How do we get each other to see what they don’t want to? How can we talk about growing wealth disparities, the climate crisis, and the inevitable fall of humanity in a way that doesn’t paralyze us?
To these artists, the answer is humor. Lea Devon Sorrentino and Natalie Hijinx, both members of Vox Populi in Philadelphia, opened two solo exhibits this April featuring interactive, multimedia installations. Sorrentino’s exhibit Remote Work and Hijinx’ HITBOX use humor and absurdity to expose the underlying structures that shape our current and future realities.
Remote Work was born from a realization Sorrentino had during an artist residency in Vermont last fall. Lea Devon Sorrentino is a conceptual multimedia artist whose work humors “first world” values and ideas of success. As a part-time digital strategist at a tech company, since even before the pandemic she had worked remotely. During her residency, she kept finding herself looking for work, checking for emails and Slack messages from coworkers. Even while climbing a mountain, she found it hard to separate work and life. “We use our work practices to try to cling onto some type of existence,” said the artist.
“What if nature responded the same way, and allowed us to work everywhere?” In Remote Work, Sorrentino proposes a quite literal response to this question. Inspired by the gallery spaces of a natural history museum, the installation consists of infographics, dioramas, and display cases that parody the architecture of museums and offer an insight into how they could look in the future. Most of the “artifacts” on display are handmade electrical devices appearing to be made of natural materials, including stone airpods and powerplugs, and USB ports formed of emerald and amethyst.
The exhibition’s introduction text reads, “these naturally formed devices found around the world have increased our capacity to perform labor. The evolution of minerals and the modern workplace became entwined. We call it constant work, and we feel productive.”
This installation is both a critique and acceptance of the centrality of technology in our lives. “Is there a way we can use these tools? We’re stuck in the binary of these structural systems… either allowing for tech companies to use us, or we can turn away from them. What if we held them accountable?” What if instead of challenging or changing the forces of technology, what if we embrace it as “both silly and sad at the same time?”
Remote Work also highlights the class exclusivity of remote work. For the exhibit’s opening, Sorrentino hired a worker paid hourly to stand in a corner of the gallery. During the gallery’s opening hours, the worker was replaced by a chair with a sign written, “STAFF ON BREAK. FEEL FREE TO SIT.” “The more we think about remote work, the less we think about hourly workers,” explained the artist. The growing popularity of remote and “thought work” or “knowledge work” creates a perceived work-life balance that also hurts hourly workers and obstructs their visibility.
If Remote Work is a warning shot, HITBOX is “we didn’t listen.” Natalie Hijinx’ “Post-Apocalyptic Convenience Store” is a semi-dystopian, speculative world-building installation featuring shelves of hand-made “products” and a series of video advertisements and news announcements. The title HITBOX refers to the invisible structures and architecture of video games that corral you into a space. “So much of what controls everything, we can’t see… the money, the politics… it’s so completely unparsable. There’s an illusion of control when there’s not a lot of control,” says the artist.
The installation features “products” on a shelf all handmade by the artist, such as bottles of “72-hour Energy,” Zoloft and Cymbalta chocolate bars, “Milc Synthetic Drinking Liquid,” “Male Enhancement Tequila,” Guy Fieri-branded “Premium Algae,” “Insect Protein Purée,” and “Boner Pills.” When asked about the purée and algae, Hijinx said, “that’s probably all that’s gonna be left.” The further you look, the more parodies you find; for example, a label for toilet paper mimics a Penguin Books cover and reads “Bathroom Reader.”
On one wall, a TV plays a series of commercials and news announcements, including one headlined “REPTILIANS EVACUATE” followed by “WE JUST NEED SOME SPACE RIGHT NOW.” An advertisement for the medication “Abonaquil” depicts a couple in space suits exploring what appears to be the planet Mars, followed by a list of side effects Hijinx gathered from existing medications. The artist confirmed that all the side effects are indeed real and mentioned in various prescription drugs.
While parody is a characteristic of much of Hijinx’ installation works, HITBOX was created by thinking in particular about scarcity and growing wealth disparity. “When we’re down to sustenance – It’s still going to be just eat and fuck,” said the artist. “It’s the most soapboxing I can do without turning people off. It has to be funny… I’m interested in making people who don’t clutch pearls clutch their pearls.”
When speaking to Sorrentino about how her work relates to Hijinx’s, she said, “What I’m talking about is about a present future… where [HITBOX] is that we have made no changes and learned no lessons and it has put us into complete chaos.” While the two works differ, they both use humor to communicate to the audiences the truths about what we often deny. Together, they choose a red pill and make it easier to swallow. These exhibits challenge the traditional norms of gallery spaces, placing the audience in a reflexive position where they are asked to see themselves in these dystopian realities. Hijinx says, “I like it when people ask, ‘is this art?’ because it means I’m pushing the boundaries of what art is.”
