Play Station™. Funemployment, Forever. Farsight Corporation welcomes you to Play Station™, our new range of automated workplaces! Enjoy the 9 to 5 life of leisure as never before.”
For the public art event Art Night London, Lawrence Lek invites audiences to explore the contradictions of a future post-work society with a new virtual reality video game. Set in 2037, Play Station™ takes place in a science fiction version of the White Chapel Building, transformed into the London headquarters of a mysterious technology start-up known as Farsight.
A world leader in digital automation, Farsight trains employees to outsource their jobs as much as possible, rewarding top performers with access to exclusive entertainment and e-holidays.
Access to this virtual world is through a mandala-like installation of VR headsets, video training guides, and voiceover tutorials, allowing the audience to participate as players or observers. Housed in the cavernous atrium of the recently re-invented White Chapel Building, Play Station™ reflects on the continuously changing boundaries between workplace and playground.
Farsight is a recurring character in Lek’s universe, first appearing in the film Geomancer (2017). In line with the conceptual idea of ‘hyperstition’, or how ideas born from speculative fiction can influence reality, Farsight was launched as a real-life production company the next year at Bold Tendencies.
