Real Work gives hidden voices a say at FACT

Online freelancers and South African sex workers are the subjects of two very different but complementary pieces which make up FACT’s latest exhibition.

REAL WORK features In Real Life, a newly-completed video installation by New York-born Liz Magic Laser, and Sweat (2018) a 10-screen immersive piece from Berlin-based South African artist Candice Breitz. Both works give a voice to those who are often hidden and unheard.

The show, at the Wood Street venue until October, is part of its year-long exploration of issues of identity and representation and is also a legacy piece following last year’s The Future World of Work season, commissioned as part of the Liverpool 2018 programme.

Laser’s In Real Life explores the largely deregulated profession of freelance online gig-working, and features five subjects from the UK and abroad who rely on work through online platforms and apps.

The installation-in-the-round is delivered as an experimental reality show.

Above: Liz Magic Laser's In Real Life. Top: Sweat by Candice Breitz.

Sweat features close ups of 10 lips and mouths of a community of Cape Town sex workers, all talking about their own lives and experiences with the voices merging in one cacophonous whole – until you get close to each individual screen.

FACT’s Head of Programme Ana Botella said: “REAL WORK and the accompanying events season look at the past, present and future world of work - asking urgent questions about invisible and unrecognised jobs.

From Liverpool to Nigeria and Hong Kong to South Africa, there's a growing sense of urgency about workers’ rights across the globe and how we can learn from personal stories to build a secure future.”

REAL WORK is at FACT from July 12 to October 6 and is free.