Proof of Work

Print performance
Spring 2022

While in residence at Anderson Ranch, I used a small thermal printer to create receipts that reflected my daily routine. The impulse stemmed from an absurd desire to quantify my progress, as if it might maximize the amount of work I could complete during my precious and pressure-filled creative time there.

The performance ultimately underscores how this type of record keeping fails us, and the folly of trying to understand an art practice in rigid capitalistic terms. Clocking in and out using this method each day did, however, also highlight the role printed ephemera plays in legitimizing daily activity.

The title is a nod to one method of Blockchain verification—and to the public’s need to constantly verify transactions as a way of measuring our worth. The QR codes link to a representative image of each day.