Loophole for All
2013. Two video channels and digital prints US letter size.
» Website: Loophole4All.com
Press material
- 4th Press Release, 2nd June 2014
- 3rd Press Release, 5th April 2013
- 2nd Press Release, 10th March 2013
- 1st Press Release, 15th February 2013
- Text project final recap, 2014
- Article on AleterNet by the artist, 2013
- Text research about offshore finance
- Interview on The Great Offshore, France, 2021
- Interview on Wild Magazine, U.S., 2014
- Interview for Prix Ars, Austria, 2014
- Interview on Libération, France, 2014
- Interview on Verge, U.S. 2013
- Pics of the Installations in High-Res
- Pics of stacks of Caymans certificates
- Selected Caymans certificates HD-jpg
- Diagram of the operations in pdf
- Watch introductory video
- Watch excerpts experts interviews
- Watch the interview with the artist
Related texts
- Text The Flowchart, 2019
- Text Systems of Systems, 2019
- Interview on Visual Resources, 2018
- Interview on Screening Economies, 2018
Selected press coverage
- ARTINFO, review - update, U.S., 2013
- AlterNet, artist's article, U.S., 2013
- The Nation, video interview, U.S., 2013
- The Verge, interview, U.S., 2013
- FastCompany, review, U.S., 2013
- Dazed and Confused, UK, 2013
- Tax Justice, review, UK, 2013
- Cayman 27, TV News, Cayman, 2013
- CayCompass, news, Cayman, 2013
- Cayman News Service, Cayman, 2013
- Royal Gazette, news, Bermuda 2013
- Select, review, Brazil, 2013
- El Pais, interview, Spain, 2013
- United Explanations, Spain, 2013
- 20 Minutos, review, Spain, 2013
- Libération, interview, France, 2014
- Wiener Zeitung, review, Austria, 2014
- derStandard, review, Austria, 2013
- E-24, news, Norway, 2013
- Iefimerida, news, Greece 2013
- Atlatszo, review, Hungary, 2013
- Delo, interview, Slovenia, 2014
- SIOL, interview, Slovenia, 2014
- SLO RTV, interview, Slovenia, 2014
- Espresso, interview, Italy, 2013
- Fatto Quotidiano, news, Italy, 2013
- Giornalettismo, news, Italy, 2013
- Arshake, review, Italy, 2013
- Polo democratico, Colombia, 2013
- Blouinartinfo, review, Germany, 2013
-
RebelArt, review, Germany, 2013
- Nerdcore, review, Germany, 2013
- Neoteo, review, Spain, 2013
- UOC, review, Spain, 2013
This artwork unveiled over 200,000 Cayman Islands companies to unsettle global financial machinations.
In Loophole for All, Cirio hacked the Cayman Islands government registry to leak names of thousands of firms incorporated in the country. Undermining the idea of having a company "on paper" in financial offshore centers, the website Loophole4All.com promoted the low-cost sale of real identities of anonymous Cayman companies in an ironic effort to democratize offshore businesses. This corporate identity theft was enabled by forging Certificates of Incorporation issued with the artist's real name and signature. This performance generated international media attention as well as outcry from Cayman Islands' authorities, international banking and law firms, individual owners of real companies, and PayPal. As part of the conceptual work, Cirio set up his own company in the City of London and took advantage of other jurisdictions to shield personal liability and revenues. Furthermore, the artist interviewed experts and produced a video documentary investigating offshore centers and envisioning solutions to global economic inequality. This intervention foreshadowed financial data breaches such as The Panama and Paradise Papers, which in the following years reshaped global politics.
This interventionist and controversial artwork revolved around the concept of Cirio’s legal scheme for the appropriation and exposure of financial secrecy. The provocative action and participatory model were integrated to engage the audience in a performance revealing and protesting the legal tax systems behind economic inequality.
In the offline art installation, the paper trail of the operation is displayed with prints of the counterfeited Certificates of Incorporation and the documents of the legal ploy utilized for the project which is illustrated by a single flowchart.
Selected pictures of installations at the following shows
CCC Strozzina, Florence; Aksioma, Ljubljana; MAK, Vienna; ZKM, Karlsruhe; HeK, Basel;
OKZentrum Ars Electronica, Linz; TENT, Rotterdam, Kunstverein, Kassel.
Video playlist
Awards
First Prize, Golden Nica, Interactive Art, Prix Ars Electronica, 2014, Linz - Austria
Nomination, Net Based Award, HeK, 2016, Basel - Switzerland
Nomination, Golden Cube Award, Dokfest, 2015, Kassel - Germany
Selected shows and presentations
Hybrids, exhibition at Onassis Cultural Center, 2016, Athens - Greece
Your Mind into a Brezel, exhibition at Kunstverein Neuhausen, 2016, Stuttgart - Germany
It's the Political Economy, Stupid, exhibition at DAAP Reed Gallery, 2016, Cincinnati - U.S.
32nd Kassel Documentary festival, exhibition at Kasseler Kunstverein, 2015, Kassel - Germany
Poetics and Politics of Data, exhibition at House of Electronic Arts, 2015, Basel - Switzerland
Secret, exhibition at Science Gallery, 2015, Dublin - Ireland
EMAF, exhibition at Kunsthalle Osnabrück, 2015, Osnabrück - Germany
After Transparency, Solo Show at Centre Culturel Bellegard, 2015, Toulouse - France
It's The Political Economy, Stupid, exhibition at DAAP Galleries, 2015, Cincinnati - U.S.
C what it takes to change, exhibition and lecture at Ars Electronica, 2014, Linz - Austria
The Value of Nothing, exhibition at TENT, 2014, Rotterdam - Netherlands
Loophole for All, solo show at Aksioma | Project Space. 2014. Ljubljana - Slovenia
It's The Political Economy, Stupid, exhibition at Galerija Nova, 2014, Zagreb - Croatia
Global aCtIVISm, exhibition at ZKM, 2013, Karlsruhe - Germany
Unstable Territories, at Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina, 2013, Florence, Italy
Out of The Box, exhibition at MAK, Museum for Applied Arts, 2013, Vienna - Austria
Jurisdiction Shopping, solo show exhibition at Kasa Gallery,
2013, Istanbul - Turkey
Decoding the Flow, online exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Cuts,
2013, London - UK
Symposium Technologies Social Innovationat, Echegaray Theatret, 2013, Malaga - Spain
Cultural Hijack: Rethinking Intervention at Architectural Association, 2013, London - UK
It's The Political Economy, Stupid, Center Cultural Decontamination, 2013, Belgrade - Serbia
It's The Political Economy, Stupid, Gallery 400, UIC, 2013, Chicago - U.S.
Selected bibliographyThe great off-shore, Book, Interview, UV Éditions, France, 2021, ISBN 9782956275350Financial True Crime, Art History, Journal, Review, Wiley, U.K., 2021, Vol. 44; Issue 2Arte y copyright, Book, CSIC, Spain, 2020, ISBN 9788400106324FLOWCHARTS, Systems of Systems, Artist Monograph, Lulu, U.S., 2019, ISBN 9780359616718Art Beyond Digital, Book, Link Editions, Italy, 2018, ISBN 9780244085926L'art au-delà du digital, Book, Scala, France, 2018, ISBN 9782359881974Art After Money, Money After Art, Book, Review, Pluto Press, UK, 2018, ISBN 9780745338248Screening Economies, Book, Interview, Transcript, Germany, 2018, ISBN 9783837645279Art in the Age of Financial Crisis, Visual Resources, Journal, Interview, Taylor & Francis, UK, 2018, Vol. 34Culture Jamming, Book, Interview, NYU Press, U.S., 2017, ISBN 147987972XEssays on the Culture of Software, Book, Review, John Wiley & Sons, UK, 2017, ISBN 1509517197The Art of Paolo Cirio, Theory Culture & Society, Journal, Review, Sage, UK, 2017, ISSN: 0263-2764AFK. Texts on Artists, Book, Review, Lulu, Italy, 2016, ISBN 1326892924The Art of Being Many, Book, Review, Verlag, Germany, 2016, ISBN 3839433134Social Algorithm Art, Catalog, Peter Niemann, Text to the World, Germany, 2016, Issue N.16Diagrams & Algorithms, Finance & Society, Journal, University of Edinburgh, UK, 2016, Vol 2, No 2Irony, Katalog, Catalog, European Media Festival, Germany, 2015, ISBN 9783926501264Global Activism, ZKM, Catalog, MIT Press, Germany, 2015, ISBN 9780262526890Red Art, Book, Leonardo, UK, 2014, Volume 20 Issue 1, ISBN 9781906897284CAAC, Book, Castilla La Mancha, Spain, 2014, ISBN 9788490442357Out of the Box, Catalog, Universitat fur angewande Kunst Wien, Austria, 2014, ISBN 9783200033825C..What it takes to change, Catalog, Hatje Cantz, Austria, 2014, ISBN 9783775738491Kunstbulletin, Magazine, Switzerland, 2014, Issue 1/3Cybercrusaders, ArtAsiaPacific, Magazine, Review, Hong Kong, March/April 2014, Issue 87à un clic du paradis , Libération, Newspaper, France, 2014Sobotna Priloga, Delo, neswpaper, Slovenia, 2014, Jan. 25thDisrupting Business - DATA browser 05, Book, Autonomedia, U.S., 2013, ISBN 9781570272646Territori instabili/Unstable Territory, Catalog, Mandragora, Italy, 2013, ISBN 9788874612147EL PAÍS, Newspaper, Spain, March 14th 2013
| A few thousand Caymans companies on paper |
| Certificate of incorporation of Paolo Cirio Ltd. in the City of London, UK |
| Letter of notification of frozen PayPal account from Luxemburg |
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