Co-curated with Angela Dimitrakaki.
In the 21st century, does the economy provide the ground zero of our sense of self? And what does this experience of a life dominated by economic relations feel or even look like? Presented at Stills in Edinburgh and CCA in Glasgow two parallel exhibitions made the core of ECONOMY.
Accompanied by film screenings, public forums and online debate, the project examined the heightened interest of art today in revealing the economy as an inescapable social truth. The artworks on show experimented with the imaginative documentation of social life to address issues ranging from climate change, labour conditions, sexuality, migration and the crisis of democracy to the quest for alternative futures.
Guided by seven keywords, the curators selected works by artists from across the globe including Tanja Ostojić (Germany/Serbia), The Raqs Media Collective (India), Martha Rosler (USA), Anu Pennanen (Finland), Marge Monko (Estonia), Hito Steyerl (Germany), Melanie Gilligan (Canada/UK/USA) and Dani Marti (Scotland).
A programme of screenings, public forums, talks and performances accompanied the exhibition. The associated book was published in 2015:
Dimitrakaki, Angela, and Kirsten Lloyd, eds. ECONOMY: Art, Production and the Subject in the 21st Century. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2015.
Throughout the month of February the artist collective WochenKlausur’s project office was set up in CCA’s Creative Lab. Having led an art practice of social engagement and inclusivity since the early 1990s, WochenKlausur worked with residents in Drumchapel to develop a workers-led co-operative.
Further information and analysis relating to WochenKlausur’s intervention can be found in the following publications:
Lloyd, Kirsten. ‘Being With, Across, Over and Through: Art’s Caring Subjects, Ethics Debates and Encounters’. In Economy: Art, Production and the Subject in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Angela Dimitrakaki and Kirsten Lloyd, 140–57, 2015.
Lloyd, Kirsten. ‘Art, Life and Capitalist Social Reproduction: Curating Social Practice’. The Journal of Curatorial Studies 10, no. 2 (2021).
Producer: Cheryl Connell
Technical Producer: Evan Thomas (Stills)
Installation Teams: Lindsey Hamilton (Stills), Alan Keane (CCA), Kenny Christie (CCA)
Designer: Sarah Tripp
Website: Ben Fallon
Use the arrow keys below to scroll through the slideshow of documentation images:
