A Man's Job

The title of the poster edition is a reference taken from a newsletter by Columbus McKinnon, an industrial firm eventually taken over by General Motors. A passage of rhetoric from the same McKinnon newsletter of the 1930s is included on the poster and reflects expectations of the relationship between a man and his employer. An image from the 1980s accompanies the text and depicts laid-off workers during the first major economic recession to impact GM.
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The poster edition, installation and a performance were part of a larger project titled "Black and Incongruous Headlines" shown at the Niagara Artists Centre in 2015.
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A Man's Job is comprised of a chronological collection of newspaper headlines, tracking the relationship between the employee and the auto industry in the Niagara region in Canada and span a time period of over 60 years (1940-2011). The role of the employees changes from "like family" to "like pest", and the debate of who--either the individual or the corporation-- becomes more ungrateful in the relationship.
The text in the bottom corner is from a company newsletter from an industrial firm that was eventually taken over by General Motors. Its rhetoric reflects the expected relationship between a man and his job in the 1930s. The image next to it depicts laid-off workers from the 80's; the lines between the eyes conveys the obvious hostile environment that emerged during the economic recession.
The work questions existential definition and expectation in the love-affair between American industry and its workers.