PROJECT 018: TIME WELL SPENT

Time Well Spent, 2019, A performance during which the artist will sew on a 1:1 scale map of a flat for the length of time it would take to buy that space in London, Map: 13.07 x 4.91 m (36.5145 m2), 21,874 hours (21,566 hours left)

This work consists of a 1:1 map of a flat which I aim to sew on for the length of time it would take to buy that space in London (if being paid London Living Wage). An accompanying print details alternative uses for the 21,874 hours this task would take.

The work obviously references the housing crisis in London. However, I was also interested in tackling other anxieties within this work such as how artists can balance their time between working (often unpaid) on their own work, paid work and other daily aspects of their life, as well as longer-term goals such as the possibility of home ownership and/or a family. It brings up questions about our worth and the worth of our labour in a capitalist system. How do our choices affect other aspects of our lives? Is art the right choice to make? What privileges must we already have to even think about choosing art? What sacrifices do we have to make to enable a functioning art practice?