Interested in the materialities of algorithmic capitalism, the video work proposes an analogy between the Great Work of alchemy – the formula for transmuting lead into gold – with capital accumulation.
Drawing on Marx, it examines the magical powers of capital and suggests a ritual reversal of the alchemical procedure (Nigredo – Albedo – Rubedo) as an intervention in the toxic metabolisms of digital capitalism. Through a counter-ritual of inversion and corresponding spellcasting, it unfolds a speculative scenario for undoing the magic of capital and the alchemy of longevity applied to value.
Many thanks to the provision of footage by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and filmmaker David Fedele.
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