Credit Crunch Lexicon

The Credit Crunch Lexicon is a text-based work, which forms part of my exhibition Let This Be A Sign, at Swiss Cottage Gallery. The work draws upon the diversity of economic, political and philosophical terminology that has now become part of our vernacular; the economic crisis has moved terminology and jargon from the business pages on to the front pages of our newspapers, radios and TV sets.

Arranged alphabetically to create a form of concrete poetry, the words and phrases scrutinize the miasma of rhetoric, hyperbole and sometimes, contradictory terms used by politicians, economists, protesters and journalists to describe the economic downturn.

I collated the text from political speeches, papers from the governor of the Bank of England, newspaper headlines, protest poster slogans and economic reports, all of which reference the economic situation from 2007 to 2012. In total there are 5841 words/phrases starting with ‘A CRISIS IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE’ and finishing with ‘ZEROFLATION’. The work is ongoing.

You can download a pdf with all of the words here.

Installation shots of the Credit Crunch Lexicon at Swiss Cottage Gallery, London, June 2012: