Words don’t come easy – money doesn’t either.

An exhibition by the plugin project of Schloss Ringenberg

Artists: Juan Pérez Agirregoikoa, Isabella Fürnkäs, Hanne Lippard, Eric Peter

What shapes our reality? Do the words we use and the language we apply to describe the world affect our reality? While a capital-oriented world order leaves an irreversible imprint on our planet and affects our day-to-day experience, Words don’t come easy explores the possibility of an altered reality through language. Subjective, verbal and written, testimonies of the western capitalistic experience serve as a testing ground and common ground for an investigation of the capital feel. Can a change of words mean a change of the experience?

The presented artists create a multitude of perspectives through the instrumentalisation of different forms of language, from poetry to tongue twister. Together they form a thought-experiment questioning the impact of capitalism on our everyday life.

Far from the intention to grasp the complexity of economics, nor attempting to make a moral judgement, the artists involved in Words don’t come easy invite to collectively rethink our modus operandi within the systems of language and capitalism by the means of poetry, video, visual- and performing-art.

In the work ‘Economy as Intimacy’, Eric Peter researches the possibilities to transform economics into something intimate, using poetry as the medium of speculation. Hanne Lippard exemplifies the cyclical rituals of economic value chains and the inflation of a market through the inflation of language. She narrates the absurd myths and realities of achieving financial independence. Isabella Fürnkäs creates a dystopian environment in which a techno-economic future does not hold space for human language nor for human needs. And Juan Pérez Agirregoikoa draws lively sceneries of rejection and frustration within work culture appearing as caricatures of a bitter truth. This multitude of perceptions offers a diverse audience a perspective to relate to.

The play with words might suggest a more playful approach to the themes of labour and leisure, potentially to challenge and shift our notion of capitalism, which could be playful, hopeful, dark or dystopian.

It is clear that the capitalistic system affects all of us; no matter if you are a part time jobber, nine-to-five office worker, temporarily employed, freelancer, job seeker, young entrepreneur, someone waiting for work permit, pensioner, civil servant or millionaire, or if you are the producer or consumer in this global system.

Curators: Youri David Appelo & Marian Stindt

Words don’t come easy – money doesn’t either is part of the plugin programme. plugin is an INTERREG VA project located at Schloss Ringenberg, that aims among others the practice-oriented support of young curators and artists in collaboration with German and Dutch cultural institutions, as Tetem Enschede. Plugin is made possible in the framework of INTERREG programme by the European Union and the INTERREG VA associates: MWIDE NRW, Provincie Gelderland, Kunststiftung NRW, Niederrheinische Sparkasse Rhein-Lippe, ArtEZ hogeschool voor de kunsten and Mondriaan Fonds Amsterdam.

The exhibition is funded by