Christoph Büchel's Monumental Exhibition on Debt at Fondazione Prada Venice

Christoph Büchel presents 'Il debito, motore della storia' at Fondazione Prada's Venice venue, Ca' Corner della Regina, a former pawnshop until 1969. The exhibition explores debt as the driving force of history, featuring thousands of objects borrowed from museums, collections, and archives. Büchel, known for his radical and controversial practice, does not speak publicly; objects serve as his witnesses. The show includes a real-time screen displaying the global debt increase in trillions. A key work, 'The Diamond Maker' (2020-), presents synthetic diamonds made from his own artworks and feces. The installation spans three floors, creating an encyclopedic palace where each object corresponds to a 'voice' related to debt. Büchel's approach is compared to a semiotic system, with objects acting as critical statements. The exhibition also features a room dedicated to 'Schei' (Venetian for money), presenting a concrete cryptocurrency system designed to dissolve after the show. The artist's method is described as akin to a historian, assembling material culture with the precision of a scribe and the vision of a hermetic poet. The show demands repeated visits to uncover new connections.