L.A. Watson

Patent Pending: Labor |Force is an ongoing investigation of the female body (both human and non-human animal) as an object and target of power. How are biological processes specific to female animals—in particular, their ability to become pregnant, produce eggs, lactate and bear young—utilized as an invisible labor that is both productive and profitable? In The Salience of Species Difference for Feminist Theory, Maneesha Deckha notes that, “The fates of marginalized groups, including farmed animals and the most disempowered women, are intertwined.” This can be seen in selective breeding programs, originally developed for domesticated animals, which have been used as a model for racist eugenic breeding programs and forced sterilizations that continue to this day.

In Patent Pending: Labor |Force, patent inventions of various devices of restraint, methods of confinement and surveillance from the turn of the century through the present day are appropriated and digitally manipulated in order to critique diverse and interconnected modes of reproductive subjugation. The unreal/theory of the pending patent invention is made real (realized) through the practice of consumerism. QR (quick response) codes are information dense codes that facilitate consumerism, but they also have the ability to make processes of production and consumption more transparent. Viewers are encouraged to scan the QR codes contained throughout this installation to explore both the physical space of the gallery and the virtual space of the codes. Viewers are able to scan the overall 96 x 96 inch code to access a statement and resources for the work, while the smaller codes scattered throughout the piece link to informational videos, sound clips and coupons related to the patented “products” featured.