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The
City and Banking
MONUMENTS was planned to be
installed in what was one of
London's largest and most opulent
banking halls. Designed by Sir
William Tite in the 1830's it was
one of the first stock banks in
London and expresses the great
ambitions and power of London and
the British Empire at that time.
However, not only did the timing
coincide with the crucial G20 summit
meeting in the City at the beginning
of the global financial crisis and
the mayhem that that caused but it
also unavoidably coincided within
days of agreeing to the location for
MONUMENTS at the 53rd
Venice Biennale. Therefore, sadly it
had to be cancelled.
Interestingly, if the installation
had gone ahead the building and the
artwork would have expressed a
stability against the backdrop of
financial crisis creating a
dialectic contradiction as to the
reality of money as an unpredictable
commodity yet a human obsession.
It is hoped that plans to show it
here at another time will be agreed.
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