Original artwork description:

128x192 cm (each panel 64x84cm) | Filler, oak panels, dowel pins, wool yarn, dried roses

In this work, I made two drawings simultaneously in wet filler while the panels were placed on the floor: one with my feet wearing plastic clogs (sabot in French) and the other with a long stick. The finished work connects the stick drawing with wool yarn in a loose weaving pattern attached to the sides of the panels. Three dried roses hang from the top edge.

This work was done during a residency at Fossekleiva Culture Centre, located in old factory buildings in the village of Berger, which once had a significant textile industry.

This work expresses labour as a force of nature, entrapped and harnessed by the capitalist structure. It also hints at the gradual betrayal of the workers' movement by the trade unions and the labour parties.

While doing this work, I've been thinking about the subject's relationship to work – to its function in the economic structure as labour. The usual view is that the struggle for power takes place along a dividing line, with the workers on one side and the employer on the other. However, the employer's function is more integrated into his subject than is the case with the worker. There is a split, or alienation, in the worker between his function in the workplace and his experience as a subject. The worker stands at the intersection of the power struggle, with the employer on one side and his position as a subject on the other. The struggle for economic power in society thus takes place within the subject as worker, not between worker and employer.

I wanted to explore the duality of the worker's loyalty and function. On one hand, there is a loyalty to the workplace's needs, which is often at odds with the worker's personal needs. This conflict underscores the interdependence and incompatibility of these two aspects. On the other hand, the worker's function, which the employer can exploit, also holds a liberating force concerning other workers. This duality suggests that only through unity can the inherent alienation within each worker be overcome.

Materials used:

Filler, oak panels, dowel pins, wool yarn, dried roses

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