At the gallery and throughout the Boto(x) network:

IKHÉA©SERVICE N°24

Slowmo: “The retarder

We make it for you, or you make it for us.

Instructions for use: apply with exaggerated slowness.

Note: you’ll have to think twice before applying this service’s instructions for use. Slowmo can be strategic (Paavo Nurmi), political (obstructionism) or dandyish (Public Image Ltd.). In the context of a high-end inauguration, the service was put into practice by slowing down, without the knowledge of those present, the work of a waiter in charge of the buffet (composed almost entirely of drinks). A little over a day’s training was needed to make this malicious action undetectable, thereby removing any sense of fun. Here are the strategies implemented on the “big night” to achieve our goals: only one person had been selected for service, even though a very large number of guests were expected; the waiter had an insufficient number of glasses (which meant he had to leave regularly to wash a few, then wipe them and return them to the ever-growing crowd); the buffet was equipped with a single corkscrew, the propeller of which was slightly dull. After two hours of madness, this near-ideal Slowmo achievement came to an abrupt end, when some “slow objectors” got hold of cups and chose to help themselves. Heard around Slowmo: “It’s never too late to start a Slowmo career”, “To do Slowmo is to reject other people’s time in order to access your own time”.

Related: anything that causes delay; procrastination; piecework of all kinds.

Owners: Centre national des arts plastiques – Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (IKH(S).N°24 = inv. FNAC 09-236)

IKHÉA©SERVICES 2006

(Excerpt from Des modes d’emploi et des passages à l’acte, éditions Mix, Paris, 2010, page 85)

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