Who Does the Dishes?Subject Semester (Fachsemester) FS24 in the Field of History and Theory of Arch.

Abstract

Who does the dishes? A seemingly simple question. Yet, upon closer inspection this query confronts us with a range of complex socio-political dilemmas. What do the dishes say about labour, and who is actually doing the work? Which work goes unnoticed, and why? Because everybody wants to live communally, but nobody wants to do the dishes.

Objective

Our aim is to increase the knowledge and sensitivity of architecture students toward the history of art and architecture, to make their voices heard and to develop new teaching formats for the history and theory of architecture. Students will learn to take position in a field, they will practice argumentation and increase their writing skills.

Content

“THE TRUE PROBLEM of philosophy is who does the dishes nothing otherworldly God the truth the passage of time absolutely but first, who does the dishes” —Nicanor Parra, Something Like That Who does the dishes? A seemingly simple question. Yet, upon closer inspection this query confronts us with a range of complex socio-political dilemmas. What do the dishes say about labour, and who is actually doing the work? Which work goes unnoticed or perhaps underacknowledged, and why? Which hierarchies are implied? What is our relation to hygiene and cleanliness, and in which ways does this transfer to social relations? How can we imagine other forms of living and working together without losing sight of the materialist tasks at hand? Because everybody wants to live communally, but nobody wants to do the dishes.

Resources