The Cowan Paradox

Concept (Text by sjefvanbeers.com):

The Cowan Paradox, named after historian Ruth Schwartz Cowan, describes how time spent on housework had not decreased between 1870 and 1970, despite innovations in the household—the Industrial Revolution in the Home, as Cowan puts it.

More recent research shows that in 1900 the average adult spent twenty-six hours a week on domestic work, while by 2005 that had only reduced to twenty-four hours a week.

This video installation uses a number of self scanners—an innovation that dubiously presents itself as automation—to look at a number of innovations that had a hand in shifting the home from a place of production to one of consumption and changing domestic labour.

My contribution:

I built the software system that synchronises up to nine self-scanners simultaneously. Each scanner is an Android device; a Raspberry Pi orchestrates all of them, tracking which video plays where and when, turning nine separate screens into a single composed video work. Everything starts automatically when powered on.

Credits:

Artist: Sjef van Beers.
Software: Ibo Ibelings.
3D animation: Sjoerd Mol.
3D print: Thomas van den Bliek.

Collection of LAM Museum.
Supported by Stichting Stokroos & Stroomversneller.