Gold Standard

Gold simultaneously represents profound value and pretense, luxury and cheapness, high and low culture, exclusivity and obtainability. These contradictions appear in the materiality of this show. Second-hand, mass-produced paperback novels have almost no value, yet their covers use gold to suggest the opposite. Gold gifs exploit the color’s connotations to elevate subject matter that is ridiculous and trivial. Gold is conspicuous. It is a signifier of class, both upper-class exclusivity, and lower-class gaudiness. How much gold is too much?

Equally central to the show is the loop. The gifs are cultural detritus trapped in a never-ending cycle of irony and silliness. The book covers are analogue versions of the looping gifs. The sculpture is an attempt to create a three-dimensional gif. To me, the closed loop is the most interesting structural element of contemporary art. Recursive information systems are endemic to many aspects of my daily experience, whether I want them to be or not. 

The title of this show, Gold Standard, comes from an outdated economic theory fixing currency to gold. In contemporary politics, this monitory policy has been most fervently advocated for by radical conservative and libertarian politicians. Virtually all economists agree that the gold standard is impractical and would be impossible to implement. Despite expert consensus, prominent conservative politicians continue to advocate for it. This has become less about implementing a sound economic system and more about criticizing and sewing distrust in the Federal Reserve and the US government. Unfortunately, it is the age of the con man, the huckster, the cheat, and the conspiracy theorist. Gold is the color of their banner. It doesn’t matter if the gold standard has been debunked. It is being used to exploit fear and obtain political power. This is not new, of course. Gold has been part of the justification for colonial genocide for centuries. 

The exhibition unfolds by confronting the viewer with fifty gold gifs organized in a grid, drawing upon the internet’s dumb, blunt force to yell “Gold!” and drive the focus of the exhibition home. However, moving past this initial work, gold is scattered in alcoves and between walls. As the viewer navigates through the space, they will discover caches of gold or other colors (or substances) masquerading as gold. What is “authentic” gold? Does it matter? Why, in this day and age, is the Con Man so able to use gold from such disparate cultural signifiers, mash them together, and then bash us over the head with it?