From its first militant graphic form in the 19th century to the present day, the pyramidal representation of the capitalist system has been reinterpreted in many ways in modern and contemporary art. The image, originally created for educational and propaganda purposes, highlights the structural interdependencies and at the same time reinforces the revolutionary identity of the working majority at the bottom of the structure against the capital dominating from the top. At the intermediate levels are the authorities with a monopoly of power, that keep the working masses under control and the various cultural institutions, which conceal the economic and power relations through their ideologies. However, the historical context of the original image has now shifted and the structure has undergone transformations. While the productive power of the economy and technology is growing, social injustices are increasing. The boundaries between those with privilege and the vast majority are no longer legible, and can no longer be eliminated in the name of a universal social class. We have internalised the structure through individual cultural production, we operate it in the construction of ourselves, in the organisation of our lives. In this workshop, we will explore various forms of invisibility, we will try to assemble them into a system and build a monument out of it.

The workshop will be held in the Made in Pata-Rât project’s carpentry workshop. The first day of the workshop will start with a short art history presentation, followed by a gathering of materials – we will work with what we have: discarded furniture, industrially produced objects. On the second day we will assemble our construction. The temporary installation will be inaugurated in a public ceremony on Museum Square.

Workshop leader: Szilárd Miklós

Photo: left – Pyramid of the Capitalist System, 1901; right – Csaba Nemes, Frozen Structures, 2015.