Recently, I was moved to make an ‘object’.
A pair of padded sleeves,
A white-collar shirt hanging by threads from them,
Half of a body-shell,
No head to bow,
No arms to rise,
No hands to shake,
No legs to stand on,
No eyes,
No mouth,
No voice,
No body
Nobody but a uniform…
The uniform is the institutional skin, which makes the disciplined body most intelligible. As a system of representation, it identifies a body’s specific function in a given institution and thus defines the behaviour of others. [1]
An apron, a lanyard, a polyester shirt with embroidered logo, a hairnet, a pinny, hospital clogs, a high-vis,…
A synthetic surface.
These are the uniforms that interest me.
These visual identities are a lens to how society conforms.
Tokens of low status with little to no power, I want to give weight to what hitches, pinches, to what marks the skin, to what hurts and is pulling them down, to make them fleshy totems that ‘unveil social mechanisms’.
[1] DILLER + SCOFIDIO – FLESH – ARCHITECTURAL PROBES – p.37
First in the series : NOT EVEN THE MINIMUM…
Not even the minimum…
For our time and maximum effort
Sure, influence and advantage are dividends for the ego,
A leverage for experience,
Not even the minimum
Not even 8 bob & 21 pennies for sixty minutes of our labour
Not even…
Time and effort are onerous,
A handicap in the long run
An albatross that hangs over
8lb 21 is heavy to wear
when hope is beyond reach
‘Not Even The Minimum’ is a work that presents the emotional weight of in-kind (unpaid) labour.
The minimum was set by an act of parliament, 22 years ago.
The rate then was £3.60 an hour. Today, it is £8.21.
Here, this number is represented in weight (Lb), each sleeve weighed down with 4lb 10 of sand.
‘It’s heavier than it looks’.