“We have gathered you all here precisely because you all work differently. It’s an opportunity to have a conversation from your unique perspectives and diverse ways of working; and address some of the questions that were raised in the symposium yesterday… the invisibility of labor, the future of work and compensation, our social contracts and how they can be changed… but also, as you get to know one another, to consider the possibility of collaboration in the future.”
—Ellen Rothenberg and Daniel Eisenberg, opening address to working group participants
On day two of the symposium, presenters, guests, and researchers from the arts, social sciences, and humanities came together to workshop proposal ideas for the Re:Working Labor exhibition. Working groups were provided with a series of questions, as well as invited to create their own, as a means of starting a dialogue around the topic of labor and their respective practices.
Morning Session
All Re:Working Labor Symposium photos are courtesy of Grace Duval 2018
During the morning session, groups were asked to consider the following questions:
- What intrigues you about the working methods of some of the people in your group?
- In what ways have you expanded or considered extending your own working methods?
- What critical issues were raised during Friday’s presentation that you feel need elaboration?
- What issues were not addressed that you feel must be addressed?
- What are the urgent issues concerning labor and work from your perspective?
Afternoon Session
In the afternoon, groups shifted their focus towards the following:
- How can we represent the future possibilities of work?
- Are there historical issues that need to be brought to light in relation to contemporary issues?
- As we’re moving towards exhibition and publication, how might we reconsider these two forms and formats? What other forms, locations, venues, and structures, should we be considering?
- What are possibilities for an expanded audience, wider sharing, and impact?
- Which audiences should we be looking to reach, and how might we involve them?
