After watching the movie China Blue in 2012, the artist was confronted with the impact of her spending habits. The fact that she bought several pairs of blue jeans a year, was contributing to a corrupt system. She saw the uncensored truth; 14 year olds working shifts as long as 24 hours, in order for the factories to keep up with Western demands. Getting paid close to nothing, only able to visit their families once a year, if they were lucky. Repeating the same mind numbing tasks day after day, 7 days a week with an average of 4 hours of sleep a day. Talking and drinking was restricted because it would lead to diminished productivity and unnecessary toilet breaks.

This knowledge was grounds for several projects. In the performance ‘Sanding Time’, Ivi van Keulen immersed herself in the seemingly useless and destructive task of sanding down a chair with only sandpaper for the duration of 9 days.

The chair she is sanding down is the iconic scrap wood chair, designed by Piet Hein Eek.