SPARE TIME WORK [CANCELLED]

Can you ‘spend’ spare time? When is one a ‘big spender’? How do you ‘spend’ spare time? Is work something you love? What makes a good work-life balance? SPARE TIME WORK is an installation within which the collective buren constructs images, text and sound. Through poetic and political fantasies they reflect on the past and future of leisure and work.

The duo examines social realities and economic forces that affect the concepts of leisure and work. Mabesoone and Albrecht draw on their personal histories: Melissa grew up on a farm where the work was never done and the division of labour was based on gender. Oshin’s parents own a shoe shop on the Belgian coast and would use sales pitches and targeted services to attract holidaymakers.

In an associative and musical narrative, they link personal memories to the history of leisure activities and work, the evolution of women’s work and the representation of the (non)working woman in art history. Buren’s approach to constructing this performance is inspired by the complex relationships between master and servant, between dirt and beauty, joy and suffering, inside and outside, and between looking and being seen.

The duo buren have been navigating subjects such as community, domesticity, gender, (art) history and neoliberal fantasies. The makers approach these topics from different perspectives, with both irony and humour, and with forward-looking imagination.