WHITE-COLLAR WORKER — a textile installation about a person whose professional role gradually becomes the only way they can exist. The phrase «white-collar» takes on a literal form in the piece: an exaggerated collar surrounds the figure, restricting visibility. The work demonstrates how the daily labor system strips individuals of their individuality and locks them within a predetermined function.
The project originated from observing the business district near the «Technopark» metro station: the repetitive facades of business centers, the regular commuting routes of employees, and the office attire that transforms numerous individuals into a visually homogenous flow.The work views clothing as a component of urban infrastructure. The dress code not only signifies a person’s profession but also predetermines their place, level of visibility, and permissible mode of behavior. Within this structure, the individual gradually ceases to be perceived as a distinct subject and becomes a carrier of function.In this project, the city functions not as a mere backdrop, but as an organizational machine that perpetuates its own architecture through the bodies, routes, clothing, and daily actions of its residents.
Urban architecture doesn’t end at the facade. It continues in the clothing and behavior of the residents.
Author photo // Technopark Metro Station
The project belongs to the semantic block «Processes of Organization and Subordination.»
WHITE-COLLAR WORKER—an archetype of a person with a limited field of vision and a predefined social designation—the «white-collar worker.»
The term customarily used to refer to office employees becomes literal in the project. A hypertrophied collar surrounds the individual, partially obscures their body, and blocks their view. It simultaneously denotes the protagonist’s profession and transforms into a physical barrier beyond which they see nothing.
The project is dedicated to hired employees whose days unfold from repetitive office routines: commutes, computers, documents, uniform clothing, and identical actions. The individual gradually finds themselves confined within their professional function and ceases to notice anything outside of their own place and status within the system.
Text for exhibition explanation
WHITE-COLLAR WORKER, 2023 Textile installation, wearable art objectWHITE-COLLAR WORKER is a composite image of a hired office worker, whose social role is predefined by the phrase «white-collar.»In this project, this metaphor becomes literal: an hypertrophied collar encircles the person, partially obscuring their body and limiting their field of vision. They can only see their own workspace and the function they perform within the system.In the context of the global city, the project examines the office system as one of the mechanisms that impose a repetitive rhythm of existence and a predefined social identity upon individuals.
Sketch
How best to exhibit an object
The object hangs vertically from two concealed cables or monofilaments. The top line of the collar is positioned at approximately adult eye level. The lower textile elements drape freely downwards due to their own weight. Due to its frontal placement, the object is perceived simultaneously as an article of clothing, a facade, and a physical barrier. The viewer is confronted by an enlarged collar and partially occupies the position of a person placed within the urban system.
