Lisa Barnard - The Canary and the Hammer (exhibited at Fotomuseum Den Haag)

Gold is ubiquitous in modern life and a potent symbol of value, beauty, purity, greed and political power. In the Canary and the Hammer, Lisa Barnard (UK, 1967) details our reverence for gold, its role in humanity’s ruthless pursuit of progress and its stark reminder of the global west’s determination to accumulate wealth.

Prompted by the financial crisis of 2008 and photographed across four years and four continents, the project connects disparate yet intertwined stories, from the destructive and exploitative mania, of historical and contemporary mining, to gold’s importance as an invisible component within both medicinal and technological innovation.

Barnard sets out to question gold’s continued status both as a circular economy and as an economic barometer, using a variety of colourful, visual media. Photography, video, printmaking coexist with interactive elements and objects to address the complexity of storytelling in these fragmented and troubling times.