Art Route Venice
on occasion of La Biennale di Venezia, 56th International Art Exhibition
(Impressions from the press preview on 6 May)
9 May 2015

19th century photos of women workers, a wearable device for work measurement and 'Das Kapital' by Karl Marx

At the Central Pavilion at the Giardini (map), curator Okwui Enwezor created the literally 'live'ly heart of the Biennale Venice which runs this year under the title 'All the World's Futures'. The Central Pavilion is the 'Arena' where public discussions, music, and performances such as the live-readings of Karl Marx' 'Das Kapital' by actors under the direction of artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien happen alongside to the exhibition of sculptures, paintings, etc and installations such as the one by English conceptual artist and Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller who references historical and current working conditions.

fig.: 'The Shit Old Days' photo collection of female industrial workers from South-Wales of the mid-19th century is installed together with a wearable device by Motorola for measuring the performance of work. Artist Jeremy Deller researched for his work the archives until today and applied to the photographs and electronic device information from his studies: The photos were taken by William Clayton in the mid-19th century as response to a debate about the role of women as industry workers and the effects on domestic life; mentioned is the year 1865. The Motorola device WT4000 (2013) is used by retailers such as giant Amazon in warehouses to track orders and consequently to calculate the worker's performance - and when falling behind the expectations to send warnings.

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