{"id":1803,"date":"2019-02-17T18:00:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/?p=1803"},"modified":"2019-02-17T14:46:39","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T13:46:39","slug":"going-pro-bono-in-the-art-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/2019\/02\/17\/going-pro-bono-in-the-art-world\/","title":{"rendered":"GOING PRO BONO IN THE ART WORLD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday the Frieze Magazine\u2019s Twitter profile posted this thought: \u201cArt world addicted to unpaid work, survey finds.\u201d with a link to their article<\/a>. Packed with gems like this: \u201cworking for long hours was regarded as a test of commitment, such that working contracted hours is perceived as not wanting to go the extra mile\u201d, the short text made me think.<\/p>\n

Is there really no better way of testing people\u2019s dedication and love for their work than making them work after-hours for free?<\/p>\n

Is this some sort of capitalist romanticism? As like Giorgio Agamben puts it:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere it is not possible to distinguish between workdays and holidays; rather, there is a single, uninterrupted holiday, in which work coincides with the celebration of the cult.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

And do all these dedicated people, working for nothing more than the promise of recognition and respect, actually get to taste the fruits of their labour? Or is this more like trying to loose weight by drinking diet soda \u2014 never going to happen, regardless of how much the commercials tell you otherwise?<\/p>\n

Capitalism is a cult; a gathering of hardworking people that have been taught that anything is possible. But I fear the idea of \u201canything is possible\u201d might just have been transformed by us millennials \u2014 many of who grew up, like me, in absolute abundance compared to previous generations \u2014 into a toxic \u201cI can be anything\u201d attitude.<\/p>\n

The connection?<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s not hard to imagine some Henry in a city like London with semi-wealthy parents or some other financial backing, who wants to become a big-shot gallerist because of the lifestyle and perceived freedom and creative power such a position radiates.<\/p>\n

When he finishes his 20.000\u20ac a year Master of Art and Business or the Art Museums, Galleries and Curating program at either Christie’s or Sotheby\u2019s, of course Henry will try to get an internship somewhere \u2014 that\u2019s what everyone else is doing in the business.<\/p>\n

And when (but much more likely if) he is actually able to find someone willing to take him on \u2014 art programmes are, to no surprise to anyone, booming amongst millennials \u2014 his new employer just has to say a few fancy words about how in a couple of years of pro bono artisanal coffee brewing and performance reception work, Henry will indeed have shown enough dedication and skill to start managing the gallery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or, what is more likely, he\u2019ll be anointed the best dressed delivery boy on the block.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s stop romanticising free work and rebranding it as a test of dedication. A lot of people are in it for the money, I get that, but for any attentive HR person, I\u2019m sure they can tell the difference in nine out of ten times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In reality though, the galleries and other institutions won\u2019t stop just because we say it\u2019s bad. We have to be the ones who say no. Even though it\u2019s hard, when one knows there\u2019s a bunch of others just dying to work for free.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday the Frieze Magazine\u2019s Twitter profile posted this thought: \u201cArt world addicted to unpaid work, survey finds.\u201d with a link to their article. Packed with gems like this: \u201cworking for long hours was regarded as a test of commitment, such…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingart.com\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}