The year 2009 has been a year of uncertainty and in the current economic climate, nothing seems to be safe. People are struggling to cope with the possibility of losing everything – their work, their income, their relationships, their communities.
While the rich rush to transfer their investments into gold, the poor pack up their jewellery in envelopes in response to the glut of Cash For Gold ads on TV.
In an effort to put right some of the wrongs, The Stock Exchange gave people the chance to be an Alchemist and turn base metal into gold. I asked them to bring along an item of non-precious metal (such as lead, copper, aluminium or zinc) and exchange it for one of my golden offerings.
To reflect the atomic number of gold, 79 objects were offered for exchange. Visitors to the Cor Blimey Gallery in Deptford were invited to participate and, over the period of two weeks, a process of reverse alchemy unfolded, as gold was transformed into base metal - a fitting tribute to our troubled times.
