4. Define the concept of Mercantillism and explain how these two examples can connect with the concept.

Mercantilism was an economic theory based on several ideas during the 16-18th century. Economic assets and interest in the wealth of nations were measured by how much silver and gold they had. The main interest was that there were more exports than imports and the commodities lying within trade was controlled carefully by the government; this was to increase the wealth of the nation with additional profits. The concept of Mercantilism was to seek economic wealth which would be considered unbalanced in the long run. These artworks relate to 'currency', which is the leading concept of Mercantilism. Money is seen as a part of our lives because we are unable to live without it in modern society and what Kruger is trying to send to the audience is that we need to spend money in a more efficient way. She focuses on consumerism and this connects well with the concept of Mercantilism. The issue with Mercantilism was that any mercantile nation was 'consuming' too much bullion and wealth into one nation; therefore an unbalance occurred with the accumulative nature of profit, meaning it would not and did not last forever.  For a time period after the Mercantile system had developed into new revolutions those previous nations had struggled to keep the wealth of society accumulative and well.


References-http://caraphillips.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/barbara-kruger/
-The Comlumbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. (2005) Mercantilism. Retrieved Feb 11, 2006, from: http://www.bartleby.com/65/me/mercanti.html