A series of video / performance works that use the division of labour model in capitalism as a structural tool for performance.

An advertisement was placed in the local employment classifieds for participants who would be willing to be recorded undertaking a simple task for the duration of seven hours (two sessions of 3.5 hrs). No information was offered about the context of the work, its purpose or how it was going to be used. Participants were paid the minimum wage (as discussed with Fair Work Australia). They were asked to sign a release form upon completion of the days work and were subsequently informed about the project. The videos of five participants were selected to compile a 35hr video work that references the length of a working week.
The Task given to the participants was to maintain a smile for a period of a working day (7 hours).
Participants were paid the minimum wage determined by Fair work Australia, plus a 21% loading, which amounted to a fee of $141.00 for the seven hours work. Office premises were rented allowing the recordings to occur  in a neutral space, thereby removing any associations with culture or art. 

The Division of labour work explores the idea of fulfilling a role through circumstance. In this case it is the role of the unsuspecting (non theatrical) performer driven by economic necessity. It raises the question that authenticity in performance cannot be achieved through a body that is aware of its role as performer. To bypass this awareness a division of labour model is used to isolate the worker / performer from the wider context of the action. Through this the participant is left with no signifiers to inform them of how to act or behave. The absence of context and purpose does not allow the participant to ascribe meaning to the task. In doing so it negates a familiarity of approach as well as removing any prescription of how the task should be executed. Participants are left alone to negotiate the action over time. The resulting recording consists of a candid performance where, over the duration / attrition of the seven hour day, the body and mind drift and struggle to maintain the financially driven smile.  

The Division of labour works are part of the larger Currency project that makes use of ideas and theories from Capitalism and economics to create art. Ethically, the resulting works skirt the fine line between exploitation and opportunity. They explore a consent that is offered through circumstance and, in doing so, raise the complexities associated with perceived freedom of choice in an environment guided by economic rationalism.

The work also references a style of performance art that requires a high level of conviction or motivation to execute. However in this situation the participant relies on an economic (as opposed to an artistic) imperative as motivation to complete the task.

For many years I have worked with the idea of the public as performer and this work is an extension of the early performance works carried out between 1994 and 2000.  The work was also influenced by Harun Farocki’s “Inextinguishable fire” and the works of Santiago Sierra,  however unlike Sierra’s performances the participants in The Division of labour videos are unaware of the purpose or context of their actions.

View Video Excerpt

Excerpt from Currency -Division of Labour
HD video, Dur 7hrs
2012


Excerpt from Currency -Division of Labour
HD video, Dur 7hrs
2012


Excerpt from Currency -Division of Labour
HD video, Dur 7hrs
2012