EPISODE 5: TIME COMPANY

2027Text: Kurando Furuya, Hitoshi Odajima, Tomoki Kurokawa

The time has come, or rather has passed.
I’m late. I will be punished with a pay cut of 30 minutes at least. I know this is why I cannot buy books.

Time Company
Illustration: Tomoki Kurokawa

The street in front of Time Company is extremely dark with chocking smong, even it’s the early afternoon. Is it influence from Mt. Fuji? I think recently we have more days with darkness. Sometimes there is also a day with strangely red sky.

Here is my working place “Time Company”.
My duty here is to sort hundreds of millions of image stocks. The purpose is to familiarize with a computer. Well, I’m going to sort the first several thousands.

Sitting at a desk, I take a laser mouse. Enormous amount of image files are displayed on the screen. This is today’s my work. I have to deal with these random and nonsensical images.

What I find frightening in this work is that I sometimes lose my grasp on what I do. What will follow the wasted efforts? Tremendous amount of images. Images with no plan to be used or seemed by somebody.

At the beginning of work, I always feel “Love your work” times 100, sitting on the office chair with extra-suspension.

Minimal work with some kind of trance.
Killing time for money.

Time Company
Illustration: Tomoki Kurokawa

This is…
Network, Bread, Swamp, Golf, Product, Accident, Nicotine, Baraka, Poodle, World Map, Cable, Bali, Blanket, Motaro, Pupa, Vitamin, Popular Song, Stadium, Letter, Radio-Cassette Player, Desert, Feather, Chrysanthemum, White House, Bill, Mohawk, Stringbass, Nail, Special Makeup? Benjamin Franklin, Kite, Motorcycle, Mantis, Golden Ratio, Ring, Warehouse, Alphabet, Bill, Shang Tsung, Neon, Ninja, Amp, Cylon, Proanthocyanidin Oligomer, Foundation Of A House, Emergency Staircase, Chutney, Volcanic Ash, McNamara, Detergent, Sweater, Funfur, Porn Related, Japanese Garden, Cello, Canada, Reclaim, Yamashita Park, Charcoal, Dictionary, Missile, Abandoned House, Mush, Hemp, Plastic, Chinese Food, Taxi Driver, Something Resin, Slim Cigarette, Biker-Gang, Nylon, Skull Bone, Space Development, Miniature Book, HDD, Mummy, Gourmet, Motsu Nabe, Shibuya, World Expo, Receipt, Topless, Hippopotamus, Knife, Soft Cracker, Spinner, Violence, Steampunk, Disco, Lottery, Toothpaste, Romance Story, Check, Cast Net, Adapter, Paper Crane, Biollante, Tunnel? Bottled Food, Cash Register Robot, Mirror

Time Company
Illustration: Tomoki Kurokawa

Oh, it’s blah. It’s really blah.
I don’t think this is something significant at all…

Persona, Trombone, Ancient Monument…

I wish I could work like N.S.O.W crew.

The leader is Low Qusta who became famous by blowing up a hotel he stayed. Can I become famous if I go on a rampage now in this company?

Deckard, Polypropylene, Seaside Park…

His girlfriend Nancy is an illusion-promoting alien idol. She passed away leaving a great song “Reparanoia”. She was 27 years old. An early grave is not good.

His high-school classmate, Billy. He built up his body in Nairobi and published a collection of the notebooks about it. The book sold very well. It was the bestseller. I think it’s nothing to get a robot face if I could win that many plaudits like him.

Broken Cup, Code Reader, Cap for Something…

Sports Adventurer Shelley successfully finished his solo skateboard tour across Great Wall of China. He became a hero of the age given credit for the action by young people. I had a lot of classmates who broke their bones by copying his Banri Flip.

Straight ahead progressive rock successor Dan Dadadon analyzed DNA of Richard Christopher Wakeman and transcribed into the musical score.

Sadly, my annual labor-cost is nearly equivalent to the price of a toothbrush that Tony Bacon who draws by a toothbrush threw to the audience after his live-painting show.

A self-proclaimed dancer, but actually just a radical artist SirpayTygun dispersed gas in a performance called “Cleaning of Mt. Fuji”, and got arrested by laying many climbers out.

Even he is not a member of the crew, Shih Tzu also shows radical movements recently.

In contrast, sticking to the desk and fiddling with the laser mouse, my movement is only several hours to move my right hand from side to side and up and down within 10 centimeters square. Is labor such a counterproductive thing?

Time Company
Illustration: Tomoki Kurokawa

Oops,
I can’t believe it. I need to sort.

French Toast, Western Magazine, Building, Melbourne, Comme des Garcons, Calcareous Cave, Hundred Eyes, Yogurt, Refill Pack, Pop-eyed Goldfish, Supercar, Acouophone, Mexico City, Toothbrush, Template, Picket, Hero, Cheetah, Cinema House, Businessman, Spiders, Chewbacca, Detective, Designer, Humidifier, Pgull

30 minutes before finishing work.
Number of birdshit images.
Never ending piece of visuals.
Which age do I live?
My fingers are heavy. I wanna leave soon. I wanna leave now.

Complaining again and again, however, I’m actually working in this employment ice age.
I wonder if that might be good enough.

Text: Kurando Furuya, Hitoshi Odajima, Tomoki Kurokawa
Translation: Yurie Hatano
Photos: Kurando Furuya, Hitoshi Odajima, Tomoki Kurokawa

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