Money was developed as a convenient and sophisticated storage device. Power created by owning a stockpile of perishable commodities such as grain could be preserved through time after it was converted into money. Since one person or family could not directly consume the concentrated abundance that occurs during times of aristocratic dominance, the value of perishable resources could be stored in abstraction and used strategically (by buying more land for example) to maintain dominance in the future. Paper money such as a $10 note is a leftover physical symbol of the schism of abstract value: in advanced societies, cash is being replaced by electronic transactions, and abstraction has increased exponentially in finance capital. Financial markets elegantly detach themselves from physicality, hovering above in storm fronts. Abstraction seems to be a human ideal: this powerful ability of the human mind allows us to reach higher concepts and higher levels of existence, but it so often leads us to dehumanization and subsequent brutality.

The current battle of copyright law is an attempt to consolidate, stock pile and store the value of ideas as though they were piles of grain. Aristocratic media firms aggressively claim ownership of abstractions and attack the public with legal action. Their strategy is to co-opt historical ideas from flourishing contexts and then strike to shut down current productivity where the same ideas may continue to thrive into the future. NASA, one of the few remaining US agencies with at least a partially constructive mission, has been uploading public domain hi def deep space photos taken by the Hubble telescope. That is nice.

Storage media in human history include both biological and inanimate objects. Tradition is a powerful biological method of idea transmission. From oral history to daily ritual, old ideas adapt to new contexts and the ideas are altered, often radically, while still maintaining some essence. Examples of physical inanimate storage media include grave markers, ceramics, linen, buildings, printed matter, and recently, the unstable hard drive. One difference between the biological and the inanimate archive is that objects that have survived long periods of time are orphans, stripped of their relevant contexts. Therefore we often appreciate old objects primarily for their formal novelty, or just for the fact that they are old. The biological archive, traditions, rituals and human practices, on the other hand, exists precisely because we have adapted old ideas into current contexts. The use of linen for example: linen was used to wrap mummies in ancient Egypt and it is now used as a fine, durable surface to make art paintings.  Linen was also used as currency in ancient Egypt and today the US paper money still contains 25% linen. The technology is almost the same, but its uses have shifted.

The craze to digitize books, photos and other works on paper is simultaneously an urge for convenience and preservation: but since the average server lasts 5 years before it needs an upgrade or a replacement, the paper source, if stored correctly, will last much longer than the digital copy. Digital files must be continually replaced using new equipment. This constant upkeep assumes a budget, but economic will is fickle: see Detroit.

All of the works in this show approach these issues one way or another. We produced many of the objects by sending orders through the internet to remote companies who produce or handle customizable niche objects such as etched granite, engraved ceramics, anodized metal, honorary plaques, sandblasted monuments etc. for domestic or small business use. We worked with several small businesses based in the United States, some of the last manufacturing that remains there. Sun Ra said he sent broadcast transmissions of his music into outer space so aliens would recognize there was some intelligent life on earth.  He also thought a lot about possible futures.

Aeron Bergman and Alejandra Salinas
Oslo, January 2012