The Layers from Capital by Noritoshi Hirakawa

The true nature of this so-called capitalism is colonialism (where the “self” exploits the “Other”), which was created by a systematic form of justification that had taken place on the surface structure; and like being in the art world, only when one sees what lies behind the aesthetic landscape, can one deduce the real essence of capitalism.

Capturing the tightly aligned architectural structures in the New York Financial District, which has been at the centre of capitalism worldwide for over 80 years, the photographs are an analysis of the true nature of this economic system at question. Capitalism was formed in the 17th Century by the Dutch and the English as a systematic means to plunder and destruct on foreign land during the shift from long-distance trade to colonial rule. The true nature of its external activities had been kept in disguise on the domestic front, while maintaining that their industry was an ethically acceptable form of capitalism (financial), and bearing its burden as the central figure in this system full of legitimized prosperity.

In other words, those who were considered to be “Other” (those deemed not human and the control of their land, as well as the desire to destroy and plunder) were replaced by the “self” (autonomy of the self that wants to believe, in response to the inhumanity towards the "Other," that they live in equal/universal existence), and the cruelty of this system that has been concealed has, in turn, come to be regarded fallibly as capitalism to the “self.” Therefore, for the “self,” the Financial District is the collectivity of its own self which holds such ethics. And it sees the rest of the world = the "Other" (market for desire) as an object of its id-instigated desire (or an extension of the “self”). While on the other hand, capitalism beguiles the “self” by emphasizing its capitalistic good will and supposed intentions in carrying out moralistic duties. The justification of those duties is reflected on the various facades of the structures that line the streets of the Financial District.

This series “The Layers from Capital” was initiated as a way to unveil the true identity of the conglomeration of these buildings that have come together in the name of capitalism over the centuries. The fragments of these raw everyday scenes deny the actual existence of this glorious economic system. In defying the true intention of this system, the main objective here is not to capture the structures in any aesthetically pleasing manner. But by showing dark shadows, as well as cars and constructions sites amongst the buildings, I intend to show, along with many other forces that strive to, the fragments of desire that are masked under the layers of capitalism.