[un]dead Labour

About

Shipment presents, [un]dead Labour, a solo exhibition by Diane Edwards (b. 1987, New Zealand) marking the end of her period as the 2018-19 Many Hands Studio
Award winner. During a 6-month period using the studio at Many Hands (The Biscuit Factory), Diane has developed new work responding directly to the history
of the building as a place of labour. Through a sculptural installation consisting of film, haptic motors, metal sculpture and sugar, Diane explores the development of
the term ‘labour’ in 2019. [un]dead Labour is the final exhibition Shipment will hold at Many Hands, The Biscuit Factory, Bermondsey before moving to its next location in summer 2019. It is supported by Purpose Group and Shapes Collective.

The Biscuit Factory is one of the last remaining relics from the once lively industrial landscape of Bermondsey. The original factory was one of many which sprang up
throughout the Industrial Revolution in the early Nineteenth Century. Using this  site as a point of departure, [un]dead Labour probes questions of the contemporary developments of automation, networked society, digital agents and the addictive nature of data driven applications. We now find ourselves on the cusp of a Fourth Industrial Revolution where complex computational systems have become second nature, embedded within all aspects of life. The project draws a parallel between sugar and data/ data driven applications; both being the most valuable commodities of their time along with their shared schizophrenic nature, providing happiness, delight and enjoyment whilst also having darker insidious realities of addiction, power and control, to name a few. We are entranced by our divisive devices, enslaved in invisible labour, stuck within the loop, from individual to integer, repeating our function until we have overindulged in nauseating waves of informatic eye candy.

During this exhibition, there will be a free artist tour on 18 May 2019 at 2:00pm where Diane will expand on these ideas in context with her practice.

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Diane Edwards (b. 1987, NZ) lives and works in London, UK.
Recent exhibitions include Digital Gods, Die Digitale, Düsseldorf, Germany (Art Festival); Exon Tide, Chalton Gallery London (Duo); Transmuted Worlds, Glasgow International; Second Nature, Glasgow International (all 2018); The Sea Around Us, Dina, Sheffield (2016). She is the Co-founder of Gossamer Fog gallery, London and Coordinator at Arts Catalyst, London. She is about to complete her residency as recipient of the Many Hands Studio Award 2018-19 at Many Hands, London