Art Basel and Worker Explotations

Ah, that time of year that everyone waits for in Miami.

The time of year when South Florida is graced with the thousands of money hungry art pimps and whores.

This is when most of the locals make their money to survive for the rest of the year. I don't really care about that, since most Miamians that you encounter are greedy nasty people who will stab you in the back for a buck or points for their egos. And encounters of these people are either on the road in your car or in a store shopping, because everyone is so self, cell phone, car and money focused that they dare not be caught on a bus, walking or worst yet a bike (we love you Miami cyclists, critical mass!!)

But recently I was browsing Craigslist for work and what did I see? I saw post after post of galleries, artists and even institutions soliciting for free, yes FREE workers.

Okay let us summarize the situation:

For a year people have had none or very little work. People have lost their jobs and are desperate. Even Union workers are accepting non-union jobs because everyone knows that in times like this they can pay very little and get people to work and for ridiculously long hours.

So Art Basel comes into town and these galleries, curators and artists want people to "Intern"?!!

And they want you to have experience to "Intern"!? Isn't that the point of an internship?

You can afford a flight from London, to package and crate all your pieces, ship them, to rent a car or take cabs, to eat at all the fancy places, to stay in a nice hotel or rent a house for a week, but you can't afford to pay someone to hang the artwork on the walls? So you ask for "experienced interns"?

This matter doesn't even concern me personally, but when I see people mistreating or taking advantage of others, I call it like it is. Why don't people stand up for themselves?

Another occurrence that I have recently observed is in the film industry. My husband works in film and tries to screen his jobs by choosing to work with people who pay good and treat everyone fairly. But you would be surprised how mistreated these film crews are. For instance, Doritos, big USA company, product all over the globe, is doing a commercial in Miami. I think it was a photo shoot. Our friend was the art director and was given very little budget to build and dress and entire set. She needed an extra person to help her build and this person was paid $50 a day for two days working more than 12 hours a day!!

Another instance, a music video. Music videos are the worst, they expect to shoot an entire video in one day, they expect you to work over time without extra pay, they feed you junk, if anything and the amount of labor is beyond the amount of people they have hired. This isn't always true, but the majority would agree. Some R&B singer named Trina came into Miami at 4pm to shoot a video. The crew was called to be at the studio at 4pm. They built and shot three or four sets in one day, got paid for one day and didn't leave the studio until 5am.

The workers are afraid to join a union, they see that the union takes money out of their checks and that scares them. But they must be told that the union will protect their rights and wages. That it will force these companies and productions to treat people fairly!

It is strange to me that America calls its self the "land of the free" but everyone is slaving for the dollar. However, in Europe, everyone is protected and granted vacations, healthcare, lunch, breaks, good pay and job security. What is so hard about this that the US can not implement it?

Two years in Miami

Today is day number four of being alone with my six month old Luciano. Don't get me wrong, I adore him and he brings me nothing but joy, however, I would like to take a shower, cook or even use the bathroom alone. 

 I was considering the first months with him and how diligent I was in making sure his first experiences were perfect sensory pleasures. The water birth, baby wearing, co-sleeping, all the good things. Although we continue most of them, I can see that the collective unconscious is slowly showing itself and I do not have to introduce things as though he was an alien arrived from another planet. His instincts are so strong, he knows what to do. 

I started to blog, since I have at least twenty years of journals and writings that no one will probably ever see and they are scattered between napkins, backs of receipts, loose sheets, word documents and notebooks. This is a far more organized and modern.

Sigh.

I have been in Miami two years last month. I came here to escape the dreary London weather, swim, be happy and try to make some room for myself in the art world. The first part worked out great, when I moved here I was swimming, snorkeling, cycling, socializing all under the beautiful, super-real sunlight. When I stepped out of the airport and saw the sky and the colors around it was surreal. The level of color vibration was amazing.  Everything a pop painting. 

But after being away from the high energy of the London art world, things become more focused. At first you miss it, the events, the openings, the crowds, the bull shit conversations. Oh how delicious for the artist's ego. And that is why everyone was there, massage our insecure egos, maybe the word is onanistic. Even then I had my suspicions,  everyone trying to make it, Saatchi this, Jay Joplin that, YBA crap. It was a propaganda ploy, lets be art rock stars. All of them made out well, celebrity artists, celebrity attended events, media all equals buyers. Oh and lets not forget the art schools. They are the real bandits. Kids going for celebrity degree shows and ending up with $40,000 of debt. Most Universities are money scams. "Got to college, earn your degree, so you can get a good job", yeah right. That is how they get you, incur a debt that you can't pay for and there you have another cog in the wheel of Capitalist society.

But maybe it works out for some people.

Being in Miami, living in Little Haiti, chickens walking down the street, things start to break down. 20 blocks South is the Design district, high price furniture, rugs, tile, clothes, food, expensive cars and suited people stepping out of them, what is it all for? Money?

Another 20 blocks south in Wynwood, where all the real contemporary galleries are, Kevin Bruk, Fred Snitzer, and for me it is a mini, more laid back London. Great at first, but essentially the environment that killed art for me. 

My first December here (Which is referred to as "The Season", because Art Basel comes into town),I was working for a private art dealer who had a booth in Art Miami (an art fair). It was great, high paced and constant socializing. But I was making no commission and I was selling. What I wanted was my work in an art fair, I thought that was a good thing. But then I saw dealer and gallery purchase prices, I saw what they sold it for and I saw that the artists were no longer involved in any way. No share, no profits, just one time payment. Everything was a commodity, the meaning of a piece would be changed client to client. Ambiguous artist statements preferred. Just keep making more of that, that one thing.  And those of you who say "Okay" you are no longer an artist, you are a manufacturer. 

Being an artist today is very difficult, I do not think you can just sit back and make paintings, photos, drawings or whatever it is you do. You must engage fully with the world around you and ask it to do things. Maybe a real artist is someone who can be without material things and find solace in community and has an ability to be anywhere and with anybody. Maybe a real artist isn't called an artist anymore.

It has been as of recently that I find all traditional art trite and inconsiderate of the real world, including my own and I long for a change. It is sort of depressing, since I have spent most of my adult life involved in contemporary art, but at least I came out of it this way rather than the alternative. 

Well, it is 5:53 pm and I have successfully baked a vegan orange and chocolate cake while wearing the Baby Bjorn. I think it turned out okay, considering it is Vegan,  it is more like a bread then a cake, but I'm sure it will be appreciated.