THE END OF 'THE END OF HISTORY'
PREDICTIONS FOR AN UNPREDICTABLE WORLD, 2015
RODRIGO LEBRUN (BR & FR)
In 1890, English writer William Morris published News From Nowhere, outlining his multidimensional view of a socialist utopia. In the book, change was brought about by a situation of crisis through which new paradigms and a new society emerged. The End of the 'End of History' is a series of three fictional animated essays describing the years following the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
Drawing parallels to William Morris’ work, the project speculates on how macroeconomic events could lead to new economic crises, and the respective social responses and novel economic systems that could follow them. The series comprises of three animations exploring the different outcomes to those events; 'News from Somewhere', 'The Big Freeze' and 'Destructive Destruction'.
Each film also doubles as an interactive installation. When activated, oil, gold and dollar prices are used in real time to disrupt the narratives. This works as a reminder of the relentless and pervasive influence exerted by economics beyond the spheres of finance.
BIO
Rodrigo Lebrun is a French/Brazilian artist based in the UK. He holds an M.A. in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Arts, London (RCA) under the supervision of professor Tony Dunne. His practice examines conflicting narratives that have emerged regarding digital technology and the hegemony of Western capitalism, and the role of both in financial crisis, consumption, nationalism and identity.
It is in this backdrop of instant reward versus long term collapse that the artist looks at alternatives to what professor Francis Fukuyama calls “The End of History”.
The artist uses algorithms to create narratives that harness the invisible power of data and bring to surface a world informed by digital liberalism.