I could have worked overtime this weekend, but I was retraining laziness – Artworks and thoughts on our relationship with work

Questions around work well-being and our relationship to work have accompanied me, as a cultural and academic worker, as one of the most important topics during my career paths. Recently, I have recognised this topic in artworks that I have encountered in exhibitions in Finland and internationally. For this text, I have chosen two sides of the story to discuss work well-being and our relationship to work: the two video works “Retraining Laziness”[1] by T(n)C and “Raúl”[2] by Hans Op de Beeck.

“Retraining Laziness” is a 3D animated video series in which we can bear witness to a conversation between a work-centred human and an artificial intelligence (AI) stating that laziness is the mother of all arts. In “Raúl”, we see the main character taking their time while building up a still life, going along with mishaps that seem to become chances as the composition takes shape. I propose the thought that this could be a healthy way of coping with unexpected surprises also in our work life.

Image: Still of “Retraining Laziness” by T(n)C (2023). 4 chapter experimental video series, each ~4’-5’.

“Retraining Laziness” by T(n)C

Sounds resembling electromagnetic waves and meditative ambient fill my ears, as if they are picking up vibrations between repressed thoughts. Frequencies seem to mix as the view hovers through floating pieces of a dystopian landscape.[3] The sounds create a sense of apprehension and make me listen more closely to two voices having a conversation: a human (subtitles on the left) and an AI (subtitles on the right). They are talking about their relationship to work and their work well-being. The human talks about working overtime and finding appreciation through work. The AI has had some sort of break down and has not functioned perfectly efficiently ever since. These experiences and topics sound familiar to me.

The conversations about well-being at work in my bubble of cultural and arts workers have lately revolved around worries about finances and future, as well as difficulties with colleagues due to a team that is too small or lacking professional skills. Overworking is common. Everyone knows someone who has had a burnout or at least some symptoms. Survey results, conducted by our field’s workers’ union TAKU, on the health status of freelancers and self-employed people in the field of arts and culture reflect the weak position of that specific group of employees in particular.[4] Stress, exhaustion, uncertainty on financial income and sufficient livelihood are mentioned in the results. 86% of the respondents worry about the continuity of work or the sufficiency of their livelihood. Responses reveal worries, stress and sleeping problems. The human in “Retraining Laziness” recounts: “As soon as I close my eyes and finally fall asleep, I encounter dark shadows.”

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health states that well-being personnel is the workplace’s most important resource.[5] An employee, who is fit to work, affects the organisation’s competitiveness, financial performance and reputation. So what if it seems like a big part of the arts and culture field is not able to keep up a healthy work relationship? The human voice sounds proud of being defined solely by their relation to work: “…what I produce has value. Somebody wants it that way. And in doing so, they not only acknowledge the product but they acknowledge me as the producer.” 

Slowly, my view hovers through this smudged, used up looking world. Machine-like elements are combined with organic shapes from underwater worlds. They also remind me of the inside of human bodies. Some textures look like human skin and some shapes resemble synapses in human brains. On some islands the characters seem to rest. On others they are moving synchronised, carrying out tasks without understandable meaning.

AI: “Some hoped that automation would free people from work. But isn’t it strange how things developed in a different direction? How could humans so easily adopt the working style of a machine?”

Image: Still of “Retraining Laziness” by T(n)C (2023). 4 chapter experimental video series, each ~4’-5’.

In the beginning of the video series, the human seemed to be giving advice to the AI on how to work correctly. However, listening to their conversations, it seems like the human needs some help from the AI to retrain laziness. Retraining as term is often used in the context of unemployment or career switching.[6] When someone is not suitable for their work or does not have the adequate skills for a certain job, they can be retrained. And laziness does not only have negative associations. Even online dictionaries give positive examples like “a lazy summer day.”[7] Maybe this AI is retraining humans to get a healthier work relationship again – to find calmness, to engage in slowness, to be inspired by more than productivity. What is there for us humans to gain from inactivity and a lazier pace? The AI dreams: “I just wish we could free laziness from the curse of unproductivity and give it the honor it deserves! As the origin of all arts!”

“Raúl” by Hans Op de Beeck

That reminder is not needed by Raúl, the title character slowly building a still life in Hans Op de Beeck’s video work. The camera is fixed on the performer dressed, covered and surrounded by grey, sitting behind a table across from me. The table functions as a kind of stage as Raúl starts to bring out colourful objects from paper bags and jacket pockets. Raúl keeps my attention by going against my expectations: After pouring milk into a glass, the performer decides to drink from the carafe instead. Raúl is playing the shell game, trying to remember under which glass the ball is hidden. The glasses are see-through – and still, Raúl does not pick the glass with the ball.

Image: Still of “Raúl” by Hans Op de Beeck (2022). Full HD video, 14’50”.

The actions remind me of clowning in contemporary theatre, as Raúl is playfully telling stories through the props and keeping a light suspense by toying with the spectators’ assumptions. And whenever something differs from my expectations, Raúl continues to create a pleasingly matched composition with these mishaps. I ask myself: could I adapt this kind of playfulness and flexibility with mistakes in my relationship to work? How could this mindset of making and experiencing artistic compositions help with work well-being? Already the simple act of witnessing Raúl’s leisurely composition making gives me a sense of relief and stillness. It suggests the option of everything turning out beautiful in the end, even if at first, so many actions seem to go wrong.

It is no news to us as spectators that experiencing art can have positive effects on our mental and physical health. But news might be that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also taken formal steps towards recognising this impact of art. One of the chief scientists at the WHO described the recent development by the following: ”For too long we have seen Science and the Arts as separate endeavors […] But these silos were not always so. Through much of human history, the creative interface of different disciplines has been a catalyst for both innovation and healing.”[8] From 2018 onwards, museum visits have become official treatment tools for physical and mental health problems in Canada. Now, physicians can prescribe a free visit to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for “a moment of respite.”[9] This might be one way to retrain laziness.

As I watch Raúl, I also think back to the AI from “Retraining Laziness” and how both of these fictional characters inspire me to stray away from my human ways of relating to work and mishaps, malfunctions and slowness. The worlds created by T(n)C and Hans Op de Beeck might not be so close to our everyday lives. However, they remind me of the very real need to sometimes be lazy, reflect together and meander.

Image: Still of “Raúl” by Hans Op de Beeck (2022). Full HD video, 14’50”.

Text: Tanja Becher

“Retraining Laziness” by T(n)C
at “In Touch”, IMPAKT – Centre for Media Culture, Utrecht, NL, 22.03.–16.06.2024
https://impakt.nl/events/2024/exhibition/in-touch/

“Raúl” by Hans Op de Beeck
at “I feel, for now”, Amos Rex, Helsinki, 27.3.–8.9.2024
https://amosrex.fi/en/exhibitions/i-feel-for-now/

Bibliography

Art and Culture Professionals’ Trade Union TAKU. 2021. “Terveyskyselyn tulos paljastaa freelancereiden heikon aseman.” Accessed July 29, 2024. https://taku.fi/freelancer-terveyskysely/.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “dystopian.” Accessed July 29, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dystopian.

World Health Organization. 2023. “Ground-breaking Research Series on Health Benefits of the Arts.” Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.who.int/news/item/25-09-2023-ground-breaking-research-series-on-health-benefits-of-the-arts.

Hans Op de Beeck. 2022. “Hans op de Beeck: Raúl.” Accessed July 29, 2024. https://hansopdebeeck.com/works/2022/ra%C3%BAl.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “lazy.” Accessed July 29, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lazy.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. 2018. “MMFA-MFdC Museum Prescriptions: Museum Visits Prescribed by Doctors.” Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/news/museum-prescriptions/.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “retrain.” Accessed July 29, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retrain.

T(n)C. 2023. “Retraining Laziness.” Accessed July 29, 2024. https://tnctnctnc.com/Retraining-Laziness.

Työterveyslaitos (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health). n.d. “Työterveys.” Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.ttl.fi/teemat/tyoterveys.

References

[1] T(n)C 2023.

[2] Op de Beeck 2022.

[3] Dystopian can be defined as ”an imagined world […] in which people lead dehumanized, fearful lives.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “dystopian.”

[4] Art and Culture Professionals’ Trade Union TAKU 2021.

[5] Työterveyslaitos (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health).

[6] Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “retrain.” 

[7] Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “lazy.” 

[8] World Health Organization 2023. 

[9] Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 2018.