Museum of Capitalism, Blake? Foer? Conroy's "police flag". This work of art shows a world where capitalism is out of date. (Bria? Photo courtesy of mcnally)
If the end of capitalism has come, should we build a museum to reflect on its past and preserve its history? This summer, the curators Timothy Furstnau and Andrea? Andrea Stevens realized this idea in Oakland, California.
▲ "Capitalist Museum" exhibition site,
Image source: Museum of Capitalism
20 10 In a speech at the Marx Festival in London, Alex? Kalinix said that one day, he wanted to visit a capitalist museum similar to the apartheid museum in South Africa. The curator from Oakland-Timothy is nicknamed "FICTILIS"? Faustino and Andrea? Steve's duo wanted to know what a museum like that would look like after hearing Kalinix's speech for the first time. They organize exhibitions and intervention activities by interrogating social institutions in a humorous way and in a form between fiction and reality, which is vivid and interesting.
In 20 15, the two began to find suitable venues for their museums. They paid attention to the semi-industrial waterfront in Auckland and cooperated with a local non-profit organization, Jack? London improvement area cooperation. In 20 16, Fitillis received a letter from Emily? Hall? Tremaine Foundation dollars, in Jack? London Square has acquired a large and deep two-story commercial land, which has not been rented for many years. This land is an upscale market that has never been fully formed. And there are traces of the last tenant, and the wall downstairs is decorated with Virginia? Woolf and Julia? Chad and James? Billd's quotations about food.
"We can't afford to ask for this land anyway, even if it is only a part." Faustino, a gentle and thin man with brown hair as fluffy as dandelion, told me this in June. It is very close to the opening night of the museum. "I think it can be said that we were treated generously by the landlord."
▲Kambui Olujimi, Gini Quotations,
20 17, image source: MOCfacebook homepage.
▲ Jordan Bennett's "artifact bag",
20 13-20 15, image source: Capitalist Museum.
The arrangement of artworks in the museum is progressing smoothly. Capitalist museum adopts futuristic style and looks forward to a world where capitalism is out of date. "Maybe one day capitalism will come to an end, although the matter itself should be uncontroversial," faustino quoted Richard? Nixon and Gerald? "Stein's Law" founded by Ford's economic adviser, "What can't go on forever will eventually stop." In the center of the arc-shaped mezzanine building, above a red metal structure originally designed as a food counter, there is a group of banners created by Danish art team Superflex. The banner is painted with the logo of the bank that went bankrupt (or was merged) during the 2008 financial crisis.
Apart from Berlin and Brussels, Auckland is the third city with a capitalist museum. There was an exhibition on this topic before: 1982, Oklahoma Christian University built the "Enterprise Square", which contained a series of multimedia exhibits ―― including arcade game's "Protect Your Rights". In the game, players shoot aliens who occupy their private property; An electronic animation exhibition called "Singing Money" celebrates the advantages of the free market and criticizes the harm of excessive government intervention. That museum 1999 is closed. Although FICTILIS's capitalist museum has been in preparation for many years, it is particularly timely in the current crisis of housing and homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area and the huge economic inequality. However, FICTILIS complained that the capitalist museum project was previously considered too political. In fact, considering the current political climate, this project is not politicized enough. Faustino also admitted that some people attracted by the project didn't really understand its tone. "We got some emails saying,' Oh, that sounds great, I'd like to donate to such a museum'-it seems that Rand supports free market museums and things like that," he said.
Steve smith, wearing overalls and a tool belt, came to the table in our conference room. This conference room is located in the exhibition Oliver? Beside the exhibition hall of Lesler's work Alternative Economics, Alternative Society ―― A video containing economists and historians discussing freedom, autonomy and anarchy and democracy. She made a small carton. "Do you know trading toys?" She asked. "If Morgan Stanley invests in the Olive Garden, a trading toy company may be hired to make a plexiglass tombstone with a small salad and tomato slices on it to celebrate the deal," she said. Jasper. Waters is an industrial designer. He designed a trading toy for FICTILIS's project. It has a monument with a marble base the size of paperweight, which reads "Congratulations on your investment from the US Treasury". There are also the names of several banks and companies-Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Citibank-and the amount of government aid they received in 2008. Inside the plexiglass, there is a chart showing the Dow Jones index plummeting. (The American Finance Museum on Wall Street also has a collection of trading toys. )
▲ Black Farr-Conroy's "Police Flag",
In 2009, image source: Capitalism Museum.
When I visited there earlier this week, the exhibition was in full swing. The label of the small museum has been arranged to comment on the surrounding environment, museums and art itself in the tone of the future author of the museum.
(In Jordan? In Bennett's "Handmade Backpack" exhibition, a group of leather grocery bags were used as labels, explaining that in capitalist society, plastic bags, a "thin and flexible film of petroleum products", can be seen everywhere and caused controversy. )
Exhibits all over the world range from obvious politicization to satire. Packard? One of Jennings' works, "Mindfulness Meditation Hall", aims to create a relaxing space for the police, equipped with sponge-cushioned loungers and soft lights; The voice of a female robot conveys the wisdom of understanding-"When you are surrounded by anger and frustration, your task requires you to keep calm and keep a cool head"-accompanied by weird electronic music, and there is a conclusion, "I am one of the sentient beings. Polite. "
▲ Stephen Chow's ComeRun in Me 2,
20 17, image source: Capitalist Museum.
A small group of teenagers stared at Evan, arguing about the appropriateness of introducing police violence into children. Desmond. Yi's "dream shop" looks like a mirror copy of the museum's actual gift shop (in the gift shop, visitors can buy branded capitalist museum handbags and T-shirts, as well as computer-shaped decompression balls and beautifully packaged coal blocks), but there is no one on the shelves. Both stores are painted with "Millennium Powder" and hidden behind a community library. The library has collected the volumes of the United States Patent Office in the early 20th century, the annual report of the National Labor Relations Committee, and books on political theory of Marxist philosophy.
In Tara? In the "Capitalist History of a Nation" at that time, in a wooden building with a safety device the size of a refrigerator, tourists were invited to record videos about the capitalism they experienced personally. A small screen in the room shows a prompt: "What is the best or worst thing you have bought?" In the corner, there is a "magic wand" in a glass display cabinet, and a set of rectangular technical exhibits-remote control, barcode scanner, Hitachi personal massager and mascara brush-are arranged and labeled by the Tactical Magic Center.
▲CoClimate "The Worst Bust",
In 2007, image source: Museum of Capitalism.
Steve told me, "We have done a lot of thinking about what is inside the museum, what is outside, and the idea that the exit of the capitalist museum is the entrance of the real capitalist museum." She hopes that people will "start to see things as exhibits or museum collections and keep this way of looking at things." The museum will move out this week. Jack. London Square. The preliminary renovation is already in progress, and the new baking workshop and coffee factory of Tating Baking will be exhibited.
Wearing a shiny purple button-down shirt and a well-groomed hairstyle, the real estate agent led other potential tenants through the exhibition area and gathered at the museum's only permanent exhibition-a shabby Jack who has been here since 2008. Rent a model in London Square-around the glass window. An architect walked through the crowd with a pile of architectural drawings in his hand. Steve gloomily pointed to a hole in the corridor floor, which was caused by the construction workers accidentally drilling through the ceiling during construction. Besides the exhibition in Heidland Art Center this fall, we will wait and see the future of this institution-its theme and instability. Faustino guessed that perhaps, the museum just moved from the limited exhibition area to the outside of the building, covering everything. "When you think about it, it's a huge expansion," he said.