you are the capital(ist)

Neon, transformers, wood 2020

In the neon sign "you are the capital(ist)" the letters "ist" in the end of the sentence turn on and off in 10-second intervals, so that alternately "you are the capital" and "you are the capitalist" is readable.
The constant alternation of the word "capital(ist)" calls up several levels of meaning and thus creates a permanent ambivalence of readings. "you are the capitalist" confronts the viewer with the question of their individual and collective capitalist acting in society. At the same time, the illuminated lettering with "you are the capital" makes clear the exploitation contexts in which people are seen as economic human capital. But there is also an emancipative dimension in this: the possibility of changing one's perspective and seeing oneself as capital, in order to represent one's own and communal interests and to defend oneself against the power of capital.

Installation views, OneNightGallery #14, Leipzig