The Mind of The Quitter Always Has a Negative Taint juxtaposes text fragments and drawings that thematize contemporary office culture and the psychological impact of work in a capitalistic society.
The texts in this publication are a mixture of invented aphorisms and partial sentences and quotes from two books—White Collar: the American Middle Classes by C. Wright Mills and The Corrosion of Character by Richard Sennett. In his seminal work of sociology, Mills describes the rise of clerical work in the American economy and the dehumanizing impact that hierarchical structures and lack of self-determination have on workers. Sennett builds upon these thoughts and examines the influence that today’s professional world, characterized by flexibility and individualism, has on human character and on the breakdown of social bonds.
The chosen texts interact with highly detailed drawings of knees. Indispensable in maintaining us upright, the largest joint in our bodies is extremely vulnerable to injury and susceptible to dislike and shame. Other images that hint at power structures, desperation and burnout are interspersed throughout the publication. -Marta Riniker-Radich
