在地下經濟找根 Looking for roots in the underground economy
有貨 In Stock.
“But even in a business that profits off desperation, he never knew how desperate things could become...”
Reading like a trailer park ethnography paralleling Anna LOWENHAUPTTSING's The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins, Terrence McCOY's Washington Post feature "After the check is gone" traces a month in the life of 51 year-old Donna Jean DEMPSEY, who survives in rural America with a meagre disabilities check and forays "deep into the underground American economy, where researchers know some people receiving disability benefits are forced to work illegally after the checks are spent — because they can’t hold a regular job, because no one will hire them, because disability payments on average amount to less than minimum wage, sometimes much less, and because it’s hard to live on so little."
Dempsey's story also exposes the grey production circuits of natural health supplements, whereby the .53 pounds of Solomon's seal root and .35 pounds of bloodroot DEMPSEY painstakingly collects amounts to a mere USD .80 cents' worth in the multi-billion dollar industry of all-natural herbal remedies for health-conscious consumers.
Monument of Apron opened shop in 2015 as an experimental e-commerce reading experience and the online notebook of various co-conspirators along with artistic research collective Display Distribute. Collating both old and new labours of networked, female work, its 'products' feature the overstock of various projects and observations along with a surplus of thought and transaction. To 'purchase' an article here demands a re-evaluation, turning the dynamic of producer and consumer on its head with a series of questions. Be prepared to work for your 'fulfillment'.
Monument of Apron, or 圍群—a word play combining 圍裙 wéiqún (apron), that timeless utilitarian garment, with 群 qún (group, crowd, caboodle or gang)—considers all those relegated to under-compensated, thankless tasks and encourages the donning of the apron. The pocketed apron lends itself further to secrecy and theft—caching what’s owed and stowing it away for otherwise circulations. An apron is also a protector and shield. For the aproned squad, communication across picket fences and gossip are key forms of solidarity—modes of redistributive practice towards an undercommons.
參與者 With Contributions by
鄭子翹 Sonia CHENG、何穎雅 Elaine W. HO、凌明 Ming LIN、刘颖 Dongdong LIU Ying、Desireè MARIANINI、瞿暢 QU Chang、郭圓瑩 Ying QUE、吳索 Amy Suo WU、谭争劼 TAN Zhengjie
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