Somerset paper, screenprint, data from the last ten years of Lehman Brothers’ financial trading, electric paint, soundsystem, custom code, voice soprano (Madge)
The Dataflag series deals with the notion of failure in the corporate world; the first installation of the piece at the V&A in London, focused around the raise and fall of Lehmann Brothers.
Much inspired by corporate flags and banners, which serve the purpose of glorifying the identity of companies worldwide, Dataflag is a screenprint on Somerset paper; when touched it tells the story of the company, by singing the last 10 years of daily financial data to the audience. It is a corporate flag of bankruptcy and failure.
The story follows a very detailed script; every time the flag is touched, a new set of numbers is announced. These numbers are the share price of the Lehmann Brothers.
The artwork, through using a language known only to a few experts in the field of finance, it narrates the ups and down that featured the company's progress towards the terrible moment of the bankruptcy, a contemporary take on a tragedy of our times.