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Rate Me, 2021

Film, 00:02:56, 

The work is structured as an employee evaluation, drawing inspiration from a real self-assessment form used in the artist's workplace. The phrase "Rate me out of 10" echoes the societal fixation with assigning value to people that reduce individuals to numerical scores based on appearance and personality.  Employees are rated by customers, secret shoppers, managers as well as having to perform self-assessment.  The actual questions on the real evaluation form, which the work mimics, focus on the employee's appearance as well as the 'personality' they are expected to perform.

 

The employee is shown between a work environment and a stripped-back space, wearing only a nude bodysuit and standing in a mannequin-like posture. Stripped of her uniform, she is exposed — not as a liberated individual, but as someone still bound to perform a role, her doll-like stance reflecting the constraints imposed on her. Questions play alongside the undressed employee, urging the viewer to assess her, further blurring the line between person and product.

The piece highlights how employees are expected to perform specific emotions regardless of customers' behavior, which often crosses personal boundaries. As questions about how well did the employee take hateful comments are presented next to the stripped-back, doll-like figure, the work suggests that employees are treated as blank canvases for customers to project their emotions onto.

The questions carry a sexual undertone, as if the employee were being evaluated for an intimate act. As the viewer is asked, "Were all your needs satisfied?" the piece conveys that employees are expected to fulfill not only commercial demands but also the emotional needs of customers. Not only do the questions assess the approachability of the employee yet how believable is their act. 

Not being warm enough was a genuine response the employee received through a secret shopper assessment.

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