time to clean（2025）

Cleanliness is both an instinctive behavior rooted in animal survival and a human practice continually shaped by cultural norms and social evolution. As an act, a system, and a symbolic structure, it is embedded in nearly every aspect of daily life. From the micro-movements of the hand to the collective rituals of a community, from invisible labor to public performance, cleaning reflects the subtle yet powerful dynamics between body, space, and society.

Rather than glorify cleaning, our aim is to return it to its everyday context—to see it anew, to question its assumptions, and to sense its presence. To support this reflection, we have created five tools that explore the relationship between humans and cleanliness through gesture, movement, the body, and social interaction. These tools are not definitive answers, but invitations to pause, notice, and engage with a practice that is often dismissed, yet deeply revealing.

this vedio show how to use our broom
(Promotional video)

Part 1.0-Design Process

This project originates from our focus on the act of cleaning. At the beginning, we each carried out a thorough cleaning in our own homes, and through this process we discovered that cleaning is not merely a daily chore. It embodies movements, paths, tools, and the relationship between people and space. From this, several questions arose: What exactly is “cleanliness”? Why has cleaning always persisted as a necessary practice? And what does contemporary society’s understanding of cleanliness signify?

In response to these questions, I studied a wide range of literature on cleaning across different contexts—social, domestic, and cultural—and sought to reframe it as a multi-layered practice. We aim to challenge the stereotype of cleaning as “repetitive, tedious, and solitary,” and to transform it into an engaging, participatory collective experience. Through this transformation, the kinds of labor that have long been overlooked in society may be seen and reconsidered in a lighter and more open way.

Part 2.0-Time to Clean

This book explores the often overlooked labor of cleaning—its invisibility, repetition, and quiet power. Through images, interviews, and reflections, it reveals how cleaning shapes our daily lives, spaces, and social roles.

Full article can be viewed (Here)