#1

#1
2016-2017
130 ceramic mugs
Each 12cm x 8cm, overall dimensions 204cm x 116cm
Edition of 6 + 2 AP

Billionaires—the crème de la crème of a society in which money is the principal gauge of success.

#1 presents 130 of the world’s 1,810 billionaires in the congratulatory style of #1 Dad mugs found in cheap gift shops. The work is the product of obsessive online surfing and the desire to order and rearrange the seemingly endless amount of information available online. 2016 was another record year for wealth; however, this was the aggregate net worth of the world’s richest people—the billionaires—not the public. This is undoubtedly the future of capitalism as, according to French economist Thomas Piketty, there’s a simple equation to explain the rise in wealth inequity: r > g. The rate of return for owned capital (r) exceeds the overall rate of economic growth (g). Thus, those who control wealth will accumulate it at a faster rate than the economy can produce it. The plutocratic rich, who influence the economy and society, will get proportionally richer, while the poor will get proportionally poorer. #1 attempts to flip the celebratory logic of wealth on its head and give a middle finger to neoliberalism—an economic system that values greed, self-interest, and extreme personal wealth.

15 of the 130 sampled billionaires, or 11%, are current or former Presidents, Prime Ministers, Governors, Members of Parliament, Ministers, Senators, and Mayors—and this doesn’t include their lobbying activities. Thus, it is no surprise that politicians, on both sides of the political spectrum, are thoroughly committed to the capitalist status quo. They don’t represent the people who elected them; rather, they bow to the bidding of the big banks, the financial institutions, and the multinational corporations that the extremely privileged few control. The reality of the situation, and the fact that those with money rule, was made evident in a Perspectives on Politics article by Professor Martin Gilens from Princeton University and Professor Benjamin Page from Northwest University. They analysed 1,779 policy outcomes over a 20-year period to answer a simple question: does the government represent the people? They concluded, “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence”. Strictly speaking, politicians literally don’t care what their constituents think or want; instead, they listen to the rich and powerful, who don’t want to pay their fair share of tax, yet demand billions in subsidies and support from taxpayers. In the age of austerity, it’s socialism for the rich, and sink-or-swim capitalism for the rest of humanity.

Detailed view:Kailum-Graves-Number-One-Detailed-View
The American Dream:

#1 Person Mug

 

The 130 sampled billionaires are:
1. Ajay Piramal
2. Al-Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud
3. Alexandre Soares dos Santos
4. Ali Ibrahim Agaoglu
5. Anand Mahindra
6. Andrea Della Valle
7. Andrej Babis
8. Belmiro Mendes de Azevedo
9. Bernard Charles “Bernie” Ecclestone
10. Bidzina Ivanishvili
11. Charles William “Charlie” Ergen
12. Christopher James “Chris” Christie
13. Ciputra
14. Clemens Toennies
15. Daniel Marc Snyder
16. David Joel Stern
17. David M. Einhorn
18. Denis O’Brien
19. Dermot Desmond
20. Dhanin Chearavanont
21. Diego Della Valle
22. Dietmar Hopp
23. Donald John Trump
24. Eric Emerson Schmidt
25. Florentino Eduardo Pérez Rodríguez
26. Frank Lowy
27. Frank Stronach
28. George Soros
29. Gregorio Perez Companc
30. Gustavo A. Cisneros Rendiles
31. Guy Laliberte
32. Hansjörg Wyss
33. Helen Robson Kemper Walton
34. Henry Ross Perot
35. Herbert Vollrath Kohler Jr.
36. Hortensia Herrero Chacón
37. Ian Clark Wood
38. Ingvar Feodor Kamprad
39. Ion Țiriac
40. Jack Dorsey
41. Jack Ma
42. Jaime Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos
43. James Dyson
44. Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej
45. Jaran Chiaravanont
46. Jean Coutu
47. Jeff Greene
48. Jerral Wayne “Jerry” Jones Sr.
49. Jia Yueting
50. John A. Catsimatidis
51. John Patrick Grayken
52. Juan-Miguel Villar Mir
53. Keith Rupert Murdoch
54. Kenneth Gerard Langone Sr.
55. Kieu Hoang
56. Kim Taek-Jin
57. Kirill Nikolayevich Shamalov
58. Kuok Khoon Hong
59. Kushal Pal Singh
60. Lawrence Joseph “Larry” Ellison
61. Leon G. “Lee” Cooperman
62. Leonid Arnoldovich Fedun
63. Li Hejun
64. Li Ka-shing
65. Li Shufu
66. Lirio Parisotto
67. Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Giménez
68. Manuel “Manny” Bamba Villar Jr.
69. Marc Russell Benioff
70. Margaret Cushing “Meg” Whitman
71. Maria-Elisabeth- Schaeffler
72. Mark Cuban
73. Mark Walter
74. Martin Viessmann
75. Masayoshi Son
76. Massimo Moratti
77. Michael Jeffrey Jordan
78. Michael Rubens “Mike” Bloomberg
79. Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov
80. Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed
81. Mohammed Dewji
82. Naguib Onsi Sawiris
83. Odd Reitan
84. Oprah Gail Winfrey
85. Patrick G. Ryan
86. Patrick Soon-Shiong
87. Paul Elliott Singer
88. Peggy Cherng
89. Peter Spuhler
90. Petr Kellner
91. Pierre Morad Omidyar
92. Pierre Papillaud
93. Prem Watsa
94. Reinhold Würth
95. Richard Charles Nicholas Branson
96. Richard LeFrak
97. Robert Citrone
98. Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III
99. Robert Kenneth Kraft
100. Robin Li
101. Roger S. Penske
102. Saad Al-Hariri
103. Samuel “Sam” Zell
104. Sanjiv Goenka
105. Sebastián Piñera
106. Shahid Khan
107. Sheldon Gary Adelson
108. Sheryl Kara Sandberg
109. Silvio Berlusconi
110. Stephen Alan “Steve” Wynn
111. Steven Allan Spielberg
112. Steven Anthony “Steve” Ballmer
113. Sumner Murray Redstone
114. Tan Sri Dato’ Lee Shin Cheng
115. Terrence M. “Terry” Pegula
116. Terry Gou
117. Thaksin Shinawatra
118. Thomas Fahr “Tom” Steyer
119. Tom Gores
120. Travis Cordell Kalanick
121. Wang Jianlin
122. William Albert “Bill” Ackman
123. William Henry “Bill” Gates III
124. William Hunt “Bill” Gross
125. Wolfgang Leitner
126. Xu Jingren
127. Yevgeny Kaspersky
128. Yusaku Maezawa
129. Zong Qinghou
130. ZygmuntSolorz-Żak