The Gig Economy: A Group Show at the Boston Center for the Arts

Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, 2017; Photo: Melissa Blackall Photography. 

I just received my work back from the Boston Center for the Arts. Five pieces spent the late fall and early winter on display as a part of The Gig Economy: Depictions of Life and Responses to Work in the Digital Bazaar curated by Robert Moeller.

This juried exhibition looked critically at the relationship visual artists have to the rising "gig economy." As the spaces between work and play continuously blur, and each of us are expected to float from side hustle to side hustle, we never stop working. The Gig Economy show was an opportunity to portray and explore the emotional, economic, and truly disruptive nature of work based on this new technology-centered model. Responses ranged from depictions of micro-economies like bottle collecting and prostitution, to abstract assessments of smart technologies and digressions on connectivity and isolation. A pen is attached to a computer mouse and activities are mapped.

The statement for my own work in the show was this:

Our digital spaces often embody a view of our psyche that is raw and unfiltered. The devices we own are a physical representation of our thoughts, actions, and communications. Our work, entertainment, relationships, and experiences occur more often in a simulated sense of space, on our phones and computers. The ⌘ + SHIFT + 4 & SLEEP/WAKE + HOME series are gouache drawings on paper that reference the keys held to perform a screenshot on both Apple OSX and iPhone iOS. These snapshots show an honest and unfiltered viewpoint into our lived digital experiences. The flawed organizational methods of workflow - or lack thereof - playlists, email chains, all of the tabs, late-night notifications, and desktop clutter.

These places we exist in the virtual, often reflect our lived experiences in our homes. We arrange and attempt to create a space that aligns with a desirable version of ourselves. However, the desktop is one of the most clarifying spaces for highlighting the fragmented nature of our identity. Each open application, to a different conversation or google search, reflects a different train of thought and ultimately a different part of ourselves. The aesthetics of our computers allow us to hide the messiness of unsorted folders full of reaction images and files that we’re “going to sort later”. The clutter of late capitalism is inescapable in our digital lives. Yet, there are plenty of blogs encouraging digital minimalism, and our desire for that “Inbox Zero”.

The opposition that exists in digital spaces reflects back on us these unflinching realities of modernity. There are too many projects, too many side hustles, layer upon layer of meanings we assign to ourselves. Just like a playlist made for a lover, we attempt to showcase our desire through the works of others. Our desire is for a sense of self. We work through reaction images and memes as stand-ins for our own non-verbal cues, while using social platforms programmed by others to communicate an identity.

⌘ + SHIFT + 4 & SLEEP/WAKE + HOME show the lived experience of our new digital reality.

The above images and following installation shots are courtesy of Melissa Blackall Photography. 

Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, 2017; Photo: Melissa Blackall Photography. 

Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, 2017; Photo: Melissa Blackall Photography.