Petroterapia, 2019 to 2145
— A commission to expand on the future of the caring economy
Petroterapia is a speculative film commissioned by our studio to artists Vicky González and David Ortiz Juan to explore a scenario in 2145: What if the caring economy had extended from humans to earth?
Vicky’s speculation was that rocks had become the most important being we cared for, “as they still remembered the damage done to nature by humans, and needed healing.“
By expanding the scenario so that the conversation revolved about what it meant emotionally to take care of someone else, this speculative piece shed light on the perspective of caring economy workers in 2019, and the emotional challenges they faced when clients ended gigs with the touch of a button.
The lack of consideration from the platform severed tight emotional connections between caregiver and final users, which had grown attached to each other for weeks or months through the act of caring and healing.
The film was exhibited during the Reshaping Work conference in Barcelona 2019 as part of the arts program we curated for the event.
Petroterapia (2019)
It is the future of the future, what they call now.
After the recovery of the years of unconsciousness.
When there were still lags of ignorance,
they were determined to imitate the most developed countries.
Where the care economy was already fundamental.
Then the urge of being seen stopped
And instead they start looking at others,
To take care of them.
And they earned more money
But instead they bought less.
Because they were able to see the dementia in seeking happiness through objects.
And they realized that the love that emanated from caring and being cared for
was stronger
more valuable.
Then a bigger house was no longer necessary
Not a faster car.
But there was still cold and darkness.
Or so they described.
There was no point in having harmony among humans
if the rest was suffering.
So it was then when they learned the language of earth.
And through listening closely they understood that rocks couldn’t let go.
That they were still keeping all the evil from the humans of the past.
The evil that’s transferred to the most noble and innocent creatures.
And without knowing it, they vibrate infecting everything that approaches
That’s why we created the Petroterapia.
Credits
Directed by: Vicky González
Cinematography: David Ortiz Juan
Score & Sound Design: Daniel Chew Rodríguez
Commissioned by PERSONA/The Time Travel Agency
for Reshaping Work Barcelona 2019