I’D RATHER WORK THAN TAKE A BREAK

75x50 cm, 2019
Photo, Edition 5 + 1AP

On and on until the body gives in. Burnout.
In a world in which everyone has to be maximally efficient
and function without respite,
the artist visualizes physical borders relentlessly.

WAITING ON COMMANDS
75x56 cm, photo 2019
Edition 1/5 + 1AP

FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS
75x56 cm, photo 2019
Edition 1/5 + 1AP

I RATHER WORK THAN TAKE A BREAK

Video installation consisting of 7 videos Edition 1/5 + 1AP

In the video installation,
‘I’d rather work than take a break’ we find visions of a dystopian reality.
Seven film works are embedded in a spatial concept.
They are conceived as a series on loop.
From each video, a sound is released which together
with the others creates a symphonic sound
in the room. The atmospheric sounds, which are between
the digital and mechanical aesthetics
create an oppressive effect.
You can see a man and 2 women,
which run mechanically through sterile, geometric rooms.
They strive to go higher, yet have no concrete goal.
Regardless, they go on. Without a plan, with
a directed step. The movements appear mechanical and fragmented.
They resemble cyborgs:
creatures that are half human, half machine.
A female body gives up eventually, breaks together
and lies motionless, while an automated voice deconstructs the words:
‘I’d rather work than take
a break’. It refers to the term ‘working poor’,
which describes people that, although they have
paid work, live under an existential minimum.
All three characters seem caught in a labyrinth
in which they have to function.
The spatial concept corresponds with the Panopticon1
from Jeremy Bentham, which describes the design of
a penal and surveillance institution.
The visitors are brought into the position of the supervisors while,
the nearly life sized projection, one is
reminded how quickly they themselves can be caught
in this labyrinth and turned into a cog in
this system.

1 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon (21.05.2019)

I RATHER WORK THAN TAKE A BREAK, Video installation, Video Stills, Video 1-6

SCULPTUR / COSTUME, plastic and fabrik