Beatrice Gibson's 'Crippled Symmetries' Explores Capitalism Through Fluxus and Avant-Garde Influences

Beatrice Gibson's 2015 project 'Crippled Symmetries' features two films, 'F for Fibonacci' (2014) and the newly commissioned 'Solo for Rich Man' (2015), which critique capitalism's pervasive influence. In 'Solo for Rich Man', composer Anton Lukoszevieze interacts with an eleven-year-old boy named George, performing Fluxus compositions including George Maciunas's 1962 piece involving coins and paper money, alongside works by Lukoszevieze. Scenes unfold in an East London adventure playground, where George repeats economic terms like 'austerity' and 'capitalism'. Gibson draws inspiration from radical educators Brian Dennis and John Paynter, who integrated John Cage's ideas into school curricula. 'F for Fibonacci' is set in a virtual Minecraft world created by eleven-year-old Clay Barnard Chodzko, featuring his character Mr Money, an LA-born superhero, with cut scenes referencing Karlheinz Stockhausen and Cage's musical innovations. The project references William Gaddis's 1975 novel 'JR', about a schoolboy building a financial empire, highlighting themes of linguistic and artistic breakdown under capitalism. The article, published in October 2015, positions Fluxus and avant-garde pedagogies within contemporary economic noise, using metaphors of inaudible music to symbolize societal changes.