The Art of Financial Hacking

The financial sector often appears daunting and impenetrable to outsiders. We look on the huge skyscrapers and imagine bankers using obscure language and complex mathematical models to move money around the globe, influencing politicians and pulling strings behind closed doors. The sector, however, is far more permeable than it may seem, and since the financial crisis we have seen a rise in artists, activists and anthropologists intent on exploring the sector, looking for cracks and opportunities for interventions and creative alternatives. In this talk, financial explorer Brett Scott and artist Paolo Cirio will take us through the subversive and fun field of financial art, hacking and activism, describing their own work as well as showcasing examples from across the globe. Get inspired to launch your own adventure into the financial sector!

• Paolo Cirio is a conceptual artist who works with legal, economic and semiotic systems of the information society. He investigates social fields impacted by the internet, such as privacy, copyright, democracy and finance. He shows his research and intervention-based works through artifacts, photos, installations, videos, and public art. Paolo Cirio has exhibited his work in museums and institutions around the globe and won numerous prestigious art awards.

• Brett Scott is a journalist, campaigner and the author of 'The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money' (2013). He works on financial reform, alternative finance and economic activism with a wide variety of NGOs, artists, students and start-ups, and writes for publications such as The Guardian, New Scientist, Wired Magazine and CNN.com. He is a Senior Fellow of the Finance Innovation Lab, an Associate at the Institute of Social Banking and an advisory group member of the Brixton Pound. He tweets as @suitpossum.