B
Workplace
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5129281d1e411873cde6cf527277b9a2591cae3e0803ae15150dfdd3fe420dbf/public.jpeg)
Photo by Agniezka Chabros
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/748cc30819ace331ae214b81bb159077eed95c8e36f2b2e574e2503a96b53a87/_ACH3394_WORKPLACE_atiquia_web.jpg)
WORKPLACE framed the ‘job interview’ as ritual, melding the visual language and performative aspects of an office interview with that of a tarot reading. Channelling both an employer and fortune teller, we created interactions with audiences that challenged the power dynamics between employer and potential employee; fortune teller and fortune seeker. Instead of receiving a forecast of work futures, audiences were invited to share their future hopes and anxieties and explore their desired futures of work. Each participant walked away with a Future Work Contract – an automatically generated document based on the participant’s desired future of work. Each personalised contract formed a personal ‘demand on the future’ and an illustration of the future work arrangements imagined by each participant.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ad994a974d84ed7e40d5da9c7a24b98cf81ea78822fe37cbd02ea581fd754a5a/_ACH3800_EDITED_WORKPLACE_atiquia_web.jpg)
Members of the public were invited to take part in a 20-30 minute interview, purportedly to determine their ‘future work readiness’. These semi-structured interviews were based around seven work tarot cards: The Hourglass explored hours of work and length of work week; The Eye addressed surveillance in the workplace; The Circle explored workplace inclusion and exclusion; The Cog asked questions about the future of automation; The Scales discussed how labour is valued and remunerated; The Precariat explored precarity in the workforce. The Heart card explored futures of care – visitors are asked who or what they think should care for the young or elderly in the future.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d89440d874732916bf03319f8d6f0ae1bac5f3deac78394cb6d934f283d0f055/_ACH3667_WORKPLACE_atiquia_web.jpg)
Each interview was closed with the ritual of signing the contract, stamping it as ‘FUTURE READY’ and shaking each participant’s hand to seal the deal.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ca05443c9294fa0c55bbcb3fe1500b00322cd4178c8cb13c62d802b283ab1ba/_ACH3758_WORKPLACE_atiquia_web.jpg)
perspective.” – participant, WORKPLACE
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cba3389a3e7a085267c715f6235c7e5cf62875578680c14ab68aef80cf2561a2/_ACH3621_WORKPLACE_web.jpg)
Graphic Design: Corey James
Interior architecture and design: Colby Vexler & James Taylor
Costume design: Annie Wu / Articles of Clothing
Commissioned by City of Melbourne
workplaceproject.net