LFQ 4.3 – Passacantando, MyNerva

Named for the Roman goddess of craft, commerce, wisdom, and war, MyNerva has a similarly broad purview: the exploration of corporate structures. Described by its founder, Piero Passacantando, as “a center for artistic research, dialogue and production,” the project’s first four sessions took place in the offices of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, where participants set out to deconstruct the day job by way of its most recognizable symbol: the cubicle. To cultivate introspection and connection in a space known for engendering anxiety and detachment, MyNerva variously took the form of an office party, corporate retreat, and collaborative brainstorming session. Office workers and freelancers participated in an ancient ritual, meditated, sat inebriated for a corporate photo shoot, and watched performers strip, and swallow swords. By freely breaking professional norms—and legal regulations—the project offered participants an opportunity to inhabit typically unthinkable behaviors, exposing a range of interactions made possible only when workplace conventions are willfully and collectively abandoned.