SECURIWAS?
Exhibition and Performance by Miriam Hübl and Virginia Lui
The project „Securiwas?“ deals with Security Guards and how this booming
sector brings the conditions of new, precarious labour to the
forefront. By taking the presence of guards in cities for granted, the
contradictions and hardships of these kinds of jobs remain invisble.
Critical questioning about exploitation on the labour market is needed
to reformulate demands for solidarity.
The critical intellectual Franco Berardi notes that the era of „Semio-Capital“ primarily produces commodities in the form of signs and symbols. Securitiy Guards offer a symbolic service in that sense too, by embodying security, order and authority through their mere physical presence. By carrying these symbols, an excessive focus on the body becomes apparent. The guards themselves become commodified to sell the image of security.
The critical intellectual Franco Berardi notes that the era of „Semio-Capital“ primarily produces commodities in the form of signs and symbols. Securitiy Guards offer a symbolic service in that sense too, by embodying security, order and authority through their mere physical presence. By carrying these symbols, an excessive focus on the body becomes apparent. The guards themselves become commodified to sell the image of security.
The exhibited photo series show the body language of security guards in a neutral setting. They reveal the tensions between reality and expectations in a struggle to uphold an image of security.
29.05-01.06.17, daily 10.a.m.-6p.m.