by Naadira Patel
Welcome to the Future of Work presents a brief reflection on ideas, trends, frustrations, and conflicts we find ourselves weaving through in conversations on work, labour, care, and exhaustion. The list presented here is an extended version of a text that was read out during the Exhaustion panel discussion held on Thursday, 15 September 2022, at LAPA, in Brixton.
there’s work
then there’s work
then there’s working
and making work
but also working it out
or just trying to make it work
there’s
work work
and studio work
and job work
hard work
the work we do for others
and some work you do for yourself
new work
old work
some other work
money work
and all the other work in between that’s not labelled work but technically is
the repair work
the healing work
the ground work
we’re working all the time
or none of the time
working on making it work
working to make things easier
softer
working through a great resignation
working out how to make work better
for ourselves
to find ourselves in between our many selves,
on shifting ground,
amidst shifting trends
constantly questioning,
if we are the work we do
in a world where work is shifting
holding things together, barely
stitching, repairing, gluing,
holding fast
trying to make things work
notes on levels of performance and productivity
performing
under performing
over performing
ideally performing
sort of performing
mostly performing
not really performing
not performing at all
highly performing
performing adequately
performing despite
performing optimally
performing in spite of
performing in light of
performing well
performing poorly
performing just right
performing okay
peak performance
standard performance
ideal performance
barely functioning
mostly actually procrastinatin
Naadira Patel can be found on Instagram
@naadirapatel____,
@softwork.studio
