Anne Boyer Rip-Off, 2025
I am not working when I write applications, check my emails, pick up Astri from kindergarten, speak on the phone, fill out paperwork, check my social media, witness genocide, buy groceries, do my laundry, talk to friends, read the news, listen to the radio, look for that file, cut my nails, have a cigarette. I am not working when I dance, read a book, think about Anne Boyer, indulge in despair, wait for that email thinking it will contain bad news, think about death, colonialism, racism and how to get rid of fascism without using fascist methods, nor when I brood over the past, wonder whether I wrote already such a text before, look through my notes to check if that is the case, find out that it reads:
I am not working when I sell my labour-power, when I buy, when I smoke, when I cook, when I eat. I am not working when I sleep, nor when I wake up, make breakfast, prepare my daughter’s lunchbox, take her to school, I am not working when I am on the subway, at the bar, at the lecture, at the gallery, on the plane, on the beach, I am not working when I read the newspaper nor when I reply emails. I am not working when I think about work rather than working on something. I am not working when I believe I am actually onto something, then change my mind realising it was a crappy idea. Nor when I type this list on my mobile, the glass of which I just noticed got cracked.
I am certainly not working when, instead of working, I ponder over the fact that perhaps a part of that could actually be considered work, and suddenly realise I am running late to pick up my daughter from kindergarten. I am not working when I get back to this text and realise it sounds depressing, nor when I justify it by thinking I am merely describing how processes of production and consumption influence my daily life and my perception of time, and if it sounds depressing, so be it, please blame someone else.
On a positive note, I am working now, when writing and editing this text, and I will be working when I will translate it into an artistic form, suitable to be presented in some upcoming exhibition. But the bottom line remains the same: up until now and for the foreseeable future, I’ll still have to spend most of my time dealing with not-working.
See also:
- Wassily Chair Replicas Society, 2025