Sigrid Viir (1979) is an Estonian photo and installation artist based in Tallinn. She studied culture theory and obtained her BA and MA in Photography at the Estonian Academy of Arts. As an artist, she is interested in social contracts, moral norms and rules, the default “everyday tools” that are used to make societies function but the use of which often remains unnoticed due to their ostensible naturalness. In addition to solo projects, she is also active in the Visible Solutions LLC artists’ collective.
Office Sweet Home was part of Viir’s solo exhibition False Vacationer (EKKM 2019), which asked questions about contemporary work and holiday culture. The name of the exhibition comes from an essay by R. Barthes, in which he looks at writers as the bourgeoisie might see them – false workers, who by the same token can only be false holiday-makers. In the knowledge-based economy, creativity has become an integral part of more than just the cultural field, and it takes a concerted effort to disengage – even for a moment – from one’s professional or working life.
The Office Sweet Home series focuses on the invisible aspects of work with the example of contemporary office environment. Work has become omnipresent, and it is more and more difficult to draw a line between where work ends and our free time begins. Our working environments have been veiled in such comfortable camouflage that it’s easy to forget that it’s still work.
