Inspired by a finding in the Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers—that a laborer over the course of an eight-hour day can sustain an average output of about seventy-five watts—Cohen and Van Balen set out to explore the nature of mass-manufactured products by shifting the purpose of the laborer’s actions from the efficient production of objects to the performance of choreographed acts. The designers worked with choreographer Alexander Whitley to create an assembly line dance that took place at the White House Electric Factory in Zhongshan, China. By placing attention on the process instead of the result, the designers sought to spark a debate about how objects, politics, and the global economy can boil down to the energy output of one human body.
Credit: The Modern Women's Fund