I shared my project in a few ways. First I sent my portfolio to two people who have created exhibitions about and work as food delivery riders. Brazilian artist Allan Weber and Austrian designer Fabio Hofer both have first-hand experience doing the same work as my interviewees, and have expert knowledge regarding exhibitions, so their feedback would be invaluable.
Last week I presented my iterations on receipt paper. One sheet showed a traditional 40-hour workweek and the other a 112-hour workweek.
Towards the end of Unit 2 I had an exhibition idea where I’d use a receipt stapled to a paper bag to present each rider interview, both in English, and the rider’s native language, since most are migrants.
Final writing for Unit 2.
Food is a powerful cultural element. It’s in this context that community cafes exhist in London. They offer communal spaces for migrants who wish to keep close to their roots, and manifest their home culture.
The Shipping Forecast map was the starting point of my Unit 2 research, when I delved into the possibilities of mapping, and countermapping. I aimed to show the artificiality of borders and further challenge the map’s neutrality. Studying Forensic Architecture’s (2025) practice I saw an even stronger correlation between mapping and power. They tell stories of conflicts from the point of view of everyday people instead of governments and institutions. This inspired me to shift from a macro to a micro scale. Consuegra (2025) uses Google Street View to show the presence of food delivery riders, whose work goes unseen in the context of platform capitalism. Analysing his work made me reflect on the stories behind these workers. Exploring the amplitude of mapping led me to Knight’s (2021) abstract maps. The use of overlayed tracing paper added the time dimension, suitable for analysing workers who are always moving through space. This approach inspired my following experiment, when I observed and traced the paths of riders on Granary Square. Creating something from my point of view instead of secondary research, and doing field work made me feel closer to the subject.
Reference Point: State of Matter
Vienna based State of Matter is an artist duo composed of Fabio Hofer and Ana Mikadze, who research the work of delivery riders in the city from a unique position, since Fabio is a rider himself, while also considering the broader context of platform capitalism. Their main project, We Wish You A Safe Ride (2024), happened as part of the Wienwoche Arts Festival, when volunteers were called to work as delivery riders. This gave the workers paid time off to connect and socialise with other workers, and attend workshops on themes like labour rights, healthcare, and collective organising. The event took place at the Riders Collective’s headquarters, which also featured open-access bike repair workshops, and a walking tour of the invisible food delivery infrastructures of Vienna. The duo also curated the exhibition Between Pick-up And Drop-off (2025) at the Wien Museum, which featured video portraits of riders telling their stories, alongside objects, maps and other visuals showing what it’s like to work as a food delivery rider in Vienna.
Continue reading Positions Through TriangulatingLanguage can be used to deceive. The term “gig” in gig economy attenuates the reality of not having job security by borrowing a word from the music industry. Similarly, corporations use branding to hide damaging aspects of its services. Deliveroo’s HOP feature nudges users into buying groceries after ordering food from a restaurant. The name makes it seem like it’s no trouble at all for the rider, hiding the fact that the rider will have to make an extra stop, which means more time waiting and not enough extra pay.
Language can also be used to send coded messages. This poster is written in Portuguese with some letters missing, making it very difficult to be read by British police officers. It features a large white area that would serve as a notice board for people who wanted to advertise accounts for rent, the only way migrants with no working visa can earn a living. It was screeprinted on Deliveroo’s HOP packaging.