The work emerged from my own sense of exhaustion. The project seeks to make tangible the aspects of our modern work culture and engages with the values and norms that shape our working world. It was important for me to highlight that exhaustion is not solely an individual issue but rather must be considered as a structural phenomenon.
I use photographs, graphics, pictograms, and texts to illustrate social, historical, and political aspects and themes that influence our understanding and relationship with work and productivity in everyday life. My goal was to make various invisible influences and imprints visible and to literally visualize the interconnectedness of the themes.
The idea of using clothing as a medium arose from the observation that we are often so exhausted and have so little time that we cannot intensely engage with the topic, let alone break free from existing structures. I thought about how an integration of the theme into everyday life could look like. The conscious presentation of the imprints on the sweaters is intended to create awareness of the underlying social structures and constraints. The project is an expression of consideration of how fashion can be used as a medium to highlight important social concerns. The designed sweaters serve as nonverbal communication tools. Through the use of pop-cultural references, my aim is to make the topic accessible to a wide audience and facilitate entry into the discussion.