EBOOK
About
"These art avengers...took on toxic debt culture-and won."-The Guardian
"[They] want to blow up the whole financial system."-The New York Times
Art hacks life when two filmmakers launch a project to cancel more than £1m of high-interest debt from their local community.
Bank Job is a white-knuckle ride into the dark heart of our financial system, in which filmmaker and artist duo Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn risk their sanity to buy up and abolish debt by printing their own money in a disused bank in Walthamstow, London. Tired of struggling in an economic system that leaves creative people on the fringes, the duo weave a different story, both risky and empowering, of self-education and mutual action. Behind the opaque language and defunct diagrams, they find a system flawed by design but ripe for hacking. This is the inspiring story of how they listen and act upon the widespread desire to change the system to meet the needs of many and not just the few. And for those among us brave enough, they show how we can do this too in our own communities one bank job at a time. 'When art meets finance, "The Big Bang" takes on a whole new meaning. This is brilliant performative protest.'-Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics
'Banks rob us blind every day, and so Powell and Edelstyn started one that did exactly the opposite. It became a truly great work of art, and this book is a remarkable record of what we should learn from their achievement about the urgent need for debt abolition and peoples' financing.'-Andrew Ross, author of Creditocracy: And the Case for Debt Refusal
'Hilary and Dan are the Bonnie and Clyde of renegade economics, bringing a deeply imaginative, beautiful, rebel swagger to staid debate about debt. I love absolutely everything about Bank Job: its persistence, its guts, its compassion, its attention to detail and beauty. My visit to the Bank will stay with me always, and the ripples from this brave and brilliant project have only just begun.'-Rob Hopkins, founder, Transition movement; author of From What Is to What If
'In the adventure Dan and Hilary take us on, we see the antiquated architecture of the financial system for what it is and are motivated to join in with them to pull it down so that a new system can be built to meet the great challenges of the 21st century – earth-systems breakdown and obscene levels of inequality. This is a timely book, written with passion and verve, that shows how political will, creativity and the arts were deployed to transform the lives of debtors. Dan and Hilary's lived experience will inspire and strengthen the global movement for economic and ecological justice.'-Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for The Green New Deal
'I can't think of any more exciting exposé of the role of debt in blighting people's lives than this book. As the spectre of debt looms over us in all its forms, from personal to sovereign debt, this book couldn't be more timely. As establishment politicians seek to load the economic burden of the pandemic onto people's shoulders across the globe, this exhilarating tale inspires the resistance we desperately need.'-John McDonnell, MP and former Shadow Chancellor
'We're all going around feeling something is wrong but it often ends up veering off in reactionary directions. I think this is wonderful because it marshals that sense of unease and builds it into a community and I love the way you are using it to create ties with each other and cancel debt and expose the sheer hypocrisy of the morality of debt.'-David Graeber, anthropologist and author of Bullshit Jobs and Debt: The First 5,000 Years
'Art pirates, debt destroyers and dreamers for a new economy unite! Hilary and Dan show us how the power of creativity can be a catalyst for grassroots activism when we need it the most. This book will be treasured by all those who are convinced that the radical imagination can t
"[They] want to blow up the whole financial system."-The New York Times
Art hacks life when two filmmakers launch a project to cancel more than £1m of high-interest debt from their local community.
Bank Job is a white-knuckle ride into the dark heart of our financial system, in which filmmaker and artist duo Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn risk their sanity to buy up and abolish debt by printing their own money in a disused bank in Walthamstow, London. Tired of struggling in an economic system that leaves creative people on the fringes, the duo weave a different story, both risky and empowering, of self-education and mutual action. Behind the opaque language and defunct diagrams, they find a system flawed by design but ripe for hacking. This is the inspiring story of how they listen and act upon the widespread desire to change the system to meet the needs of many and not just the few. And for those among us brave enough, they show how we can do this too in our own communities one bank job at a time. 'When art meets finance, "The Big Bang" takes on a whole new meaning. This is brilliant performative protest.'-Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics
'Banks rob us blind every day, and so Powell and Edelstyn started one that did exactly the opposite. It became a truly great work of art, and this book is a remarkable record of what we should learn from their achievement about the urgent need for debt abolition and peoples' financing.'-Andrew Ross, author of Creditocracy: And the Case for Debt Refusal
'Hilary and Dan are the Bonnie and Clyde of renegade economics, bringing a deeply imaginative, beautiful, rebel swagger to staid debate about debt. I love absolutely everything about Bank Job: its persistence, its guts, its compassion, its attention to detail and beauty. My visit to the Bank will stay with me always, and the ripples from this brave and brilliant project have only just begun.'-Rob Hopkins, founder, Transition movement; author of From What Is to What If
'In the adventure Dan and Hilary take us on, we see the antiquated architecture of the financial system for what it is and are motivated to join in with them to pull it down so that a new system can be built to meet the great challenges of the 21st century – earth-systems breakdown and obscene levels of inequality. This is a timely book, written with passion and verve, that shows how political will, creativity and the arts were deployed to transform the lives of debtors. Dan and Hilary's lived experience will inspire and strengthen the global movement for economic and ecological justice.'-Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for The Green New Deal
'I can't think of any more exciting exposé of the role of debt in blighting people's lives than this book. As the spectre of debt looms over us in all its forms, from personal to sovereign debt, this book couldn't be more timely. As establishment politicians seek to load the economic burden of the pandemic onto people's shoulders across the globe, this exhilarating tale inspires the resistance we desperately need.'-John McDonnell, MP and former Shadow Chancellor
'We're all going around feeling something is wrong but it often ends up veering off in reactionary directions. I think this is wonderful because it marshals that sense of unease and builds it into a community and I love the way you are using it to create ties with each other and cancel debt and expose the sheer hypocrisy of the morality of debt.'-David Graeber, anthropologist and author of Bullshit Jobs and Debt: The First 5,000 Years
'Art pirates, debt destroyers and dreamers for a new economy unite! Hilary and Dan show us how the power of creativity can be a catalyst for grassroots activism when we need it the most. This book will be treasured by all those who are convinced that the radical imagination can t