WELCOME! THANKS FOR JOINING THE BANK JOB COMMUNITY
Below is the teaser of our feature film! Enjoy it - and thanks so much!
CLICK BELOW TO SEE OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANN PETTIFOR
THE BONDS
We have raised £40,000 from the sale of our banknotes - £20,000 shared between the 4 local causes featured on the notes and £20,000 to buy up and write off £1 million of local payday debt.
Now we want to quite literally explode this debt in a ‘debt in transit’ vehicle on a docklands site and to enable this to happen Hoe Street Central Bank is now issuing bonds.
If you invest in our bond certificates, they will yield:
The bond AS artwork.
A fragment OF THE explosion AS COMMEMORATIVE COIN.
The chance to make history.
In relation to all the above – a GOOD RETURN.
WHY BONDS?
We have already imagined what we could do if we were able to print our own money – but why stop there?
Bonds are traditionally a way for one entity to raise money by borrowing from another. They are debt based and deliver return for investors. In times of war, governments issued ‘War Bonds’ calling on citizens and investors to loan them money in order to fund whatever endeavour they were involved with at the time. Government debt is seen as the safest place for investors to put their money, particularly in volatile times with a fragile financial system. At this time of global uncertainty bonds are so popular that some countries are actually charging investors for lending them their money.
£10 HSCB BOND. 135X108mm. Blue. Screenprint, letterpress, foilblock, company seal. Stockwell 200gsm paper. Gilt edge. BUY £10 BOND. The above is a digital version. See images of printed bonds here. Return: fragment.
£20 HSCB BOND. 135x108mm. Pink. Screen print, letterpress, foil block, company seal. Stockwell 200gsm paper. Gilt edge. BUY £20 BOND. The above is a digital version. See images of printed bonds here. Return: fragment.
£50 HSCB BOND. Green. 195x156mm. Screen print, letterpress, foil block, company seal. Somerset velvet white 250gsm paper. Gilt edge. BUY £50 BOND. The above is a digital version. See images of printed bonds here. Return: coin.
£100 HSCB BOND. Violet. 195X156mm. Screen print, letterpress, foil block, company seal. Somerset velvet white 250gsm paper. Gilt edge. BUY £100 BOND. The above is a digital version. See images of printed bonds here. Return: coin.
BUYING BONDS FINANCES THIS EXPLOSION - ITS FILMING, EXHIBITION TRANSFORMATION AND DISTRIBUTION. IT INCREASES THE IMPACT OF THIS ACT OF DEBT CANCELLATION AND EXPLODES THE CONVERSATION INTO PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS.
WHY BIG BANG 2?
Our explosion is called Big Bang 2.
In 1986 a conservative British government led by Margaret Thatcher effected the sudden deregulation of the financial markets. The knock on effect of this act of financial engineering and accompanying privatization programme are being lived 32 years later. 10 years on from the 2008 financial crisis we are in the grips of a national debt crisis.
On Thameside waste ground our ‘debt in transit’ vehicle packed full of documents explodes and with it £1 million of predatory payday debt is written off.
The explosion will be captured on film in slow motion. The debris of exploded parts will be meticulously collected from the site, suspended as exploded view and later dismantled and distributed as artwork/souvenirs of an era in the form of commemorative coins to those who invested in making the debt explosion happen through the purchase of paper bonds.
WHY THE EXPLOSION?
We might have bought £1 million of local payday debt and be writing it off but this is a quiet and almost invisible act – letters go out behind the scenes to those whose debt it is telling them it will no longer be collected.
The Bank Job project is not intended as a quiet act. We have been gaining momentum and increasing press - examining the economic system which is producing rampant inequality and poverty and find ways to change it.
Movements for change need events and drama. We are artists and storytellers and this is our craft. The explosion is a moment and an artwork that focuses on this act of debt abolition and economic liberation.
£500 HSCB BOND. Silver. 255x204mm. Screen Print, letterpress, foil blocks, company seal. Somerset velvet antique 250gsm paper. Gilt edge. BUY £500 BOND. The above is a digital version. See images of the printed bonds here. Return: coin.
£1000 HSCB BOND. Gold . 255x204mm. Screen Print, letterpress, foil blocks, company seal. Somerset velvet antique 250gsm paper. Gilt edge. BUY £1000 BOND. The above is a digital version. See images of the printed bonds here. Return: coin.