Pity would be no more, if – 2025

“Pity would be no more,
If we did not make somebody poor:
And Mercy no more could be,
If all were as happy as we.”
— W. Blake, The Human Abstract
2025, silver, steel spring, coins, patina, punched letters

« Next facette of the power of the Big Brother – technology. How it seems to have outsmarted us? How much cash do you usually carry, or do you keep everything in an account or cryptocurrency? The ephemerality of money has reached a peak, whereas tangible currency sometimes remains the only means of transaction. In April 2025, a blackout left over 60 million people on the Iberian Peninsula without electricity for half a day—shops could not accept cards, and only cash worked. No organization has yet explained the real cause, while cashless transactions continue to exceed cash in circulation. A remarkable project linking technology and power is Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler’s Calculating Empires, which vividly illustrates how people have entrapped themselves in a society of total technological control, driven by power to go faster and faster. » Elena Karpilopva

image: lumièrebrutestudio Stephane Adam