Performance Andrew Newman: The Old in out in out (#faceless)

Andrew Newman mimt in der Performance “The Old in out in out” die Rolle eines gesichtslosen Bürokraten, der Wissensarbeit macht. Er legt buchstäblich Wert auf leere Blätter indem er sie abstempelt und sie wahllos in Postein- und ausgängen verschiebt. Aus seiner Aktion wird klar, dass Newman nichts Brauchbares macht; ein „fauler Vermögenswert“, der liquidierenswürdig wäre. (in Kooperation mit der Ausstellung “Faceless” und Artistic Technology Research der Universität für Angewandte Kunst, Wien)

Australian artist Andrew Newman performs as a faceless knowledge worker, questioning the value work has often as the primary signifier of existence.

An old song by Randy Dougherty outlines the conditions for the good life; “Lucky, lucky, lucky me, I’m a lucky son of a gun. I work eight hours, sleep eight hours, that leaves eight hours of fun.” The simple division of one’s time into these segments provides the standard model for our existence. There is an important structural distinction that can be applied to demarcate our hours of work and fun however. Work can be defined as the time during which one’s productive output undergoes a ‘value adding’. For the majority, workers employed in a traditional workplace, from the time one arrives at work to the time they leave their productivity is financially remunerated. This remuneration elevates work to a primary status in our existence. When one is asked by a new acquaintance “what do you do?” it is immediately understood by both parties that the question pertains to one’s occupation rather than everything that they actually do. Questions of doing lie at the heart of Andrew Newman’s performance “The Old In Out In Out”. What value do the repetitive actions of the faceless knowledge worker have outside the market?

www.anewman.net