Tuesday 6 March 2012

Exploitation in the Arts - W.A.G.E (Working Artists and the Greater Economy) Stands Up For Our Rights.





Watch these inspiring speeches here http://www.wageforwork.com/wage_video.html.

We need to come together and advocate for change. 




W.A.G.E made three speeches at Creative Times Democracy Convergence Centre.


W.A.G.E spoke about artists rights; that their work, time, talents and contributions to society be recognised and that they must be paid for this.  Artists are drastically exploited by the system but we are not fighting against it.


A.K. BURNS states -

"People we exist in and play willing into an exploitive system, that other people recognized and began changing 40 years ago. we can all just sit and bitch about it, but I say, I can’t SURVIVE any longer, YOU can’t survive any longer, by being complaisant. We are here today to begin to gather momentum, to gather you, to create collective agency, to provide us with what we NEED and DESERVE."


In her speech K8 HARDY continues "THIS CITY (New York) AND ITS ART INSTITUTIONS ARE KILLING ITS ARTISTS. WE CAN’T EVEN SURVIVE. THE SITUATION IS DIRE. THIS IS A CRISIS. WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS CITY WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT ARTISTS? WE MADE NEW YORK CITY,  . . . . . . .


CORPORATE CULTURE WILL STAGNATE YOUR LIFE. BUSINESSES THINK THEY CAN CREATE CULTURE NOW BUT THEY ARE WRONG . . . . . .



The degradation and exploitation continues right into the institutions where you are supposed to want to have an exhibition. . . . . .  The only way right now to exist as an artist in this city is to be a slut and let everyone fuck you over." 


Art institutions get away with not paying artist because they state they are giving them exposure, "they are providing an allegedly liveable, eatable, drinkable product they like to call exposure." A.L. STEINER. 

Steiner fights against free work, urging artists to unite;

"ARTISTS MUST REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE, TOGETHER, OF REFUSING TO WORK WITHOUT A FEE SCHEDULE. 

An artist can choose to donate their work or services to an institution, BUT THERE SHOULD NOT BE ONE INSTANCE OF AN ARTIST, PEFORMER OR INDEPENDENT CURATOR WHO IS COERCED TO WORK, PERFORM, EXHIBIT OR SCREEN THEIR WORK FOR FREE. 


The money within the art world and it’s market system is being distributed UNETHICALLY, INCORRECTLY, UNEVENLY AND UNFAIRLY, like the rest of our economy, and it MUST END NOW.
WE SHALL NOT be put in a position where we are FORCED to work solely for exposure’s sake. It is unethical and, worse, ILLEGAL to refuse to compensate us for our CULTURAL WORK that we make and are asked to present at your institutions. . . . .


ALL WORKERS, INCLUDING ARTISTS, PERFORMERS AND INDEPENDENT CURATORS MUST BE PAID FEES FOR THEIR WORK. . . . .


AND MONEY FOR OUR EXPENSES IS NOT AN ARTIST FEE  . . . . 


Artists- you must be brave advocates for our trade and opt out of the illegal, unethical schemes being forced upon us."

































http://www.wageforwork.com/index.html

Sunday 4 March 2012

"Where is the place for art?"



''Susan Jones asks the question: are traditional arts organisations the best vehicles for meaningful participation or should we be looking elsewhere?'

Guardian's Culture Professional Network blog, see here for the full article Pitching up: where is the place for art? 
                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                  
                                                           
                                                                               
"These are dangerous times for people and for our world of arts values. . . Uncertainty can cause us to be safe, edit complexity, be secretive, conservative' says Susan Jones in her provocation 'Where is the place for arts?' Commissioned for the Engage/ Enquire International Conference ( November 2011) with an extract published on the Guardian's Culture Professional Network blog. 


She questions whether traditional arts organisations will in future be the best vehicles for meaningful participation, or should we be looking elsewhere for alternatives to art world institutional models. Drawing on Conrad Atkinson's Critical Mats,  Arts Council England policy statements, declining gallery visitor numbers, the Centro Niemeyer in Spain and the 
Citizen Power programme in Peterborough and other projects that have responded to the challenges of our fast-changing world, she suggest the place for art might be 'in temporary institutions that can quickly foster meaningful, timely participation and create a bigger bounce".
Cited in A-N Magazine NEWS, February 2012. A place for art at www.a-n.co.uk/place_for_art


The full version of her discussion can be read here or viewed via http://vimeo.com/35635192


'Susan Jones is an activist, writer and researcher in the visual arts and director of a-n The Artists Information Company, a non-profit arts enterprise whose mission is to stimulate and support contemporary visual arts practice and affirm the value of artists in society.' Guardian.