A wake-up call for our non-stop world, 24/7

31 October 2019 - 23 February 2020

Embankment Galleries, Somerset House, London

In the last remaining days of Somerset House landmark exhibition 24/7, I went to experience the various installations, art on display and experimental ideas on consuming life around the clock. The exhibiton examined our relationship with activity, consumerism, noise, work, the smartphone and lack of sleep. The shocking comment from Netflix CEO "Our biggest competitor is sleep" resonateed with me although I do not compete with sleep, I yearn sleep. Often it is the lack of sleep that leaves me wanting it more during the wakeful hours of the night. This past week I was reminded of this exhibition. On display was a facinating film exploring our relationship with Touch in the workplace. Finnish artist Pilvi Takala posed as a wellness consultant at Second Home, a fashionable East London co-working space for entrepreneurs and start-ups. She was supposedly the founder of a cutting-edge ‘personnel’ company, allegedly employed by Second Home to provide touching services in the workplace. The film showed the humorous, heartening and awkward responses to these touches.

I remember absolutely loving the exhibition, exploring the relationship between time, work, rest and play; our living round the clock. I remember myself chuckling away at the social experiment on Personal Touch by Nina, the Stroker. This was a two-channel video installation based on the 2 week-long intervention at the East London co-working space. During the intervention Takala posed as a wellness consultant, the founder of a company Personnel Touch, allegedly employed to provide touching services in the workplace. She creates great discomfort with ambivalence and some exceptions!

There were other equally inpiring and cutting edge presentations on display. I wish I could turn the pages of time to revisit this excptional exhibition which ended within weeks to the strat to lockdown!