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Pollux's Spears

Pollux's Spears SARAH NICHOLS It soon became clear to me that it was impossible to render understandable the concentration and interconnections, in other words the anatomy of imperialism, without using the graphical method of which I became one of the rare specialists worldwide. Cement is the binding agent for concrete. A homogenous, low- value, perishable bulk commodity, it is the constant in reinforced concrete. But a trio of graphics, published in 1946, depicts it as another sort of binder, one gluing a whole swath of the build- ing material industry into a conglomerate. An array of building materials is shown framed by cement—or, rather, by the network of companies that produce it. The three graphics are the center- piece of an exposé titled The Cement and Building Material Trust published under the pseudonym “Pollux,” after the mytho- logical twin, positioning the unmasking of corporate-political power structures as a heroic act. At the time of publication, the author’s real identity remained unknown. The Swiss conserv- ative press doggedly attacked Pollux’s work and attempted to smear any number of figures by accusing them of being behind the moniker. Finally in 1953, with palpable satisfaction, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung unmasked Pollux, revealing that while http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Grey Room MIT Press

Pollux's Spears

Nichols, Sarah
Grey Room : 15 – Jun 1, 2018
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Publisher
MIT Press
Copyright
Copyright © MIT Press
ISSN
1526-3819
eISSN
1536-0105
DOI
10.1162/grey_a_00246
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Abstract

SARAH NICHOLS It soon became clear to me that it was impossible to render understandable the concentration and interconnections, in other words the anatomy of imperialism, without using the graphical method of which I became one of the rare specialists worldwide. Cement is the binding agent for concrete. A homogenous, low- value, perishable bulk commodity, it is the constant in reinforced concrete. But a trio of graphics, published in 1946, depicts it as another sort of binder, one gluing a whole swath of the build- ing material industry into a conglomerate. An array of building materials is shown framed by cement—or, rather, by the network of companies that produce it. The three graphics are the center- piece of an exposé titled The Cement and Building Material Trust published under the pseudonym “Pollux,” after the mytho- logical twin, positioning the unmasking of corporate-political power structures as a heroic act. At the time of publication, the author’s real identity remained unknown. The Swiss conserv- ative press doggedly attacked Pollux’s work and attempted to smear any number of figures by accusing them of being behind the moniker. Finally in 1953, with palpable satisfaction, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung unmasked Pollux, revealing that while

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Grey Room – MIT Press

Published: Jun 1, 2018

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