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."
"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
'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.
"Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground."
Sara Ahmed, 2004 - The Cultural Politics of Emotion
Creative solidarity is a series of networking events that will bring people from different areas of the creative sector together to discuss developments in the Art World, to understand what and how others are practicing, and to discover new opportunities whilst learning from your peers.
In these turbulent times we need to come together to support each other. Through creative solidarity we hope to connect members of the community together to form a support network for creatives, by creatives. By establishing a dialogue with your contemporaries it will strengthen your own practice.
This is about strength in numbers, we need to pull together, to share our knowledge and to support each other. Creative Solidarity will connect you with like minded creative types, leading you to discover new opportunities and to get advice, as well as learning about new models of practices. By connecting people across creative fields we will learn how others have dealt with particular situations and issues, and how that might inform your own practice. Or hearing about an aspect of someone's practice, different to your own, could inspire new developments and ideas, leading onto completely different things. It is all yet to be discovered, but available through just a conversation. There is an abundance of creative activity going on that the majority of us are so unaware of, and unsure of how to access, or what it can do for you. These sessions are about sharing and revelling in one's creativity and the opportunities available.
Also from these discursive sessions SAF will be able to gain feedback on what people want and need, to further develop events and projects that will support and aid individuals in their creative endeavours.
So, come along and join us!!
Launch Night - Session 1, Departure Point: Forming a community
Offret, a project initiated by 6th Hour Productions, culminated in an artist urban intervention, on the 11/11/11. It sought to address issues that surround the widespread rioting that took place in England in August 2011. It was part of the European festival, Exchange Radical Moments, which connected live art projects that "meet us in the middle of everyday life, which interrupts the usual routine and unbalances us, hold, pause."
The intervention involved a video-collage projection onto a building that was affected by arson from the riots. This was accompanied by a sound piece that boomed out across the streets. During this time the The Junction, a community written newspaper was distributed. The content came from a series of community workshops that I facilitated, for more detail see the post below.
A film made by Living as Form that provides a look at a vast array of innovational socially engaged art practices which ignite the imagination of others and explore ideas that shape our society.
"I don't want an art that points at a thing, I want art that is the thing"
Come and join us today for our upcoming project: Offret is an urban intervention about the London riots of August 2011. A large-scale outdoor projection will be presented on a building that has been badly affected by arson during the unrest in Clapham Junction.
"We should remember the importance of everyday acts of social
creativitiy, how ever small. 
