isolation

in an essay on free time, philosopher theodor adorno once wrote, not without a certain pride: “i have no hobbies”. for adorno, hobbies and leisure were only thinkable as the outside of capitalist labor time, that is, the outside that serves to sustain that labor time, in other words, leisure is mostly invested in the reproduction of labor power. (here a gap can be bridged with feminisms such as that of federici and others who assert that the reproductive labor women do in their supposed “leisure time” should be acknowledged and valued as work proper.) adorno writes about how several hobbies, such as sports, serve to subject workers more strictly to the disciplinary demands of capitalist labor. for himself, as an intellectual worker, adorno suggests that everything and nothing is work: reading, relaxing, listening to music. weirdly enough, many of us, intellectual as well as physical laborers, have now inherited this condition (without the elitism, but also without having much say about it). with the reorganization of work and time, the boundaries of work and leisure become increasingly blurred, and many of us indeed do not have any hobbies – this is the case for domestic workers, expected to be on call 24/7, as it is (despite the clear differences in class and often social economic conditions) for flex-working freelancers.

olympic glimpse

Posted on 11/11/2012 by marc

name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / day: wednesday / reference: in the middle of the city, there was the glimpse of the olympic ring.

97 HOUSE MAIDS

Posted on 30/01/2012 by marc

name: daniela / age: – / profession: artist / location: barcelona / weekday: thursday / reference: 97 selected photographs showing groups of Peruvian high class people in daily domestic situations. In the background of each image one can see either a figure or a deletion of a domestic worker. All images have been collected from the social network site Facebook. Project by Daniela Ortiz.

Breaking Walls

Posted on 09/01/2012 by marc

name: pilar / age: 51 / profession: architect / location: castellón / weekday: sunday / reference: Finally, I have decided to open my kitchen, my prison. Using the hammer, I felt my freedom was beginning. Photo taken in Castellón, 1993.

Front and Back view

Posted on 28/12/2011 by marc

name: Sabine / age: 26 / profession: artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: tuesday / reference: Safe-room models

alone in the kitchen

Posted on 09/01/2012 by marc

name: pilar / age: 51 / profession: architect / location: castellón / weekday: saturday / reference: After lunch, I hate staying alone in my dark little kitchen, making coffee and doing the washing up. Everybody is laughing in the dining room. 3 metres corridor, my unhappiness. Castellón, 1995.