A Colossal Waste of Time

Welding, Philip ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7169-4789 (2025) A Colossal Waste of Time. [Artefact]

Abstract

The output is a response to the research question “how can photography and the photobook function as tools for critical enquiry, enabling alternative narratives about work and the workplace that move beyond documentary representation?” Research Process: Research was conducted into a wide range of vernacular, everyday photographs shared on Instagram by office workers revealing creative approaches to everyday life through office pranks. Photographs for the project were taken within existing work spaces, staging improvised scenes with the materials available. The ideas within the work were influenced by Michel De Certeau's notion of 'tactics' outlined within ‘The Practice of Everyday Life’ (1984), the concept of 'vernacular creativity' developed by Jean Burgess (2010) and a sense of 'spectacular alienation' as proposed by Jean Baudrillard (2005). Research Insights: By constructing an imagined office environment where boredom, play, distraction and creative subversion become central activities, this research reveals overlooked forms of resistance and self-expression within contemporary labour cultures. The research explores how workers negotiate systems of productivity and surveillance in an era shaped by remote working, social media and Artificial Intelligence; generating new knowledge by critically reimagining contemporary workplace culture at a moment of profound transformation in the nature of work. Dissemination: this photobook was shortlisted for the Dummy Award 25 and was exhibited in 17 countries as part of the award’s touring global exhibition. This included a range of key photographic institutions in Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Brazil, United States, Thailand, China, Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Venezuela, and Indonesia from April 2025 – February 2026.

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