Im Bau (Under Construction)

<p><em>Bilingual in English and German</em></p> <p>The <em>Im Bau (Under Construction)</em> focus came about in the context of an event at the Kunsthaus Glarus. Authors affiliated with Brand-New-Life were invited to an “editorial meeting” with the intention of developing this focus with us over a three-day period. We did not specify a particular topic on which contributions were to be submitted, but rather tried to use the invitation to create a framework in order to provide space for what is usually excluded: all that’s too much or too little, too specific or too vague, too open or too dicey. Ideas without purpose.</p> <p>In daily editorial routine there is often too little porosity between editors and contributors. We want to change this and raise the issue of forms of (collaborative) work. These questions about the essence of our work are inspired by an essay written by Mark Fisher titled <em>Accelerate Management</em>. In this text, Fisher calls for an “accelerated management” where managers, rather than inundating employees with micro-demands, provide them with a space to think. The call for acceleration aims at wresting the concept of management from its being held hostage by neo-liberal managerialism. Fisher describes a scene from the TV series <em>Mad Men </em>where Bertram Cooper, head of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency, says that he finds it difficult to adjust to the fact that he never seems to <em>see </em>his Creative Director, Don Draper, doing very much. Draper is, in fact, usually seen reclining in his chair, staring blankly, and apparently doing nothing. Given today’s workaday world, we can relate to Cooper’s bafflement. In the art world of today, too – whether in institutions or self-organized contexts – it is ensured that people visibly work, with work only counting as work when you’re seen doing it. Answering emails is seen as real work, whereas thinking about something is not, unless it results in a concept paper or something similar. We want to avoid the pressure to be busy and usable and rather ask ourselves how we can create a (work) situation in which something can develop, in which we can reflect on how we work and find a way to jointly approach work…</p>