Our schedules are overcrowded, our work defines who we are, and exhaustion is a constant threat. The excesses of today's technology-driven work culture are unfamiliar to anyone. Efficiency has become the norm and permanent availability a matter of course. From 10 February to 10 April 2023, IMPAKT presents Out of Office: an exhibition that exposes and questions our exhausting obsession with productivity. How can we create space to catch our breath?

Anyone who thought that technological developments would free people from work will be disappointed. Algorithms optimize labor productivity, without regard for the people who do the work. Apps and platforms push everyone to become the 'best' (read: most productive) version of themselves. In today's neoliberal society, we are constantly working, thinking about work, or feeling guilty for not working. The title Out of Officerefers to the well-known automatic absence notification, but can also be read as a reference to how our work follows us wherever we go. The pandemic brought to the surface the existing problems in the labor market and opened the eyes of many. People worldwide are rethinking their priorities in work and life. Concepts such as 'the great resignation' and 'quiet quitting' were introduced.

The artists in the exhibition reflect on their own position and the changing meaning of work in our society. They question new developments and explore the subversive potential of conventions such as the auto-reply , the resume and the eight-hour workday. A job requires you not only to perform, but also to assume a role in which you perform desired tasks and social acts. Out-of-Officetakes this inherent performativity – the role we play when we work – as a starting point, and explores possibilities for resistance and criticism. In the modern workplace, inaction, no-show, or peer support become acts of defiance against a system centered on profit, efficiency, and optimization. How can this resistance be expanded to incite collective action and solidarity?