When does work start and end in postartistic times? Initiated by Jenny Richards and Sophie Hope, Manual Labours is a long-term research project exploring people’s physical relationships to work. It tracks the narrative of labor from the factory line to its position within current modes of work in so- called late capitalism, and reasserts the significance of cognitive, affective, and emotional labor – wrongly deemed as “immaterial”– in such sectors as administration, finance, academia, arts, and services. The basic premises of making use are reflected in the group’s practice of self-reflective research. They have adopted various artistic competences in the form of performative investigations, participatory projects, reading groups, and community discussions. In this regard, the group exemplifies cross-pollination between artistic methodologies, workers’ inquiry, and critical management studies. To summarize their research, Manual Labours has produced several issues of Manual Labours Manual, printed by AND Publishing in London and available in electronic form on group’s web page. “Office Yoga,” presented in the open office space, is an excerpt of one of these publications. Manual Labours is supported by the Centre for Media, Culture, and Creative Practice, Birkbeck University, in London.
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