Alida has a Hobby is an ongoing artistic research project on the structural conditions under which certain categories of labor are made invisible, uncompensated and categorically illegitimate. Its material is the unpaid labor I perform as artist, parent and woman: domestic maintenance, childcare, cooking, beauty rituals, grant applications, administration, the constant work of being seen. The project runs on a dedicated Instagram account, @alidahasahobby
Photographs are taken with a phone, in the middle of the labor, without staging. They become different types of reproductive works with histories in feminist, political and amateur practice. They are accessible, learnable outside institutions, and carry hobby connotations. Alongside this, images of the Instagram page, conversations with scammers and other research content are also treated as source material. Every work is priced at the exact cost of materials plus direct making time at the Dutch minimum wage, plus VAT. Everything else is given for free. Works are titled Anonymous 1, 2, 3 etc., and issued in endless editions. The bodies that appear are cropped, fragmented, unreadable.
Prints for sale at:
Kunstbar Den Haag (in store)
Mesh Print Club Rotterdam (in store)
Instagram @alidahasahobby (online)
