Trophic Conversion

November 15, 2020 - December 19, 2020

Opening Reception: Sunday, Nov 15th, 1p-5pm ET

Deli Grocery is pleased to present Trophic Conversion the first solo exhibition for The Currency Project (TCP). The Currency Project is an interactive, socially engaged conceptual artwork that explores ideas around value creation and value transfer by creating its own currency within an existing marketplace.

Trophic Conversion is an immersive installation containing a 3-channel video feed projected on 3 adjacent walls in the gallery. Using game theory as a common thread between economics and predation/energy transfer in the biological world, this installation juxtaposes video of an apex predator, Carcharodon carcarius (Great White Shark) and prey, Sardina pilchardus (Pacific Sardine) along with a live, interactive feed of TCP’s open market offering.

The shark and schooling sardines serve as representations of the equilibrium states in the open ocean food chain. Smaller fish school together for safety while solitary sharks roam the perimeter looking for an easy meal. In the open ocean food chain, energy transfers from the massive lower trophic levels up to the less populated higher levels through predation. This transfer of energy up the food chain through the Biomass results in a loss of energy at each trophic level, and thus a limit on how many large apex predators can exist within a system. 

Here, The Currency Project relates economic value transfer to energy transfer within biological systems; and the importance of equilibrium within these systems. 

The work is concerned with the current state of monetary policy and reckless capitalism that has tilted power and shaken the foundations of trust within the existing system. In order to combat these issues, TCP releases trace amounts of currency into the open market. Each piece of currency is handmade, holographic serial numbered, and maintained on TCP’s General Ledger. (www.thecad.org/the-currency-project) Each piece is released on an open market platform to ultimately have the currency value determined by the public. 

During the duration of Trophic Conversion, TCP will expand the project by issuing (50) warrants that give holders the option to redeem for currency at a later date. Warrants can be obtained via inquiry with the gallery director.

The Currency Project is a social engaged Conceptual art project designed to ask questions about our existing systems of value, value creation and value exchange. The Currency Project was founded in March 2020 by collaborators Julian Lombardi and Abdul Mazid as a response to the printing of stimulus money inside the United States monetary system. 

Credits: Trophic Conversion, 2:30 (looped) dimensions variable, 2020

PUBLIC VIEWING:

SATURDAY & SUNDAY 1-5 PM

620 MYRTLE AVE

BROOKLYN, NY