Standard of Capital was initially inspired by the Sumerian artifact Standard of Ur’s war and peace panels currently in the collection of the British Museum. Reversing the language of video games used in military training systems, the animation references modern-day migration patterns caused by war, neocolonialism, and climate change. Extracted from their original tablet context, Assyrian figures, metaphorically reference refugees displaced by US invasions, looping on the tip of the tower as a form of reversal of mechanisms for surveillance and control in watch towers.
Standard of Capital was completed as part of Jim Campbell’s monthly Midnight Artist Collaboration @salesforcetower, curated by Emma Strebel, and in partnership with Boston Properties. It is also in connection with Shimon Attie’s Night Watch programming, the Bay Area’s first 2021 multi-city and social justice event co-produced by Catharine Clark Gallery, BOXBLUR, and Immersive Arts Alliance.
Everyday throughout September 2021, 12am–1am (PST). Salesforce Tower Top.
Standard of Capital, 2021; animation, 7:04 minutes. Documentation by Christopher Paddock.