The end of the working day

The end of the working day, film 15'28", 2015
This film documents the returning journey from work of a group of young men working in the area of HarbourFront to their sleeping places nearby to Changi airport in Singapore. The footage was filmed in a continuous shot, the men were sitting quietly, during the trip one fell asleep. Like many others they are doing this trip every day. A few months after this film was shot the worker's car was involved in a serious accident. Fortunately everyone survived. The total foreign workforce in Singapore is around 1.336.700 which makes 37,9 % of the total workforce (source MOM, 2014), many of these people are coming from China, Bangladesh, India, Malayesia, Indonesia and Phillippines.

When I work I miss them, when I sleep also I miss them

When I work I miss them, when I sleep also I miss them, film 7'02", 2015
The camera captures these fragments from reality for as long as light is being provided by the welding process. The workers repetitive movements and actions become visible for some fractions of seconds only to dissappear in the dark again and again. In the surroundings the jungle is the witness of the workers activity of constructing this structure and is illuminated from time to time by the flashes of their welding machines. “When I sleep I miss them, when I work also I miss them.” is a quote we found in an interview of the Bangladeshi worker poet Zakir Hussain. His words resume the situation of millions of migrant workers who travelled for long distances in order to provide living money for the families back home. Modernity, international capital, colonialism, war, human affects, nature intersect with each other and generate paths for individuals to follow.
The end of the working day, installation view, Bring it to Life, Place. Labour. Capital, NTU Center for Contemporary Art Artist Resource Platform, Singapore, 2015

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