Gold fever
Plus the exhibitions looking to twist your melon
Starting this week, we’re trying out a slightly different format for the Monday issue. Instead of two ‘single article’ issues a week, we’re going to have a few shorter pieces on a Monday and then our usual longer form stuff in the middle of the week. We’re doing this based on some of the feedback you gave us in our survey last month, so let us know what you think in the comments or on our email.
Today we’re diving Scrooge McDuck style into London’s piles of gold, and looking at the latest evolution in the immersive experience trend.
Where the streets are paved with gold
That saying about the streets of London being paved with the shiny stuff comes from the tale of Dick Whittington and His Cat of course, and it’s likely that the weird flex was lifted from the Bible, in which the streets of New Jerusalem are described as being made of “pure gold”.
There is another theory though, and we have Ian Visits to thank for this one. In 2011 Ian speculated that the rumour might have come about thanks to the use of Iron Pyrite (aka fools gold) in the production of the aggregate that was “used to provide a solid road surface” in London.
Whatever the origin of the myth, it’s certainly true that there’s plenty of gold (and silver) under the streets of London. Just this week, Bloomberg went to try and explore the “secretive system of vaults” that hold the 44,000 tons of gold and silver required to back “exchange-traded funds” (a kind of financial product that’s become somewhat of a Reddit ‘meme stock’ recently):
By the way, we do know that there is another large “subterranean vault located in a deep basement under a JP Morgan building on John Carpenter Street,” near the Thames (and we only know that because someone accidentally left the address on a receipt in 2011).
Trillions of dollars worth of precious metals is traded every year in London’s bullion markets and not all of it is legit. There was another Bloomberg piece published last week that attempted to untangle the case of 34 million euros of gold that had belonged to the government of Guinea but which was seized as part of an international money laundering investigation. It’s a long and complex piece, but one thing comes across very clearly: the level of compliance surrounding London’s bullion markets is woeful.
With the cost of living going up and the value of the pound suffering, gold is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition, and not just for investment types. At the end of last week it was reported that financial firm, TallyMoney was offering to pay its employees in gold in order to “help them stay ahead of inflation”. So, a monthly salary “that was previously £4,000 would be defined as 82,000 tally gross – 82,000 milligrams of gold”.
London does seem a little gold crazy at the moment. On Friday the British Library’s new exhibition opens, showcasing “some of the most luxurious illuminated manuscripts, sacred texts and scrolls” in the library's collection. The exhibition is titled simply Gold and is being sponsored by BullionVault, “the world's largest online investment gold service taking care of $3.8 billion for more than 100,000 users”.
P.S. While we’re talking about Bloomberg we should mention that the company has a new podcast called In The City, which promises to go “behind the scenes in the Square Mile and the wider metropolis.”
Coming up on Wednesday… 💰
In our mid-week issue we’ll be talking to author Caroline Knowles about her new book Serious Money - Walking Plutocratic London and asking her just how rich London’s super rich are, and how their wealth effects the daily lives of all us little people.
If you want to read that and all the other ‘subscriber only’ articles in our archives (including this one on London’s oligarchs and their connections to the government) then you can subscribe for just £5 a month:
Do we sense a trend?
The immersive craze has gone from film and theatre (thanks to Punchdrunk and Secret Cinema), to art (via Van Gogh, Monet and Klimt among many others). But now we’re seeing another interactive trend rising; one that wants to get in your head and start playing around with your brain chemistry.
The pseudo-psychedelic Dreammachine (as featured in our recent festivals issue) is based on an idea by the writer and artist Bryon Gysin (of whom William Burroughs said “he’s the only man I've ever respected”) and involved philosophers, sound designers and neuroscientists in its creation.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the doors opened on Weird Sensation Feels Good at the Design Museum, an exhibition which promises to immerse you in “the world of ASMR in a shared space”. The museum has been kitted out with a huge lounging area made of 1km worth of pillows, where visitors are encouraged to nap. The Standard gave the show four stars but did admit that it veers towards “creepy” at times.
And then of course, there’s Dopamine Land, which just opened at 79-85 Old Brompton Road. It’s billed as a “multisensory, immersive experience that channels the limitless imagination of your inner child,” but is really just an excuse for adults to play ‘the ground is lava’ and engage in pillow fights because… you know… science. One review has already called it “a tad cheap and flimsy” and we can’t say we’re surprised.
We look forward to The Interactive Milgram Experiment and the Multisensory Stanford Prison Experience coming to a venue near us soon.
5 little bits
Over the weekend two more cases of monkeypox were recorded in London. The Health Security Agency were quick to remind everyone that the disease “does not spread easily between people” and that “the overall risk to the general public remains very low.”
Last week, we told you about the visceral dislike many people have for 72 Upper Ground, the massive development slated for the South Bank site where the old ITV building currently sits. Well, it seems that dislike extends to the front benches, because last week Michael Gove issued an Article 31 notice, which prevents demolition from starting on the site (exactly as he did for the Marks & Spencer building on Oxford Street a few weeks ago).
“Young Londoners from underrepresented communities” will soon be working on films like Wicked and Fast X thanks to the Below-the-Line Traineeship scheme, which Sadiq announced while he was in Los Angeles last week.
While Sadiq’s new drug commission drew the big headlines last week, there was also the news that the mayor has commissioned a “group of rewilding experts…to bring nature back to the capital”. The plan includes turning parts of the Thames estuary into a “wetland teeming with wading birds and other wildlife,” as well as encouraging Londoners to bring nature into their gardens.
The new Netflix Resident Evil series takes place in a post-apocalyptic London, and the teaser (at around 30 seconds) seems to be paying homage to the famous Westminster Bridge shot in 28 Days Later: