images of economic thought

As artists, we (Sophie Lindner, Martin Wiesinger and I) are part of a loose research community initiated by the Cusanus Hochschule for Social Design. The starting point of our dialogue are use and creation of images in economic theory, education and practice. In order to illustrate abstract facts, very different images (models, data, schemes, visualizations, metaphors and photographs) are used. Artists act in a similar way, whereby image competence and the ability to create one’s own images are focused in their production. As the reflection of impact, manipulation and materiality of images is often neglected in economic theory, a speechlessness arises, which reinforces the unconscious power of the named kinds of images and hinders imagination and creative potentials.
We (artists) want to react to the void described by our colleagues from the field of economics: on the one hand, we formulate answers to the pictoriality of economics textbooks. On the other hand, we want to explicate the pictorial and imaginative competences in our practices of artistic production (in the sense of critical reflection, deconstruction and development of own images). Our goal is to make artistic methods and perspectives fruitful beyond the boundaries of our own field – especially for the field of economics.

I plug, color and materialize the model of communicating vessels used to illustrate abstract, economic facts.