PROGRESS REPORT
May 15, 2014 § Leave a comment
It has been some time since the last post. This followed an intensive series of events around THE MARKET , most recently being a very successful installation at the Centre Culturel Irlandais. The public and media response in Paris, further underscored the profound interest in, and indeed a need to discuss, the subject matter of the project, a subject matter that continues to grip the world.
In addition, the time away from posting has provided a chance to reflect upon where the project finds itself. The intention is to now make a further research trip later in the summer to a site in Asia that has always been viewed as a pivotal location for the project. As elsewhere, this is dependent on securing access. To date, the process of negotiation has taken almost 2 years. However, a central conceptual framing has been both how access embodies a state of relation and condition of the functioning of the markets.
In anticipation of securing access, the plan is then is for a significant publication of the complete project to appear in 2015.
In the meantime, this blog/gathering place will continue to host posts in relation to THE MARKET. Enabling a means to reflect on the research process and indeed how the mechanism/momentum of financial capitalism continues to play itself out. Perhaps to completion.
Finally, as part of this post. Here is a short video of the first installation, which includes the audio of the algorithmic soundscape, The Normalisation of Deviance as installed at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin late last year.
Installation THE MARKET Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
February 25, 2014 § Leave a comment
The image below from the installation is titled The Normalisation of Deviance II shows Spectrograms, a moving visual representation of the soundscape of the installation. The soundscape has been generated through the data collated by an algorithm to identify how often the French Minister of Finance, Pierre Moscovici used the word Market or Markets in his public speeches during the year, 2013.
Online reviews of the installation
Time Out Paris (English Version)
The project has been generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and the installation in Paris by Culture Ireland.
THE MARKET/ Centre Culturel Irlandais/ Paris
January 30, 2014 § Leave a comment
…what people don’t understand… is that what happens in the market is pivotal to their lives… not on the periphery, but slap, bang, in the middle…
(from telephone conversation with Trader (name withheld), Dealing Room, Investment Bank, London, February 2013)
Mark Curran’s challenging new project THE MARKET sets out to make visible – literally and metaphorically – the sphere where our futures are speculated upon. His multi-media installation includes photographs, films, transcripts of interviews and a soundscape that investigate the functioning of the global stock and commodity markets. From Dublin to London, Frankfurt and Addis Abeba, the artist concentrates on the experience of individuals working within a supremely complex system. In the installation at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, the relationship between the individual and the abstract algorithmic systems of the market is heightened through a sound piece designed by Ken Curran that permeates the gallery space, which is generated from algorithms identifying the words market or markets from public speeches given by the French Minister of Finance, Pierre Moscovici.
Nora Hickey M’Sichili, Director of Centre Culturel Irlandais
5, rue des Irlandais
75005 – Paris
January 30 – March 2
Opening times of the exhibitions:
2pm – 6pm Tuesday to Saturday
(Late opening Wednesday until 8pm)
12.30pm – 2.30pm Sunday
Full programme contextualising the exhibition on the opening weekend includes panel discussion with David McWilliams (Writer & Economist), Alfred M’Sichili (Philosopher & Political Economist), Helen Carey, Mark Uzan (Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee) and Mark Curran, an evening with the organisers of ‘Kilkenomics’.
The installation and events in Paris are supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Culture Ireland.