Finance meets nostalgia

FinanceSketch stimulates reflection about the nature of financial visualization. This cyber object is based on the contraposition of two concepts: the Etch-a-Sketch™, a popular toy among children aged 12 and under during the 1980s; and real-time stock price charts, as used in stock markets around the world. This dichotomy is reflected both in the object’s name and technology: a nearly-obsolete wheel interface, pitted against contemporary financial visualization techniques.

The installation consists on several individual FinanceSketch units, each of them comprised of the toy red screen, a computer and several connecting devices. The screen is connected to a computer to receive live stock price data feed from the Internet. Stock prices are then mechanically displayed on the screen with a microcontroller and two high-precision step-motors that guide the knobs.

The complete installation clusters together several FinanceSketch units, reconstructing a symbolic trading room. The result emphasizes several aspects of the abstract, high-volume information synthesized every day in the capital markets. The toy-like nature of the screens draws attention to the playfulness and creativity involved in the elaborate displays used by Wall Street traders. It recalls the ephemeral nature of stock prices. Just as Etch-a-Sketch™ drawings disappear for good whenever the board is deleted, the capital markets operate on a flow of events and price changes with “continuous refresh”. FinanceSketch, in short, underscores the technological and material nature of the world’s financial markets.

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