A modern tale, constructed of lies, gorilla advertising bus campaigns and a government pretending to give back what’s long lost – there are many ways to describe the Brexit referendum, which happened in 2016. A result scratching on the crucial 50% was the doomed outcome. Overnight, the island floated away, into an isolated future, separating not only from the mainland but separating its citizens. The night of the referendum has gained a significance as high as the one of a royal wedding and is the topic of a 20-minute long audiovisual performance by DMSTFCTN, which is an artist duo investigating the intensities of late capitalism, based in London and Berlin. Expanding their project visually, ECHO FX is a book collecting and enriching the basis of the duo’s work.
Image Courtesy of ECHO FX
The book focuses on the unexpected confession which was stated late that night by Nigel Farage, the former trader, Brexit party leader and the face of the Leave EU campaign, which stated “[it looks like] Remain will edge it…”.
Image Courtesy of ECHO FX
“One of the key moments in ECHO FX focuses on the initial impact of Farage’s conceding statement, a well-timed piece of disinformation which echoed through Twitter on Referendum night, acting as a counterpoint to what, with hindsight, was a predictable result. Farage’s concession spread with memetic speed, reduced to its most transmissible form: Remain will edge it.”, states DMSTFCTN, the book’s creator.
Stills from the AV Performance. Image Courtesy of Echo FX
This unexpected and “out of character” confession by the face of Brexit caused an array of echos happening on social media, shaping the sentiment of foreign exchange markets, which had subsequently predicted a possible win of the “remain” fraction and pushing the pound currency to a six month high before the crushing announcement in the morning. As the “leave” result became public, the markets collapsed, yet a handful of hedge funds, which had purchased private polling data beforehand, were able to foresee the outcome and the crashing pound.
Stills from the AV Performance. Image Courtesy of Echo FX
“Today’s reality, when seen through our social media feeds, appears under many forms and produces countless versions of itself, all plausible, all self-contained, and all in stark contrast with each other. The instability of digital images, paired with the power of memes to capture attention and direct feelings is at its most controversial here. In the post-truth era, truth itself is customised, edited and even post-edited, just like any other consumer goods; and the manipulation of signs and symbols that constitutes its customisation is its own kind of magic.”, says V. Tanni, an art historian, curator and lecturer. ECHO FX tells the story of a historical night by mixing footage of the hedge funds headquarters in London with images and sounds generated in response to the historical market data. The book includes a digital download of the performance as well as further written contributions by DMSTFCTN, CMP OFFICE, Obsolete Capitalism, Valentina Tanni, Cam Simpson + Gavin Finch + Kit Chellel (Bloomberg Businessweek), including a manga rendition of the original performance, created by Krisis.
Get the book here.