How to wash your hands in molten metal

16mm film print
colour, silent, 7min 45sec loop, 2014


How to wash your hands in molten metal is based on Gibbs’ research into the Italian monk and mathematician, Luca Pacioli’s treatises on mathematics (Summa de arithmetica1494), and magic tricks (De viribus quantitatis, 1508). In this 16mm film, Gibbs translates the information of her own end of year financial statement into the hand gestures of the counting system registered in Pacioli’s publications to explore the connectedness of magic and money.

How to wash you hands in molten metal was shown was part of the three-person exhition, Let The Body Be Electric, Let There Be Whistleblowers with Ken Jacobs and Joachim Koester at Dan Gunn, Berlin. The exhibtion was curated by Anselm Franke and Heidi Ballet. 

View trailer




Camera / edit
Allison Gibbs

16mm process & print
DeJonghe, Belgium

Special thanks to Simon Wills Accountancy, Arbroath, Scotland.

Made with the support of
Hospitalfield, Arbroath
Creative Scotland