Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery has responded to widespread criticism from artists and withdrawn an advert for unpaid volunteers to help install a forthcoming exhibition by Glasgow artist Jim Lambie.
BY: CHRIS SHARRATT
http://new.a-n.co.uk/news/single/gallery-withdraws-unpaid-installation-opportunity-in-response-to-artists-protests
Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh has responded to comments from artists and withdrawn what was advertised as an unpaid ‘one-off opportunity’ to install Jim Lambie’s Zobop floor piece at the gallery. The Glasgow artist's solo exhibition, which opens 27 June, is part of the Scotland-wide Generation programme, celebrating the last 25 years of artists’ practice in the country.
A statement sent to a-n from the gallery said: “The Fruitmarket Gallery pays its information assistants, installation teams and all artists working in our learning programmes, the Edinburgh Living Wage or above. In this instance, we thought in good faith that we could offer a one-off short term opportunity that might interest people in our audience who have some free time and are interested in joining in with an installation for a few days.
“We have listened to comments, wholeheartedly support a-n's Paying Artists Campaign, and withdraw the offer. We will use paid installers to install the piece.”
Originally posted on its website and Facebook page on Monday, the advert asked for up to eight people to commit to working a minimum of six days each over a 12-day install period. The volunteers, who were to work a 9-5 day alongside the gallery’s installation staff and artist’s assistants, were offered lunch, an exhibition catalogue and an invite to the show’s private view ‘as a thank you’.
Immediate response
The response on Twitter and Facebook to the advert was immediate. ArtistMorgan Cahn wrote: “I just can’t fathom why Jim and the Fruitmarket wouldn’t want to pay some young artists for this. That would be an excellent opportunity for THEM to put money and knowledge into their community.”
Glasgow artist Janie Nicoll said: “It seems like really bad practice dressed up as an opportunity.” Edinburgh-based artist and lecturer Alan Holligan added: “The immediate problem with these kinds of unpaid opportunities is who is available to take them up. One of the wonderful things about paying people is that it democratizes the opportunity by opening it up to those who cannot afford to work for nothing.”
Artist Kevin Harman, a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, recalled being paid for installing a Lambie floor piece during his second year at college: “We got paid £6 an hour, it was a good experience, which I wouldn’t have been able to participate in if it was unpaid as I had to earn some dosh to pay for rent, materials, etc…”
Commenting on Twitter, Joanne Tatham said: "Payment for such work sustains artists and the communities now celebrated by the #generation project." Glasgow-based writer and artist Fiona Jardine (@fdjardine) wrote: “This kind of work underscores the Glasgow scene we've heard so much about... Why can't #Generation @fruitmarket support it?”
Asked by a-n to respond to this specific question, the gallery, which is one of Creative Scotland's regularly funded venues with a grant in aid for 2013-14 of £666,600, said: “The Fruitmarket Gallery has received £3,000 from Generation towards our exhibition. This is in addition to our regular funding from Creative Scotland, which is the only regular public funding we receive, and accounts for around 50% of our costs. The rest we raise.
“Our entire existence and programme supports artists and audiences in Scotland and beyond. We are proud to pay the Edinburgh Living Wage or above to all our staff, and entrance to our exhibitions is always free.”
Creative Scotland comment
Asked to comment on the issue of unpaid volunteers, a spokesperson for Creative Scotland said: “Creative Scotland is supportive of the Paying Artists Campaign. This campaign reflects the principle laid out in our 10 Year Plan of encouraging better levels of remuneration for artists, in order to ensure that Scotland is a country where they can live and work and that their contribution to all or lives is recognised.
“Voluntary positions do have an important role to play and can often present genuine opportunities for people to gain valuable experience in the art, screen and creative industries, to learn and to make a contribution on their own terms.
"In parallel to this, we will be working to encourage the organisations that we fund to develop clear policies around volunteering and to ensure that trained, practicing artists and creative practitioners are always paid fairly.”
Showing posts with label volunteers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volunteers. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Market Gallery Residency - Day 2
As I struggled to open the roller shutter to Gallery 3, the local hairdresser passed and gave me a hand. Note to self: it helps if one is trying to open the correct shutter! My excuse - it's only day 2 and all the shutters look the same!
I met with another couple of volunteers; firstly Brogan, a Fine Art graduate from the University of Cumbria. I am so pleased that so many people are keen to help.
I'm beginning to realise how many events Market Gallery run and things the gallery is involved in. On Tuesday evenings Roos Dijkhuizen leads 'AIRPLAY', inflatable building classes. She came in to set up for the class, and I learned about how the inflatable sculptures will be installed in a local 'Stalled Space'. Stalled Spaces is an initiative run by Glasgow City Council in partnership with Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), in which small grants are given to communities across Glasgow to help them temporarily take on and breathe new life into sites which are currently stalled or unused.
Read more about the Stalled Spaces initiative here:
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5118
Roos is a Printmaking graduate from Grays School of Art, and I told her about my plans to do some DIY screenprinting without exposing the screen. Roos suggested using watercolour on the screen and then pulling emulsion over the screen to transfer the watercolour pattern to the surface below. This is a process she has used, and some of her works made in this way can be seen on her blog:
http://roosmariedijkhuizen.tumblr.com/
This evening I met with Nikki K, (as opposed to Nikki F who I met yesterday!), who is a graduate from Glasgow University's History of Art department. Nikki is unfamiliar with the process of making art, and is interested to experience how work comes into being. She currently works for NVA, the Scottish arts organisation that strives to "make powerful public art articulating the complex qualities of a location through collective action. [Their] practice engages participants physically and creatively in redefining urban and rural landscapes. [They] take the existing landscape as a starting point for uncovering complex underlying realities, revealing how places shape and are shaped by their inhabitants."
Read more about NVA here:
http://www.nva.org.uk/
Following the success of 'Speed of Light' at Edinburgh Art Festival in 2012, NVA will take 'Speed of Light' to Salford’s waterfront from Thu 21 – Sat 23 March. Nikki has the challenging but fun job of helping to make this happen!
With so many people to meet I have not really got into making work yet, but am chomping at the bit as they say!
I find it useful to refer back to my proposal that I submitted many months ago in 2012. Key aspects of the proposal are:
"to conduct intensive research into colour and test the possibilities of combining controlled processes with chance elements when making work."
I "seek to establish a relationship between the sculptural objects, floor and wall", and make the most of the space, enabling me to work on a larger scale and experiment with the installation of work.
I am trying to relax about the exhibition, seeing it as an opportunity to reveal what I have been doing during the residency. Basically, I want to focus on making, PLAYING, and experimenting with material and processes and see what develops!
This is easier said than done as I am always striving to make the best work I can, and it is a challenge for me to loosen up and go with the flow!
I ended my day by making a cardboard structure and am thinking about how I could make the raised surfaces colourful and any elements that are floor-based could be grey.
I met with another couple of volunteers; firstly Brogan, a Fine Art graduate from the University of Cumbria. I am so pleased that so many people are keen to help.
I'm beginning to realise how many events Market Gallery run and things the gallery is involved in. On Tuesday evenings Roos Dijkhuizen leads 'AIRPLAY', inflatable building classes. She came in to set up for the class, and I learned about how the inflatable sculptures will be installed in a local 'Stalled Space'. Stalled Spaces is an initiative run by Glasgow City Council in partnership with Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), in which small grants are given to communities across Glasgow to help them temporarily take on and breathe new life into sites which are currently stalled or unused.
Read more about the Stalled Spaces initiative here:
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5118
Roos is a Printmaking graduate from Grays School of Art, and I told her about my plans to do some DIY screenprinting without exposing the screen. Roos suggested using watercolour on the screen and then pulling emulsion over the screen to transfer the watercolour pattern to the surface below. This is a process she has used, and some of her works made in this way can be seen on her blog:
http://roosmariedijkhuizen.tumblr.com/
This evening I met with Nikki K, (as opposed to Nikki F who I met yesterday!), who is a graduate from Glasgow University's History of Art department. Nikki is unfamiliar with the process of making art, and is interested to experience how work comes into being. She currently works for NVA, the Scottish arts organisation that strives to "make powerful public art articulating the complex qualities of a location through collective action. [Their] practice engages participants physically and creatively in redefining urban and rural landscapes. [They] take the existing landscape as a starting point for uncovering complex underlying realities, revealing how places shape and are shaped by their inhabitants."
Read more about NVA here:
http://www.nva.org.uk/
Following the success of 'Speed of Light' at Edinburgh Art Festival in 2012, NVA will take 'Speed of Light' to Salford’s waterfront from Thu 21 – Sat 23 March. Nikki has the challenging but fun job of helping to make this happen!
With so many people to meet I have not really got into making work yet, but am chomping at the bit as they say!
I find it useful to refer back to my proposal that I submitted many months ago in 2012. Key aspects of the proposal are:
"to conduct intensive research into colour and test the possibilities of combining controlled processes with chance elements when making work."
I "seek to establish a relationship between the sculptural objects, floor and wall", and make the most of the space, enabling me to work on a larger scale and experiment with the installation of work.
I am trying to relax about the exhibition, seeing it as an opportunity to reveal what I have been doing during the residency. Basically, I want to focus on making, PLAYING, and experimenting with material and processes and see what develops!
This is easier said than done as I am always striving to make the best work I can, and it is a challenge for me to loosen up and go with the flow!
I ended my day by making a cardboard structure and am thinking about how I could make the raised surfaces colourful and any elements that are floor-based could be grey.
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Market Gallery Residency - Day 1
Today felt a bit like the first day at school in the sense that there was lots to take in; a new routine to be followed, new surroundings to adapt to and make your own and new people to get to know. I even had the 'first day back at school' nerves, but this was matched with the excitement I feel about having the time and space to concentrate on my own work.
Yesterday (Sunday) I had moved some of the contents of my studio at South Block to the Market Gallery, but this morning I collected some other materials and equipment that I may also need. With a little unpacking and setting up the space, I already began to feel more at ease.
A while ago I had contacted a number of Market Gallery volunteers about the possibility of helping me with the production of some large scale sculptures. I have been in email correspondence with them, and over the next week, will be meeting them individually and hoping they will still be up for giving me a hand with casting.
It was really interesting to find out about their backgrounds, and I look forward to working with them. I am sure that their varied experience will be very useful.
Laura graduated from Dartington College of Arts where she studied Contemporary Performance and Visual Art. She is just finishing an internship at Six Foot Gallery.
Debbie is from Oban and studied Photography in Glasgow.
Nikki finished her Product Design degree at Dundee University in 2012, and has since participated in New Designers where she won a prize to work with Virgin in London. She is currently working in Visual Merchandising in a retail store.
For this residency I am based in Gallery 3, but there is another Studio Project residency happening in Gallery 2 over the same time period. Our exhibitions will run concurrently.
The collaborative artist duo, Rebecca Green and Pauline Mccloy, go under the name of Solaris. We met briefly prior to the Market Gallery Committee Meeting, and arranged to 'do lunch' on Wednesday.
The Committee Meeting was useful to go over a few details about the residency and plans for the opening night. Kim Noble's solo exhibition in Gallery 1 is going to open on Friday 15th February, and so the Committee proposed that the Studio Projects exhibition openings also open on the same evening. This will extend my residency by a week, which will be very useful, but it just depends on whether Rebecca can rearrange a commitment that she has on Friday 15th. Fingers crossed!
I also found out about a film screening as part of Glasgow Film Festival, which is happening at the Market Gallery on Friday night, 7-9pm.
Market Gallery Shorts
Featuring work from Jonathan Monaghan, Tessa Power, Max Swinton.
@ Market Gallery, Glasgow.
Friday 15 February 2013
7pm - 9pm
A programme of curated short films by artist filmmakers at Market Gallery.
Jonathan Monaghan’s short films combine high end computer animation with surreal and fantastical scenes drawn from popular culture and Western history. Tessa Power’s short work fuses ideas about contemporary space travel and humans supposed control over nature with representation of space within cinema. The film is an incongruent montage of borrowed scientific footage, cinematic sounds and the artist’s own footage. Throughout a year, Julie Born Schwartz visited 71 year old Danish author, Niels Rydung, several times at his apartment where he has sought to create an “atmosphere of eroticism” in his rooms. Max Swinton is an artist and film maker based in Scotland. His work is all about how life is a great and terrible thing that should always be approached with humour.
Dauphin 007
Jonathan Monaghan (USA)
2011, 3 mins, English
Sacrifice of the Mushroom Kings
Jonathan Monaghan (USA)
2012, 7 mins, English
Rainbow Narcosis
Jonathan Monaghan (USA)
2012, 10 mins , English
The future is a trailer for a film that doesn’t exist
Tessa Power (UK),
2012, 2.44 mins, English
Leda and the Swan
Julie Born Schwartz (DK)
2009, 10.56 min
Idea for Television Program
Max Swinton (UK)
2012, 1.43 mins, English.
This is a free event, tickets on the door only.
Please note that due to unforeseen technical problems this event will now take place at Market Gallery, 334 Duke Street, as opposed to Veneer Gallery (as originally advertised in the Glasgow Film Festival brochure).
www.glasgowfilm.org
Yesterday (Sunday) I had moved some of the contents of my studio at South Block to the Market Gallery, but this morning I collected some other materials and equipment that I may also need. With a little unpacking and setting up the space, I already began to feel more at ease.
A while ago I had contacted a number of Market Gallery volunteers about the possibility of helping me with the production of some large scale sculptures. I have been in email correspondence with them, and over the next week, will be meeting them individually and hoping they will still be up for giving me a hand with casting.
It was really interesting to find out about their backgrounds, and I look forward to working with them. I am sure that their varied experience will be very useful.
Laura graduated from Dartington College of Arts where she studied Contemporary Performance and Visual Art. She is just finishing an internship at Six Foot Gallery.
Debbie is from Oban and studied Photography in Glasgow.
Nikki finished her Product Design degree at Dundee University in 2012, and has since participated in New Designers where she won a prize to work with Virgin in London. She is currently working in Visual Merchandising in a retail store.
For this residency I am based in Gallery 3, but there is another Studio Project residency happening in Gallery 2 over the same time period. Our exhibitions will run concurrently.
The collaborative artist duo, Rebecca Green and Pauline Mccloy, go under the name of Solaris. We met briefly prior to the Market Gallery Committee Meeting, and arranged to 'do lunch' on Wednesday.
The Committee Meeting was useful to go over a few details about the residency and plans for the opening night. Kim Noble's solo exhibition in Gallery 1 is going to open on Friday 15th February, and so the Committee proposed that the Studio Projects exhibition openings also open on the same evening. This will extend my residency by a week, which will be very useful, but it just depends on whether Rebecca can rearrange a commitment that she has on Friday 15th. Fingers crossed!
I also found out about a film screening as part of Glasgow Film Festival, which is happening at the Market Gallery on Friday night, 7-9pm.
Market Gallery Shorts
Featuring work from Jonathan Monaghan, Tessa Power, Max Swinton.
@ Market Gallery, Glasgow.
Friday 15 February 2013
7pm - 9pm
A programme of curated short films by artist filmmakers at Market Gallery.
Jonathan Monaghan’s short films combine high end computer animation with surreal and fantastical scenes drawn from popular culture and Western history. Tessa Power’s short work fuses ideas about contemporary space travel and humans supposed control over nature with representation of space within cinema. The film is an incongruent montage of borrowed scientific footage, cinematic sounds and the artist’s own footage. Throughout a year, Julie Born Schwartz visited 71 year old Danish author, Niels Rydung, several times at his apartment where he has sought to create an “atmosphere of eroticism” in his rooms. Max Swinton is an artist and film maker based in Scotland. His work is all about how life is a great and terrible thing that should always be approached with humour.
Dauphin 007
Jonathan Monaghan (USA)
2011, 3 mins, English
Sacrifice of the Mushroom Kings
Jonathan Monaghan (USA)
2012, 7 mins, English
Rainbow Narcosis
Jonathan Monaghan (USA)
2012, 10 mins , English
The future is a trailer for a film that doesn’t exist
Tessa Power (UK),
2012, 2.44 mins, English
Leda and the Swan
Julie Born Schwartz (DK)
2009, 10.56 min
Idea for Television Program
Max Swinton (UK)
2012, 1.43 mins, English.
This is a free event, tickets on the door only.
Please note that due to unforeseen technical problems this event will now take place at Market Gallery, 334 Duke Street, as opposed to Veneer Gallery (as originally advertised in the Glasgow Film Festival brochure).
www.glasgowfilm.org
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