Clocking off

About

Zajko chose the synonym ‘clocking off’ to allude to the phrase “pissed off’, colloquially used to express anger or annoyance.

Suspended in the centre of the gallery will be a monumental sculptural work, Pendulum, comprising an upside-down, ribbed human figure. Reminiscent of a beehive and finished in copper and ceramic, the figure will oscillate at an unnerving pace, alluding to the motions of a grandfather clock and the modern workday: eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours of leisure.

A recurrence of threes throughout the exhibition is significant to Zajko: the gallery will be wrapped in a wall mural including three silhouetted figures in Zajko’s signature style that are in turn punctuated by three ceramics, Progress Fatigue I, II and III. These ceramics are inspired by Jacquard Looms, which Zajko encountered during his upbringing when he spent time at his grandparents’ workplace, a textile factory in post-communist Poland. The ceramics will be placed within the painted figures’ heart, throat and brain, alluding to physical responses to current events and common anxieties. The anonymity of the painted figures intends to shed light on the perceived ‘replaceability’ of factory workers who are the unacknowledged core of production

Three additional freestanding sculptures will add to the physicality and circular momentum of the exhibition. Each sculpture will undergo a daily transformation, releasing artificial sweat that will drip throughout the day, to be collected and later refrozen. This liquid was originally synthesised to test the durability of low-quality clothing produced by the fast-fashion industry. By mimicking human perspiration, the chemical is used to test the colour fastness and corrosion of fabrics. These transforming sculptures are a nod to the poor working conditions of factory workers. In a world in which accelerations in production is coinciding with decreases in labour regulations and safety nets, Zajko argues that the state of “Exhaustion” seems to be the norm.

The gallery walls will be dissected by a painted border, a further reference to the walls of the artist’s grandparents’ factory workplace. A special paint which is used to repel the dust and oil residues from workers’ hands will also be used on the gallery walls.

‘Clocking Off’ aims to articulate common anxieties around the precarity of workers’ rights and the unfolding environmental catastrophe.