Choreography of Work

"Choreography of Work proposes a feminist counter-mapping of the history of technology. In the installation, videos of working hands are installed in a server rack, showing the invisible human labour that sustains digital technology. Performing their daily gestures of labour, the hands belong to women who work at an electronic assembly company and as traditional hand weavers, respectively.
A jacquard tapestry presents a non-linear timeline of the history of technology that interweaves the industry’s unacknowledged women — from German lacemakers to Navajo integrated circuit weavers, and more. The history of computer technology and digital culture clearly shows their emergence from the logic of textile production and its tools, such as the loom and the spindle. What is too often rendered invisible is the role of women’s precision handcrafts. By revisiting this history, the project brings to the fore the neglected question of how AI and automation will affect working conditions for women."