Pig – Installation – Porcelain and Newspaper

The piggy bank is iconic. In every child’s bedroom exists this pervasive metaphor of public misconception. A misguided view of what a bank is. One imagines a bank as a safe haven for accumulated assets. During the 21st-century financial crisis, public scrutiny of financial institutions reached a fervent level of intensity. The public media embraced the witch hunt that ensued. This installation comprises of newspaper headings from a widely available tabloid within 2013.

After the 2007 – 2012 financial crash, there has been no change to banking governance. The focus and onus has been solely placed upon the crushed shoulders of the proletariat. Banks remain private institutions that freely profit from creating obligations (money). Legally entitled to print money on the proviso it is attached to a Bricks and Mortar asset. This public service, completely deregulated, has ensured generations to be subjected to an empowered needless austerity. Tuition fees trebled, healthcare cut and society receded.

The sleeping proletariat have no figure to blame. They are faced with a choice. To lick their infected wounds and continue to sustain a blooming false promise. Or to reject austerity, reject privately created obligations, reject this fugazi ponzi scheme.

A nation is not a child saving pennies found on the side walk. A government is not a smiling face stretched across the ruthless machinery of private industry. A people are not beasts of burden.

Look up. Smash the piggy bank. Self direct.