Kay Abude

Piecework (Federation Square)

10 - 24 November 2014

Installation and durational performances presented as part of the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2014 at Federation Square, Melbourne. Kay Abude was awarded the Professional Development Award and Civic Choice Award in 2014.

 

The nature of labour, with its economic, repetitive and somatic properties, is addressed in the work of Kay Abude. The market stall, the factory production line, the family business, the migrant or shift worker, and the role ordinary people play in the production of corporate or government capital are called to mind as she and members of her family produce faux gold bars. As an uncanny insertion, the work makes visible hidden processes of production that underpin the spectacle of the city. The activity of work, or lack of it, touches all lives, bringing us together in the massification of cities, or sending us travelling to make and maintain connections. Abude’s project singles out the process of labour for its focus, and occurs every day, with a 24-hour shift running over the weekend. Work both connects and separates us, taking so much of our time that it comes to define our lives, and it is this common element that Abude unfolds in her project. 

~ 2014 Judges statement for Abude’s artwork.