Edinburgh City Art Gallery - November 2017
The world appears to have changed dramatically over the past few years under the influence of data-driven analytics, strategic communication, and new financial technologies. Do we still recognise ourselves in this world? Is it still possible to make a connection between the way the world now sees us, and how we see ourselves? The Block Mirror combines the viewer’s reflection with the act of mining currency (bitcoin) to illustrate their value potential within this system. It hints at a possible future where all aspects of our lives and our attention are mined for currency.
It has been exhibited twice to date. Version 0.1 was exhibited at Gateshead Library Gallery as a prototype/proof of art. Version 0.2 was exhibited in a more complete state at the City Art Gallery in Edinburgh as part of the After money symposium. I spoke at the Symposium drawing connections between art and understanding complex systems Referencing Lacanian Mirror Theory, John Dee’s black mirror and the act of Scrying as a pre-scientific way of finding meaning in impossible-to-understand systems. Scrying is a supernatural act of staring at a shiny surface until a vision appears, it comes from the English word descry which means to catch sight of something, to make out dimly, to reveal.
Block Mirror also draws attention to the current state of the artist’s value. It is an artwork that makes use of the gallery’s resources the artist whilst installed. During its life, it mined 0.00000002 bitcoin to date.
