ART AND THE BOUNCY BANKER

The Bruxist Collective's take on Art and (as Alfred Jarry might put it) P'finance.

A numerically dyslexic artist (and reluctant consumer) shares his dearth of financial wisdom and resulting frustrations with his Bank Manager. Read personal letters from the elusive Art to his even more elusive Bank Manager. See a comic rendition of a Day In The Life Of The Bouncy Banker. Art struggles to make sense of the senseless as the Authorities of Finance wobble but never quite fall down. Full of hot air they float above it all! When they bounce it is with impunity! Why are there no Remorseful Bankers? Can Art and Finance ever coexist? Do you have a Blue Chip on your shoulder?

When bankers get together they talk about Art. When artists get together they talk about money. Oscar Wilde

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Bouncy Banking doggerel!

The interior of this jaunty pamphlet menu includes additional line drawings by the cover artist, H. B. Eddy, along with bouncy banking doggerel. ("The first thought of the banker/Is now the interest rate/But when he dines with us to-night/'Twill be, what's on his plate.") The dessert course, Baked Klondike, promised "genuine Klondike nuggets"--one per table--within.

Menu cover, New York Bankers' Association, Group No. 8, Second Annual Banquet. Hotel Manhattan, New York. Tuesday, February 8, 1898. [Eight-page pamphlet, paper covers; actual size 10¼" x 7" closed]

Letter to the Bank Manager #94 (It's Just a Game)

My Dear BM,

Just as I am the ravaged land left in your wake, you are the shadow left in mine of a morning. As the sun brings light in to the bathroom I can say goodbye to the nightmares and the anxiety, and flush the waste away, the exhausted energy consumed in fretting. Some say that dreaming is the brains dustbin (I never did agree with this thesis) but perhaps nightmares surrounding issues of debt, or mortgages going south, are.

How unhelpful the actions that leave so many paralyzed and unable to work their best magic, consumed as they are by concern as to where they might find their next paycheck. The destruction caused by the financial sector is tantamount to a nationwide firebombing and it is with relief that I hear our current president state, in no uncertain terms, that no further bail outs on the taxpayers’ dime will be forthcoming. You bounce and I strike hard in the handball court of public opining. You return fall force ever oblivious to the pain you continue to cause, your thoughts moving on to the next sneaky way to cover all your impending court costs and fines using the money of your frustrated, ever despoiled depositors.

I whack hard as you return and send you flying into the neglected backyard BBQ pit of a boarded up foreclosed home where you sit in the ashes of ancient beef steak, and chicken thigh, and smile as you rise up, floating like a balloon, unperturbed, into the sky where your friends, the clouds, swallow you up and give you the space to forget the pain you cause and once more put aside any hint of guilt that might dare to darken your always bright future.

It is so fashionable to bash bankers right now. I’m thrilled. This is the first time in my life I’ve been at the cutting edge.

If you should be one of the honest ones...please rein in your prodigal brethren instead of complaining about being misunderstood.

Yours seriously being sincere,

A. H. O’Connor