spacer

‘A Debt To Society’ is a forthcoming exhibition at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City in fall 2012. The project will present the work of artists and collectives who have dedicated themselves to themes of economy and finance in their work, asking them to turn their attention to one key financial form in contemporary American society — debt. Of particular interest is the way in which debt has inscribed itself as a highly abstract but fundamental mechanism of power and subjugation, intervening in numerous social relations. 


While being in debt is probably as old as human civilization itself, the structure of that indebtedness has changed. Today, credit card, mortgage and student loan debt account for trillions of dollars of wealth in America — and although many people are in debt, it is much less clear if they have the ability to pay it off — ever. Rather, many of us live in a state of constant deferral, a relationship to an uncertain future when our debts will come due and the collection agencies will begin calling. To be in debt is to have one’s future tied in with another and in the contemporary American case that other is probably a bank. The creditor used to be condemned for lending with excess interest; now it is the debtor who must pay her or his “debt to society.”


I’m excited to be curating this exhibition in collaboration with Leigh Claire La Berge whose academic work examines the representation of financial forms in film, literature and popular culture. Our work together will also result in a publication on debt exploring a wide range of theoretical and artistic perspectives. Participants to be announced soon.

  • ∞ permalink
  • posted 16 Jan 2012

gipoco.com is neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its contents. This is a safe-cache copy of the original web site.