What's the future of work? This pop-up museum may have the answers

Love it or hate it, there's a topic that's bound to come up when you meet someone new: "What do you do for a living?" And for Sean Hazell, that question is a toughie. 

"It's probably the toughest question that you'll ask me today," says Hazell, calling CBC Arts from his home in Toronto, although the answer is relatively simple if you just want to know about his day job. Hazell works in marketing, and he's self-employed as a brand consultant. But his passion — the thing he would do full-time if he could swing it — is running his own museum, the Museum of Contemporary Work. 

The museum isn't a brick-and-mortar attraction; most of the time, its permanent collection is stashed around Hazell's house as a constant reminder of the work-life balance we all struggle to achieve — which is a subject the museum happens to investigate. While other people may resign themselves to writing LinkedIn blogs about things like "productivity hacks" or "hustle culture," the museum has been Hazell's way of researching the state of modern work. Since he conceived of the project in 2016, it's been a vehicle for investigating the ways we work now, and why our jobs shape our lives and identities, regardless of industry or occupation. 

But the world of work — heck, the world in general — has changed enormously since Hazell last opened the museum. That was back in 2018, when it won the award for best exhibition from the Toronto Design Offsite Festival. That event, which is now called DesignTO, invited Hazell back this year, and the Museum of Contemporary Work will open Jan. 19 at Collision Gallery in the financial district, where it will appear until Feb. 17. 

Inside, visitors will find something that sounds a bit like "Fast Company magazine: the Immersive Experience." There's an exhibit on "essential work" — the early-pandemic buzzword that was flush with irony. There are sections on remote work, gig work, productivity, burnout and the rise of artificial intelligence. And to tell all those stories, the museum gathers a variety of curious objects, including eBay acquisitions and vintage treasures that are appearing on loan. 

Some are artifacts of the recent past: factory punch clocks and old-school "employee appreciation" gifts, like a set of cufflinks from GM. In addition, several original artworks were created especially for the museum. Hazell refers to these as "fictional artifacts" — speculative objects that nod to the possible impact of contemporary trends. Ana Rita Morais, associate dean of the School of Design at George Brown College, has invented a perpetual calendar for the four-day work week, for example. And items produced for past iterations of the museum will also be on view. Of particular note: a Freelancer Retirement Ring from the parodical coworking space, "MeWork." (That piece was designed by Traven Benner.)

"I find that [work] is such an interesting, complex topic that touches all of us in so many different ways," says Hazell. "It's the sort of thing that I can't really help myself from researching regularly." But the question remains: why create a museum? 

Initially, the decision to launch a museum was inspired by changes to the workplace landscape back when Hazell was first brainstorming the project. "Digital transformation" was a dominant buzzword among his clients — "just the digitization of everything around us," he says. And when he imagined a future workplace that would be totally free of physical objects, he wondered how that might change the way we think about our jobs and ourselves. "Think about when somebody gets laid off. If they're an office worker, they pack up a box in their office," says Hazell. "If you start to remove the things that people associate with work, what is lost?"

But there's also something powerful about sharing his research in a museum setting, he's discovered. Being in one space — surrounded by objects that represent several seemingly disparate ideas — provides an unusual opportunity to create a comprehensive snapshot of the moment. 

"There are a lot of discussions happening right now … but nobody is necessarily connecting the dots," says Hazell, and it can be difficult to recognize how changes to work culture are affecting us when we're too busy living — and working — to digest it all. "Really, I just liked the format. It's a way to get past the surface-level conversation that many of us have," says Hazell. "What I'm hoping to achieve is to ask us to examine, or reexamine, our relationship with work."

Museum of Contemporary Work. Jan. 17 to Feb. 17. Collision Gallery, Toronto. www.designto.org