Library Object 1: 8″W x 6″T x 5″D, Porcelain and Sterling Silver
This was part of the WRLDs project, which addressed the financial markets. It began before the crash of 2008.
The Events of September 17-21, 2007:Goldman Sachs and the FOMC signal the unfolding of the US Economy in 2008.
The Story
The Federal Open Market Committee lowered the discount rate by a half-point or 50 basis points, on September 18th 2007. This marked the first in a rapid series of large rate cuts which continued throughout March, 2008, signaling a recession, or worse in the US, and impacting the global markets.
During the same week, Goldman Sachs stock price sharply increased, as their reported earnings came in much higher than expected, shocking those on Wall Street. They had apparently anticipated the housing market would decline. This was in sharp contrast with other banking and lending institutions, which showed steep declines in price during the same period. Both of these events were informed by the current mortgage and credit issues plaguing the economy.
About the Object
The design of this object uses a metaphor of “density”, to document and freeze volume and price for the given time period within Goldman Sachs stock, during the week of September 17-21, 2007. The object is a 3D printed object that is then produced in bisque porcelain and sterling silver. It uses light to project shadows through and onto the porcelain, as part of the information conveyed.
The thin translucent material and projected shadows poetically convey the interface used when entering trades. In real life, the surface of the screen on any side of the trade provides a thin covering which encapsulates dense information that is constantly and rapidly being exchanged. This density varies, and in part informs the price movement of the stock. There is both pressure and counter-pressure at the intersection of any shares being exchanged. It is at the time of the least pressure when the largest price fluctuations seem to occur.
At times momentum can cut through areas of intense density. At other times a lack of volume can create lofting spaces within dense areas followed by a steep movement in price.
More words applied to the object.
This object is meant to convey a poetic interpretation of a unique market occurrence.
There are two words I am using to describe the components of this object within the metaphor; Margin Density and the Density Track. Margin Density is the porcelain form. The Density Track is the sterling silver track, suspended over the form.
The Margin Density component has both a positive and negative side representing both sides of the trade and the thin boundaries of the traders screen.
This part of the object can be rotated, to show different views and change the shadows which it projects. Using this metaphor, price information is translated into Margin Density. That is, the positive or negative space expresses a margin of density, or change in density, as shares are exchanged.
If there is no price variation, density has usually increased, created by pressure coming from both sides of the trade. If the price shift is great, (higher or lower), there is usually less density.
The silver Density Track suspended over the Margin Density object marks the volume of trades which have been made. The solid forms on the track mean more human and/or machine trades occurred at that point. If there is a hollow area in the track, it means the volume density was absent or inverted.
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