Bruges Art and Architecture Triennial 2015. May 20 - Oct 18th 2015. Curated by Till-Holger Borchert, Michel Dewilde and Lies Coppens.

GOLD GUIDES ME by Anne Katrine Senstad - part of Senstad's research project Capitalism in the Public Realm.

The text based sculptural installation was commissioned by Triennale Brugge/Brugge Plus specifically for the Triennale. It is funded by the city of Bruges, Triennale Brugge, Brugge Plus and Culturcentrum Brugge in association with diverse city of Bruges and Flemish agencies.

Gold Guides Me is copywritten to and in ownership of the artist.

Medium: LED lights, aluminum lettering, yellow plexiglass, scaffolding. Size: 22 meters x 2 m x 60 cm depth.

Size: 22m x 2 m x 60 cm

Triennale Brugge 2015 link to website

Capitalism is a religion that recognizes neither truce nor redemption

Walter Benjamin

On GOLD GUIDES ME

The art work I have created for Triennale Brugge as part of my research project Capitalism in the Public Relam, consists of a 3D LED sentence signage placed on the roof of the historic Gistfabriek. The statement, Gold Guides Me, is a word play on religion, the history of finance, ethics and notions of greed, questioning social-political financial value systems and the economy of advertisement. The reference to societal guidance can be seen in the word Gold, as interchangeable with God.  In the sentence referring to God, we are asked to trust a higher power, as citizens under the structure of hierarchy and as subjects. By exchanging God into Gold, the idea of the inner societal compass, spiritual values and obedience is replaced with a fetishism of ownership, power and wealth, future transfigurations in free market competition and dependence, and personal liberation and satisfaction.

Photo credit: Sarah Bauens, Anne K Senstad. Illustrations by Markley Boyer.