Eleonora Agostini, A Study on Waitressing, published by Witty Books

Eleonora Agostini’s A Study on Waitressing is a multi-layered investigation on waitressing used as a metaphor to explore ideas of gender behaviours, societal expectations, and performing in and for the public.
The work scrutinizes the fictionalized image of the ‘waitressing woman’, by exploring the stage, the backstage, and the performative aspects of this role.

Agostini looks at mundane gestures and postures, commonplace objects and materials, strategies and visual codes of the service industry context to reflect upon power and gender dynamics, labour, representation, and the gaze.
Central to the project is the figure of Agostini’s mother, whose postures, movements, and behaviours serve as a focal point.