Thresholds 44: Workspace

WORKSPACE Thresholds 44 .

Journal of the MIT Department of Architecture Edited by Nisa Ari and Christianna Bonin └── thresholds-44 ├── content │ ├── 00-front │ │ ├── Content\ List_Nov29.gdoc │ │ ├── NewTestDocument.docx │ │ ├── NewTestDocument.docx.gdoc │ │ └── Table\ of\ Contents_Nov9.gdoc │ ├── 01-ari-bonin │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── Fig\ 1.jpg │ │ │ ├── Fig.\ 2.jpg │ │ │ ├── Fig.\ 3 │ │ │ └── Fig.\ 3.jpg │ │ └── text │ │ ├── Intro\ text\ brainstorm.gdoc │ │ ├── Intro-final.docx.gdoc │ │ ├── Table\ of\ Contents_Nov9.docx │ │ ├── cb-nisa\ intro\ stab2.docx.gdoc │ │ └── nisa\ intro\ stab1.docx.gdoc │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-fig1-001.jpg │ │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-fig2-002.jpg │ │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-fig3-003.jpg │ │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-fig4-004.jpg │ │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-fig5-005.jpg │ │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-fig6-006.jpg │ │ │ └── 02-cuff-cayer-fig7-007.jpg │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-12-29-15-cb\ edits.gdoc │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-unfit-12-29-15-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-unfit-12-29-15.docx │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-unfit-final\ .gdoc │ │ ├── 02-cuff-cayer-unfit.gdoc │ │ ├── UNFIT_Cayer_Cuff_12-29-15_copyedited-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── UNFIT_Cayer_Cuff_12-29-15_copyedited.docx │ │ ├── UNFIT_Cayer_Cuff_12-29-15_copyedited.docx.gdoc │ │ └── ~$-cuff-cayer-unfit-12-29-15.docx

│ ├── 03-daneshvar │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── Alligator\ Forceps_00.pdf │ │ │ ├── Alligator\ Forceps_Photo.tif │ │ │ ├── Curette_00.pdf │ │ │ ├── Curette_Photo.tif │ │ │ ├── Forceps_00.pdf │ │ │ ├── Forceps_Photo.tif │ │ │ ├── Speculum_00.pdf │ │ │ ├── Speculum_Photo_00.tif │ │ │ ├── Vasectomy\ Clamp_00.pdf │ │ │ └── Vasectomy\ Clamp_Photo.tif │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 03-daneshvar-armamentaiumofcountercreation.gdoc │ │ ├── 03-daneshvar-armamentariumofcountercreation-1.2.16.gdoc │ │ ├── 03-daneshvar-armamentariumofcountercreation_1.11.16-CB.docx │ │ ├── 03-danesvhar-armamentariumofcountercreation-final.gdoc │ │ ├── Daneshvar_Compared.docx.gdoc │ │ └── January\ 1st,2016_Revised\ Description_Thresholds\ Journal_Armamentaium\ of\ Counter\ Creation_CB.docx.gdoc │ ├── 04-hashimoto │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── method1+\ by\ kanzaki.jpg │ │ │ ├── method2+\ by\ kanzaki.jpg │ │ │ ├── method3+\ by\ kanzaki.jpg │ │ │ ├── method4+\ by\ kanzaki.jpg │ │ │ └── method5+\ by\ kanzaki.jpg │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 04-hashimoto-eccentricworkspace-(almost\ final).gdoc │ │ ├── 04-hashimoto-eccentricworkspace-12.22-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 04-hashimoto-eccentricworkspace-12.22.docx │ │ └── 04-hashimoto-eccentricworkspace.gdoc │ ├── 05-jacobi │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── Medieval\ Money\ at\ Work\ Figure\ 1.pdf │ │ │ └── Medieval\ Money\ at\ Work\ Figure\ 2.JPG │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 05-jacobi-medievalmoneyatwork-final.gdoc │ │ ├── 05-jacobi-medievalmoneyatwork-januarydraft-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 05-jacobi-medievalmoneyatwork-januarydraft.docx │ │ ├── 05-jacobi-medievalmoneyatwork.gdoc │ │ └── Jacobi_Compared.docx.gdoc │ ├── 07-kim │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── ANNBALLOIbactENGL1,\ Giancarlo\ Caligaris.jpg │ │ │ ├── ANNBALLOIbactENGL2,\ Giancarlo\ Caligaris.jpg │ │ │ ├── gkim_Neera.jpg │ │ │ ├── gkim_Solunto1.jpg │ │ │ └── gkim_Solunto2.jpg

│ │ └── text │ │ ├── 07-kim-new\ workspaces\ for\ microbes-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 07-kim-new\ workspaces\ for\ microbes.docx │ │ ├── 07-kim-new\ workspaces\ for\ microbes_editor\ comments.gdoc │ │ ├── 07-kim-puttingmicrobestowork-final.gdoc │ │ └── gkim_thresholds_01_11_NAedits.docx.gdoc │ ├── 09-lai │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── Brush\ Creek\ pic.jpg │ │ │ └── Brush\ Creek\ pic.psd │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 09-lai-insearchofthesacredfire.gdoc │ │ └── 09-lai-millionairecowboysandothersights-final.gdoc │ ├── 10-lopez │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── Figure\ 1.png │ │ │ ├── Figure\ 2.png │ │ │ └── Figure\ 3.png │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 10-lopez-ofrightsrailwaysandreceptionrooms-final.gdoc │ │ ├── 10-lopez-ofrightsrailwaysreceptionrooms-1.6-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 10-lopez-ofrightsrailwaysreceptionrooms-1.6.docx │ │ ├── 10-lopez-thereceptionroomandtherailway.gdoc │ │ └── Lopez_Compared.docx.gdoc │ ├── 11-ronen │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ └── IMG_2324.jpg │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 11-ronen-properlysellingtheimproper-1.7-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 11-ronen-properlysellingtheimproper-1.7.cbt.docx │ │ ├── 11-ronen-properlysellingtheimproper-1.7.cbt.docx.gdoc │ │ ├── 11-ronen-properlysellingtheimproper-1.7.gdoc │ │ ├── 11-ronen-properlysellingtheimproper-final.gdoc │ │ ├── 11-ronen-properlysellingtheimproper.gdoc │ │ ├── Ronen_Compared.docx.gdoc │ │ ├── Ronen_Manuscript12-31-15-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ └── Ronen_Manuscript12-31-15.docx │ ├── 12-schmidt │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── Landesarchiv\ Berlin\ B\ Rep\ 167\ Interbau\ Findbuch.jpg │ │ │ ├── NY\ Municipal\ Archive\ finding\ aid.jpg │ │ │ ├── NY\ Municipal\ Archive\ finding\ aid.psd │ │ │ ├── NY\ Municipal\ Archive\ finding\ aid_2.psd │ │ │ ├── NY\ Municipal\ Archive\ finding\ aid_bitmap.psd │ │ │ └── Tokyo\ Koubunsho\ info\ sheet.jpg │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 12-schmidt-theabcoftransnationalarchivalresearch.gdoc │ │ ├── 12-schmidt-thearchivalworkspace-draft3_ACed.docx │ │ ├── 12-schmidt-thearchivalworkspace-draft3_ACed.docx.gdoc │ │ ├── 12-schmidt-thearchivalworkspace-final.docx.gdoc │ │ ├── Schmidt\ Thresholds_Third\ draft-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── Schmidt\ Thresholds_Third\ draft.docx

│ │ └── Schmidt_Compared.docx.gdoc │ ├── 13-sholette-greco │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── 13-sholett-greco-SaadiyatIslandWorkersQuartersCollectable-001.jpg │ │ │ ├── 13-sholett-greco-SaadiyatIslandWorkersQuartersCollectable-005.jpg │ │ │ ├── 13-sholett-greco-SaadiyatIslandWorkersQuartersCollectable-006.jpg │ │ │ ├── SIWQC_in\ front\ of\ sign_1.jpg │ │ │ ├── SIWQC_in\ store_1.jpg │ │ │ ├── SIWQC_in\ store_2.jpg │ │ │ └── SIWQC_outside\ packaging_1.jpg │ │ └── text │ │ └── 13-sholette-greco-workershousingsaadiyatisland.gdoc │ ├── 14-vicario │ │ ├── imagery │ │ │ ├── IMG_2248.JPG │ │ │ └── IMG_2249.JPG │ │ └── text │ │ ├── 14-vicario-eflux-12.29-(trackchanges).pdf │ │ ├── 14-vicario-eflux-12.29.docx │ │ ├── 14-vicario-eflux-final.gdoc

│ │ ├── 14-vicario-eflux.gdoc │ │ └── Vicario_Compared.docx.gdoc │ ├── 15-unsal │ │ ├── 10.tif │ │ ├── 2\ March\ 2015,\ 13:45,\ Beirut.tif │ │ ├── 2.TIF │ │ ├── 23\ February\ 2015,\ 13:33,\ Beirut.tif │ │ ├── 27\ February\ 2015,\ 13:07,\ Beirut.tif │ │ ├── 28\ February\ 2015,\ 12:56,\ Beirut.tif │ │ ├── 39.tif │ │ ├── 40.tif │ │ ├── 8.tif │ │ └── screenshots │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.00.01\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.00.05\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.00.06\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.00.11\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.00.15\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.04.57\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.04.59\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.02\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.04\ PM\ 1.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.04\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.05\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.06\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.10\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.13\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.16\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.19\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.21\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.24\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.26\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.32\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.36\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.37\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.40\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.43\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.45\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.48\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.50\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.52\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.05.58\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.06.01\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.06.03\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.06.06\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 1.06.08\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.15\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.21\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.28\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.34\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.39\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.41\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.44\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.50\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.53\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.35.56\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.03\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.08\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.13\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.17\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.23\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.27\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.31\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.32\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.33\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.35\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.40\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.36.44\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.37.04\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.44\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.46\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.48\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.50\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.52\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.55\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.57\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.51.59\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.00\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.02\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.05\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.07\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.09\ PM\ 1.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.09\ PM.png │ │ ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.10\ PM.png

│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │

├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.12\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.14\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.16\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.23\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.28\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.32\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.52.39\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.58.56\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.58.59\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.00\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.01\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.02\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.04\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.09\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.12\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.14\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.17\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.19\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.21\ PM.png ├── Screen\ Shot\ 2016-02-02\ at\ 12.59.24\ PM.png

Editorial Policy thresholds, the Journal of the MIT Department of Architecture, is an annual, blind peer-reviewed publication produced by student editors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Opinions in thresholds are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, the Department of Architecture, or MIT. Correspondence thresholds - MIT Architecture 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 7-337 Cambridge, MA 02139 thresholds@mit.edu http://thresholds.mit.edu Published by SA+P Press MIT School of Architecture + Planning 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 7-231 Cambridge, MA 02139 Copyright Š 2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The individual contributions are copyright their respective authors. Figures and images are copyright their respective creators, as individually noted.

Every effort possible has been made to identify owners and gain permissions for images. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.

ISSN: 1901-711X ISBN: 978-0-9726887-1-0 Book design and cover Partner & Partners http://partnerandpartners.com Printing Puritan Capital http://www.puritanpress.com

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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THRESHOLDS 44 THE MIT DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE NISA ARI AND CHRISTIANNA BONIN

JOURNAL OF

EDITED BY

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NISA ARI AND CHRISTIANNA BONIN INTRODUCING WORKSPACE: 9 -18

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BEYOND FICTIONS OF THE DIGITAL AGE

FIRST SHIFT 21– 3 0

LAUREN JACOBI MEDIEVAL

MONEY AT WORK

31– 42

ALBERT JOSÉ-ANTONIO LÓPEZ OF

RIGHTS, RAILWAYS, AND RECEPTION ROOMS

43 – 58

A ARON CAYER AND DANA CUFF

UNFIT: LOS ANGELES AND THE EMPTY GLASS BOX WINNIE WONG AND MARGARET CRAWFORD ART+VILLAGE+CITY NIKO VICARIO E-FLUX AND THE 5 9 –76

POST-FORDIST WORKSPACE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, 1998-2011

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7 7– 8 4

BREAK THRESHOLDS 44

“FROM A WINDOW” (2015) AND “SELECTIONS FROM THE SELAMET NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE” (2015-ONGOING) YING-JU LAI MILLIONAIRE COWBOYS AND OTHER SIGHTS: AN ARTISTS’ RESIDENCY IN WYOMING

87–10 4

10 5 –114

SECOND SHIFT 117–13 0

SHELLY RONEN PROPERLY

SELLING THE IMPROPER 131–14 4

SAMIRA DANESHVAR

ARMAMENTARIUM OF (COUNTER) CREATION / VERONICA FITZPATRICK IT’S NOT ART, I’M A DOCTOR SEBASTIAN SCHMIDT THE ARCHIVAL WORKSPACE: AN ACCIDENTAL ETHNOGRAPHY TAMAO HASHIMOTO ECCENTRIC WORKSPACE 14 5 –15 6

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157–170

171–18 2

GRACE KIM PUTTING MICROBES

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TO WORK: USING BIOTECHNOLOGY TO RESTORE ARCHITECTURE & ART IN ITALY NIGHT SHIFT GREGORY SHOLETTE AND MATT GRECO “WORKERS 18 5 –19 0

HOUSING SAADIYAT ISLAND: GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM SOUVENIR” (2013) AFTER WORK

19 3 – 2 0 8

PARTNER & PARTNERS

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COLOPHON OR AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF IMMATERIAL LABOR

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INTRODUCING WORKSPACE: BEYOND FICTIONS OF THE DIGITAL AGE

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IntroducIng Workspace: Beyond FIctIons oF the dIgItal age WORKSPACE

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In this dark night of overtime

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A screw fell to the ground

Plunging vertically, lightly clinking It won’ t attract anyone’s attention

On a night like this

Written nine months before committing suicide in Shenzhen, China, Foxconn factory worker and poet Xu Lizhi composed this poem about a lone screw falling to the factory floor during his overtime shift. By the poem’s end we learn that a fellow Foxconn worker also fell to his or her death during the night, in parallel harmony, attracting little notice.

Following record-high rates of employee suicide attempts and deaths in 2010, Foxconn, a company renowned for producing Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, and Sony products, sought to prevent employee deaths by increasing wages and asking workers to sign no-suicide vows. In addition, the company installed “suicide netting” outside the dormitory building’s windows.2 (Fig. 1) While reading about Xu’s suicide and poetry as we crafted our call for submissions for this issue of thresholds, it was this particular design intervention that held our focus. If an employee at Foxconn’s campus in Shenzhen, someone like Xu, leapt to his death only to be thwarted and cradled by recently installed suicide netting, was the worker fulfilling or transgressing the design of the adapted workspace? What could the tragedy of these employee suicides and the response of a multi-billion dollar company through workspace design teach us about how transformations in tools, technologies, spaces, economies, and demographics refract 1 “The Poetry and Brief Life of a Foxconn Worker: Xu Lizhi (1990-2014),” Libcom.org, accessed January 28, 2016, http://libcom.org/blog/xulizhi-foxconn-suicide-poetry.

2 Eliot Van Buskirk, “Foxconn Rallies Workers, Leaves Suicide Nets in Place (Updated),” WIRED, August 18, 2010, http://www.wired.com/2010/08/ foxconn-rallies-workers-installs-suicide-nets/.

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When someone plunged to the ground - 9 January 20141

IntroducIng Workspace: Beyond FIctIons oF the dIgItal age

Just like last time

THRESHOLDS 44 IntroducIng Workspace: Beyond FIctIons oF the dIgItal age WORKSPACE

the value and identity of work and workers?

Xu’s elegy for a screw and bleak depiction of life lived in an assembly line challenged us to question two lingering, interrelated promises—and fictions—of the internet age: the ability to work almost anywhere, at anytime; and the dwindling importance of physical workspaces due to the rise of digital workspaces and immaterial products. Foremost, we found that the present ubiquity of the digital accompanies and demands a reexamination of the physical. In Xu’s case, his employer manufactures products that feed the digital lifeblood of our age, yet his working conditions were material and dangerous, if invisible to global consumers. Google offices across the globe, offering everyday conveniences and staged recreation areas, entice employees to stay at work well past normal office hours, and when Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer revoked telecommuting privileges for a select portion of Yahoo employees in 2013, she mirrored Google’s belief in the necessity of creating a physical, social hive: “people are more productive when they’re alone, but they’re more collaborative and innovative when they’re together.”3 (Fig. 2) As Mayer’s statement suggests, the physical workspace now belongs to the knowledge/creative worker, whereas, paradoxically, the digital workspace is for the rote, hired hand.

Whether an assembly-line hall for producing cell phone parts or a coding lounge for start-up engineers, the form and program of physical, shared workspace continues to be at stake in our digital age.

What makes the immaculate play3 Christopher Tkaczyk, “Marissa Mayer Breaks Her Silence on Yahoo’s Telecommuting Policy,” Fortune, April 19, 2013, http://fortune. com/2013/04/19/marissa-mayer-breaks-her-silence-on-yahoos-telecommuting-policy/.

grounds of Google offices or the telecommuting, home-office trends particularly compelling is that they appear to dissolve the traditional work/life dyad. In interrogating this duality in the late-nineteenth century, Karl Marx hypothesized that the realm of freedom and self-actualization lay beyond the sphere of material production.

It was a space and time for restoring human energy.4 Yet, where is this space of freedom—both in Marx’s era and today?

One person may consider the bed to be a place of freedom and mental restoration through sleep. Yet, for workers as diverse as Mark Twain (who declared that he wrote his novels only while reclining in bed) or sex workers, the bed also constitutes a workspace. (Fig. 3) Workspace was both physical and intellectual for Friedrich Nietzsche, who once deemed Gustave Flaubert a nihilist for claiming that writing and thinking could only happen while seated. Nietzsche retorted: “The sedentary life [das sitzfleisch—literally “sitting meat”] is the very sin against the Holy Spirit. Only thoughts reached by walking have value.”5 Consider the gleaming corridors of an academic institution like MIT: perhaps for students, they form a space of transition between laboratory and library; but for cleaning staff, who begin their shifts around 11 pm, the corridors are their workspaces.

Corridors, sidewalks, parks: they are also the workspaces of law enforcement and medical services personnel, who maintain provisional claim over public and private realms. Categorizable as neither “knowledge” 4 Karl Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (New York: Penguin Classics, 1993), 2049, eBook edition. Originally published Karl Marx, Das Kapital (Hamburg: Verlag Otto Meissner, 1894).

5 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, oder Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert (Berlin: Michael Holzinger, 2013), 9. [Twilight of the Idols, or How to Philosophize with a Hammer.] Originally published Friedrich Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, oder Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert ( Leipzig: C.G. Naumann, 1889).

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trade and consumption—issues that each played a part in Xu’s death, but did not define his life the same way in which they directly influenced the form of Foxconn’s workspaces.

The contributions to this issue of thresholds attend in turn to the individuals, institutions, or objects that activate workspaces in surprising or previously unwritten ways. The essays depend on acts of spatial revelation or suppression, bringing to light connections between work, worker, and workspace otherwise seen as separate, quiescent, or clandestine. Further, while the contents of this issue do not explicitly promote a Marxist interpretation of work, they do interrogate the alleged distinction between the spheres of work and life or leisure. The essays demand that we recognize the social politics of workspaces and look further than the contemporary moment to address the idea of workspace with historical depth and methodological

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nor “manual” workers, individuals who labor under the auspices of the public good (or, in other words, through the arms of the state) complicate a binary that neatly cleaves the work of the mind (mens) from that of the hands (manus). Their fluid claim to workspace reflects the slippage of this binary just as it mirrors their status as proxy functionaries of the state. Thus, workspace can be defined as an activity or a frame of mind, as much as a spatial designation, and modes of leisure can slip easily into modes of work.

The installation of suicide netting on Foxconn facilities—a technically straightforward, yet grim physical change—also demonstrates how the appearance of a workspace can transform so pointedly that it demands new narratives of what takes place inside. The Foxconn example exposes a complex interweaving of workers’ rights, labor shortages and migration, management culture, and global

IntroducIng Workspace: Beyond FIctIons oF the dIgItal age

Fig. 1: A worker walks out of a factory building with nets, installed to prevent workers from jumping to their deaths, at a Foxconn factory, in Langfang, Hebei Province, August 3, 2010. Credit and reproduced with permission of: Jason Lee/REUTERS/Newscom.

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Chimera. Licensed for distribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode.

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Fig. 2: Steve Vinter, head of Google Boston office, and Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, play ping pong at grand opening of Google Boston office. May 13, 2008. Photographed by Sage

THRESHOLDS 44 IntroducIng Workspace: Beyond FIctIons oF the dIgItal age WORKSPACE

diversity. Spanning the fields of art and architectural history and practice, urban planning, science, technology, economic history, sociology, medical history, and creative writing, the contents incorporate a variety of theoretical approaches and unorthodox subject matter.

First, the contributions expand the idea of workspace beyond the physical, such as exploring the consequences of imagined workspaces attached to colossal infrastructural projects, from downtown Los Angeles (Cuff and Cayer) to continental Africa (López), or addressing how the female body has often been treated as both a hypothetical and an actual workspace upon which medicine, the law, and politics have experimented in equal measure (Daneshvar, Fitzpatrick). Propelled by the desire for self-reflection, the historian’s workspace— the archive—also comes under scrutiny in this issue, as one contributor explores how differing modes of operation and cultural variation within archives can alter the thinking of the historian and thus, can alter the writing of history (Schmidt).

Further, the contributions question who or what attains the label of worker and at what cost. From a consideration of bacteria as the premier workers in architectural restoration today (Kim) to the frank interpolation of artists and writers as creative laborers within the economy of artistic residencies (Lai) or the identification of artists with migrant workers in the Gulf as an act of activism and solidarity (Sholette and Greco), the status, composition, and value of the worker is in constant flux.

Correspondingly, environments fluctuate in response to changes in the status and value of workers too, as the example of recent urban growth along the Pearl River Delta

in China, which stems from the profound multiplication of artists and art villages in that region, demonstrates (Wong and Crawford).

Finally, the essays address the very notion of what constitutes work. Although the terms “work” and “labor” are nearly synonymous, their equivalence has been questioned historically by a breadth of political officials and cultural commentators. For Hannah Arendt, to labor was to be “enslaved by necessity”—an enslavement “inherent in the conditions of human life.”6 Unlike work, which implies both a process and a definitive product in capitalist society, labor signifies a circular activity and is primarily concerned with sustaining life.

However, Arendt also emphasized that the entire Marxist philosophical project strove to undo the distinction between unproductive and productive activities and to render all work equally viable.7 While the authors in this issue analyze work and labor differently and according to their subject of study, they similarly move beyond an understanding of work as solely a skilled or outcome-based activity.

They find productivity and value in actions conventionally positioned as immaterial, unproductive, or lazy. Seen from this angle, an email service can become the preeminent orchestrator of the global, contemporary art world (Vicario), the “non-working” actions of workers—spitting out gum or throwing away a coffee cup— can stimulate new methods of workspace design (Hashimoto), and gazing out of windows or looking up blankly toward the sky can constitute the most fundamental 6 Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 83 84. Originally published Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958).

7 Ibid., 89.

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have designed thresholds 44 to reveal its own making. First, through the modification and release of two open-source typefaces specifically for this issue (Caslon 44 and Sans 44), Partner & Partners exposes their own discreet design process, but more importantly, highlights labor and tools otherwise deeply embedded in the production of a book. Repeated letterforms on the issue’s section title pages aim to

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01-mIt-thresholds-IntroductIon.Indd VERSION 51 LAST MODIFIED ON MARCH 16, 2016 9:38 PM

Fig. 3: Tuck’s postcard depicting Mark Twain lying in bed and at work, with the caption ‘Mark Twain’s Muse.’ 1906.

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exchange in late medieval Italy necessitated the opening of a new type of workspace— branch banks (Jacobi). Contemporary manufacturers of sex toys in the US boast their “Made in America” production processes and advertise their toys’ ability to help with the hard work of marriage and monogamy. In appealing to mainstream American moral and safety concerns, the sex toy industry desires to enter the realm of morally licit work and even the workers themselves are reconstituted in response

(Ronen). In these cases, to call oneself a worker, or to label an activity as work and designate a space for it, is to move away from the stigma of amateurism and toward political action, economic viability, or social relevance and acceptance.

Echoing these moves to legitimate unsavory or intangible work, the final section of this issue, the colophon, or “archaeology of immaterial labor,” is the response from the designers of this book, Partner & Partners. In several ways, they

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acts of productivity (Ünsal). By visualizing and juxtaposing activities often rendered invisible by traditional divisions of labor, the authors reveal that our own activities can make us blind to our surroundings and thus challenge us to expand our frame of reference to include the work of others around us.

The tools and spaces of work also change as certain types of work shuttle between being viewed as morally licit or illicit.

Shifts in the ethics and efficacy of money

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enumerate design options, producing subtle changes that serve as an illustration of process. In releasing public repositories as well as producing a record of changes as a series of timestamps in the journal’s marginalia and colophon, Partner & Partners shares aspects of their design work and our editorial process that conventionally remain unseen. Readers can sense the temporality of the object in hand, for the timestamps at the bottom of each essay’s title page denote when the contribution was first submitted, while the colophon tracks the changes made by the many hands and minds behind this issue. As you proceed from the pages of the first shift to the night shift that marks the concluding pages of the journal, we invite you to engage Workspace as it unfolds in time. nisa ari is a phd candidate in the history, theory, and criticism of architecture and art program at mIt. she studies late nineteenth and twentieth-century visual practices, with a focus on artwork from the middle east. her research explores the relationships between cultural politics and the development of art institutions, specifically in palestine and in turkey. she received a B.a. with honors in art history from stanford university and worked in contemporary art centers in new york before starting her doctoral degree. christianna Bonin is a phd candidate in the history, theory, and criticism of architecture + art program at mIt. she studies late nineteenth and twentieth-century art and architecture in europe and russia. her research considers the relationships among industry, economic trade, and culture, particularly the effect of migration on artistic and architectural practices in Weimar germany and soviet russia. prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked at the Bauhaus dessau Foundation in germany and received a B.a. summa cum laude from amherst college as well as an m.a. in art history from Williams college.

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