Title:
Daily Efficiency and
Behavioural Analysis, Self-evaluation Checklist (DEBASC)
Location: Available at all gallery venues
Hannah has published an edition of 5000 DEBASC forms – The spoof
of a bureaucratic document contains pages and pages of checklists for all the
things that you should aim to get done in a day and the ways in which you should
and should not behave. If completed religiously, the DEBASC would in
fact take so long that it would be far from an efficient use of time. Instead
the form allows us an insight into Hannah’s personal, social and work
ideals. In the exhibition, a large pile of DEBASC forms is positioned
on an office desk. Visitors can take the forms home or fill them in there and
then, to test if they can match up to Hannah’s strict daily regime.
detail from DEBASC guidance notes
‘Not enough hours in the day? Feeling stressed and taking
it out on your loved ones? Losing your grip on life? Do not despair; help
is at hand! Aided by DEBASC you can monitor and develop a successful
work / life balance. With a daily and weekly analysis of your emotional profile
and task efficiency reflected in easy to read charts it will soon become clear
where it’s all been going wrong!’ DEBASC
promotional pamphlet.
The Daily Efficiency and Behavioural Analysis,
Self-evaluation Checklist (DEBASC) was formed as a satire of certain
values within British society and the anxieties I experience myself, for work
and social ideals. It is designed to be over the top, to the point of absurdity,
examining a range of everyday activities. Indeed, the time taken to read the
instructions and collect the data would be counterproductive, generating yet
another chore – reflecting on the very nature of the checklist’s
content.
The checklist is broken down into two main sections:
efficiency and behaviour. It is then divided into sub-categories and individual
tasks. It became clear to me in the production stage that the activities it
is designed to scrutinise are in fact the data: my daily routine, self-perception
and aspirations are all clearly laid out within the daily ‘tasks’.
As a prolific list-writer / procrastinator, the taxonomy and design of the
checklist took precedence. Whenever I went to fill in the DEBASC
I was left making changes to the layout or wording instead.
DEBASC is designed to sit somewhere between
an organisational skills service and a bureaucratic form. It appears impersonal
at first glance. The layout is a fake NHS / Benefits Agency form (with the
sentimentality of a 1950’s home management guide thrown in for good
measure) but on closer inspection it is extremely intimate. This is a highly
personalised form, relevant for only a limited amount of time.
Hannah Brown
April 2005
