Archived Projects
Critical Practise Research Group
"Falsework describes structures employed as temporary support during the process of building construction. It is a means to an end. As currently used, falsework comprises elegant, linear engineering systems, capable of supporting the weight of whatever is being built until enough of the building exists to become self-supporting. The falsework then becomes redundant and is dismantled into various components; ready for re-use.
In addition, to signify this immediate function, the term falsework possesses a number of associative meanings. For example, it can refer to a product of inferior quality where objects withhold their intentions or promise more than is delivered, or it can refer to an activity which is a sham, where labour is genuinely given but perverted in result
If the term falsework is taken to mean work which is somehow not genuine, its converse, the notion of worthwhile work, is equally a matter of related meaning, depending upon the economic or social orthodoxy that prevails. The usefulness of work can be judged according to various criteria such as the economic furtherance of the individual, which may coincide with that of advantage for the larger social body. Manufacturing can provide 'useful' objects that ease the lives of individuals as well as the workings of larger society. Ideas of what are basic essentials depend on when and where you live and, once above subsistence level, are informed by a complex of messages encouraging consumption.
There is wide-ranging debate concerning the value and long-term viability of sectors of the economy. What part does manufacturing play in what is now described as a post-industrial society? What value does work hold in terms of personal fulfilment or social cohesion and shared experience? The seemingly relentless move from factory production to service industries brings issues which question the nature of socially and economically justifiable work activities into focus. What is today's 'falsework'?
The exhibition addresses the changing understanding of work activity and the value given to it. It examines the immediate visual impact of the changes that have taken place in working practices and the bearing that economic and social ideas have upon the cultural and working life of the city."
Contact: peter.grego@bcu.ac.uk
Research: BIADResearch@bcu.ac.uk
BIAD, Birmingham City University, Gosta Green, Birmingham B4 7DX