888 (2020)
Weighted single duvet with custom stitching
1600x2400 mm

‘The Eight Hour Day’ movement that emerged after the Industrial Revolution was an important milestone for creating awareness around the protection of workers’ rights, and their physical and mental well-beings against exploitation. 888 is a replica of the Eight Hour Day banner that was first carried by Labour unionists as part of a strike in Melbourne, Australia in 1856. The replica is made of a traditional Turkish wool duvet which could be acknowledged as the historical predecessor of an increasingly popular self-care item: the weighted blanket.

Post-fordist modes of production brought about the disappearance of distinctions between work and leisure, which in turn facilitated a society that’s obsessing over self-care and wellness in an attempt to elevate their rest and recreation time. While this obsession presents itself in a new generation of consumer products, 888 specifically focuses on the weighted blanket which is supposed to help with anxiety and relaxation to promote better sleep.

With social determinants of health in mind, this work questions whether the ubiquity of depression and anxiety within contemporary society could be a systemic issue packaged by power structures to be perceived as an individual’s personal deficiency, therefore, their own burden to carry and deal with. Are we trying to sleep well for better mental health or to boost our productivity at work so we can protect ourselves from the precarious realities of the neoliberal labour market just a little longer?

 

 

Exhibited as part of Family of Things at are projects with the generous support of SAHA Foundation .