First Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, then the Lehman Bros. followed by LLoyds TSB’s takeover of HBOS and the US Federal Reserve’s bail-out of AIG… Finally the credit crunch has flung itself into the full-on crisis that was long coming since the Great Depression. Hardly a few moments go by when the topic is remotely out of earshot; indeed, even then it remains a burden on our minds and depleted purses as all things concerning income and budget become submerged beneath the doom and gloom painted so eagerly by media outlets left, right and centre. But whether dirty practices will continue on business as usual, or be replaced by an authentically ameliorated systematic approach prescribed post-detox after the current minor turnaround stabilizes (FTSE up 8.84%), it has all yet to be determined. Until then, fellow penny-savers, fear not: the i-bankers shan’t be getting the last laugh. Featured above is an infographic gem on par with Röyksopp’s own, and it might help sweeten that short-lived Schadenfreude experienced whilst watching suits with boxes marching out of tall glass buildings looking rather glum.
This highly apt video for Andy Turner and Ed Handley’s ‘Itsu‘ is a bit harsh, yes, but it undeniably demonstrates a phenomenon of uncanny resemblance. Straight off of Plaid‘s Dial P (EP on Warp Records, 2003), the number was created by Pleix, a Paris-based virtual community of digital artists. Its portrayal of greed is extremely elaborate; in fact, it seems the theme of greed is one that Plaid explore often, as in their CD/DVD release of Greedy Baby (2006) featured alongside an IMAX screening series. The track’s title itsu is Japanese Rōmaji for ‘when’ (the language is commonplace in their record listings; incidentally, the London-based electronic duo composed the original soundtrack to Japanese anime film Tekkon Kinkreet). Itsu desu ka, as the post-heading follows, is ‘when’ in formal question form ( いつ です か？). So when will the global crisis end? A good question seeing that all things considered, it seems there’s still a very real chance that a few bankers and their fellow City sleaze will come out of this crunch having not learnt the lesson of it all: namely that irresponsible financial meddling should not in turn be rewarded by immunity to responsibility of cause when it all hits the fan…
Click here to enjoy ‘Itsu’ in higher resolution.
Sarah Badr © MMVIII
See also: Plaid
sarah badr | pieces at random 
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