Capital Pool is a sixty-five square meters black vinyl pool at the center of the Romanian Pavilion in Giardini della Biennale. It invites the public to contemplate their own reflection and that of the surrounding space on its liquid mirroring surface. At the same time, Capital Pool works as a “wishing well” where visitors can throw coins, a well-known ritual. The money offered by the public, accumulated during the six month exhibition period, will be constituted in an autonomous fund, that at the end of the show will be allocated to a non-governmental, alternative or other forms of independent social initiative dealing with the threatened cultural heritage, mass tourism, and flooding in Venice. The Associated Public is invited to discuss and give their opinion on who should be the recipient of the Capital Pool Autonomous Fund.
Capital Pool
Capital Crypt is the second part of the project, displayed at the New Gallery of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Venice (Campo Santa Fosca, Cannaregio). The money accumulated in the Capital Pool is periodically transferred and deposited behind bars inside the treasure room of the installation, which is equipped with a video surveillance system. The progressive increase of the accumulated capital is displayed on a five-digit LED board part of the installation as well as on the website dedicated to the project.
Capital Crypt
Discapital consists of a series of performative events, based on the symbolic distillation of capital. The public is invited to chew dollar-bills and pages from Karl Marx’s Capital and spit the pulp into a glass container, after rinsing their mouths with vodka. The resulting mixture will be distilled and bottled in front of the audience. An edition of 24 bottles will be produced. It is a piece of “collective labor”, where the public is part of the production, The bottle edition is functioning both as an art object, “commodity”, and “alternative currency”, where the “economic value” (the amount of socially necessary labor required to produce it) is combined with the “artistic value” (according to the art market fluctuations).
Discapital
