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Labor defined as a directed action with a given goal with the use of tools and machines, has for long given shape to various modes of interaction between man and machines. Machines: mechanic, electronic devices, extensions of man's agency, define in their nature a set of postures, behaviors, actions with varying level of repetition, sophistication and intensity. These actions amount to the image of labor, and in consequence determine the status of the worker. Much has been stated on the ways digital media will alter our spatial and social habits. The history of mankind from a sociological point of view can be written as a continuous transformation of ways of living with the machine. The installation described here is an attempt to explore scenarios of possible man-space-machine-production, in which at one point man is finally liberated from the burden of physical labor his duty limited to the maintenance and observation of an automated process and on the other point digital, virtual labor is reinserted into an adequate physical spatial setting. A digital real-time fabrication process, inspired by the work with complex geometries in architectural design, is projected into abandoned spaces of production. vFab is a custom fabrication tool, which has the purpose to detail an array of intersecting members with plug-and-socket joints. The computer takes on the job of the engineer and the draftsman. For the projection, all construction geometry, all auxiliary processes are drawn: intersections of planes, optimization of cutting boundaries: a myriad of sub-processes, pulsate, are drawn and deleted, constructed, updated, listed, registered, labeled and numbered. It is an orchestra of subroutines, classes, objects that mirror that what once used to be departments, branches, assembly lines in real-world production enterprises. In the course of a 2-6 hour process, a spatial structure can be processed from sketch design to fabrication documents. During the process, the control display projection is a flicker of descriptive 3D line geometry, which is meant to be monitored by the operator. A virtual process implemented in an abandoned factory. All visitors are influenced by the visual code and are challenged to find their reading of the visual. The machine is working and mankind is making music and dancing while watching it do. After each presentation, the object can be manufactured using laser cutting technique. We can follow Zager and Evans to the year 2525.....
