Out of Order is a collection of found images by Penelope Umbrico, gathered between 2008 and 2013 from office liquidations websites. In the midst of the global financial crisis, these sites bought furniture in bulk from companies going out of business. The secondhand desks – once the definitive site of organization and productivity – are now shown empty, dusty, and cumbersome.

Among the furniture is a varied offering of office plants, placed in these spaces to make office employees feel more human in a synthetic modular world. Umbrico takes hold of this material to elaborate an episodic book, composing a portrait of the crisis, both visually and metaphorically. Bringing together collection of images, a 4x6 glossy C-print, a list of bank failures between 2008 and 2013, and an essay from Clément Chéroux, the publication addresses the aftermath and by-products of a Modernism infused with a disparity between free market optimism and its dystopic result.

Join us for a informal presentation by Umbrico on the project!

Out of Order is 138 pages, and is published in an edition of 500. It is available through the Printed Matter website here. Published by RVB Books, Paris.