This performance joined two usually distinct temporal structures: the dramatic narrative time of the theatre and the durational, cumulative time of the museum or gallery installation. The broad effect was a two-hour collage of the emotion, cacophony and tension facing workers in contemporary market economies. Performers in anonymous plastic masks assembled a conveyor belt across the performance space. Twelve video monitors displayed hands working at a variety of tasks. Props, machinery and people advanced down the belt. A young woman, dressed for success, entered an office for a job interview; an older woman dressed as a custodian offered wry commentary, labor statistics and marxist theory; a man and a woman rapidly dressed in dozens of work uniforms, from cowboy outfits to business suits to firefighting gear. By the end of the performance, the young applicant was humiliated and rejected while the interviewer found himself physically trapped behind his desk. The elongated space generated very different experiences for the spectators seated along its length, with some exposed more to the dramatic events while others were closer to the ongoing task activity. The dramatic interview narrative illustrated the specific abuses encouraged by the current organization of labor and capital, while the repetitious task performances evoked the monotonous, anti-dramatic drudgery facing so many who "succeed" within that system.

 

INSTALLATION/PERFORMANCE

Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, IL

Franklin Furnace, New York, NY

DOCUMENTATION

Exhibition of Recent Work, Art Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

 

CATALOGUE

Deep Dish Network Directory

Wisconsin Triennial

 

PRESS

Accept the Next Job Offer You Get, Craig Werner, Self-published Monograph

Laurie Beth Clark: Accept the Next Job Offer You Get, High Performance Photo, Chicago Reader

 

RADIO

Sunday Afternoon Live from the Elvehjem, WHA-FM

 

PRINCIPLE COLLABORATORS

Developed in Collaboration with Dalida Maria Benfield, Rosemary Bodolay, Charlotte Cummings, Andrew Roberts Gray, Tom Jones, Helen Klebesadel, Kathi Kozlowski, Liz Loring, Pat Miller, Lois Nowicki, Patricia Ohanian, Patrick O'Leary, David Robkin, Jane Thimke, Kristine Woods

 

Videography by Matthew Konicek

 

Edited with Clark Thompson

 

AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Video, 41 Minutes

Video, 28 Minutes

Video, Ten One-Minute Clips