The colours of works – paintings, objects, sculpture or new media such as installations, give rise to various associations and emotions. They may also refer us to economics, the main topic of this issue of ‘MOCAK Forum’. Green banknotes are associated with dollars, red with the Soviet rouble, although not only. But what kind of shades do banks have?

The work of Natasha Peel, author of the educational insert in the sixth issue of ‘MOCAK Forum’, offers a partial answer to this question. This young artist of Russian origin creates simple, geometric forms, using a limited colour palette of blue (two shades), red and grey.

At the first glance, Natasha Peel’s work reminds us of 20^th century Russian constructivism. However, despite the seemingly funny forms, these works are hardly meant for children. Each colour alludes to the logo of a different bank from the London stock exchange, a global player and a negative hero of the recent financial crisis. The minimalist form, the spare use of colours and their fragile balance may be associated with the unstable situation at the global financial markets. It is like a game for children with a very serious stake: not just profit or economic development but also the fates of millions of people.

The educational insert designed by Natasha Peel is both a conceptual and creative task. It encourages readers to create a work in which they will provide the colours of economics with their own meaning. In addition, the ‘Heaven or Hell’ origami form introduces a new, deeper and more universal context of a struggle between the good and the evil, between salvation and damnation.

Kinga Lubowiecka (b. 1988) – graduate of fine arts, University of Oxford. Worked at Peggy Guggenheim in Venice, Modern Art Oxford and Ashmolean in Oxford. At MOCAK, she works as an educational specialist.

Natasha Peel was born in 1990 in Mari El, Russia. In 2011, she graduated from fine arts at the University of Oxford. In 2012, she was included in the New Sensations exhibition at the Victoria House in London. In April 2013, she presented her works at a group exhibition New Order: British Art Today in Saatchi Gallery in London.