealth distributed," Throwell told ARTINFO in a recent phone conversation (conducted after the artist hurriedly got dressed on the sidewalk).

The series of poker games include seven players at a time, drawn from a crew of 50 performers, and lasts from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m every day this week. "I asked [players] to show up with whatever they wanted — clothes equal currency," Throwell said. "Wear layers, that was the advice they were given."

Some players — the 'rich' — showed up with as much clothing as they could handle, while others preferred a normal outfit. The result is an unequal distribution of wealth, a "correlation to what happens in the U.S.," the artist explained. "What you brought really determines your own success." The clothed accrue more clothing, having more to wager, and the those who start out with less tend to end up with nothing.

Throwell's games come in two different flavors: 'capitalist,' in which everyone uses the clothes they came with, and 'socialist,' in which each player starts dressed equally. "Everyone, even the winners at the capitalist games, say that they enjoy the socialist model more," Throwell said.

The artist himself participates in every game. When asked how the cards were turning up for him, Throwell said that he has gotten a lot better at poker, and "a lot louder about my bluffs" — not unlike certain Wall Street traders.

To see a slide show of action shots from "I'll Raise You One…" click on the view slide show link above.