Short Description
flexible@art a research project on flexibilisation and precariousness (work) in art and culture environment - at the University of Art and Design in Linz Flexibilisation and the trend towards informal, precarious forms of employment have been cited as characteristic of changes occurring in our society. "Everyone an entrepreneur" may be an apt slogan for a new organisation of economic activity in which the “one-person business³ replaces traditional employment. Flexibility often means precarious job conditions. Incomes at or below poverty level, permanent job-hopping, jobless waiting periods without unemployment benefits, as well as unpaid voluntary work are the typical background of everyday working situations and artistic creation in the arts and culture industry.
Although the trend towards informal/precarious employment has been reflected in a series of publications, events and actions, and has become a subject of artistic discourse, even in museum settings, the conception of the project flexible@art, as well as its specific background, will bring about new opportunities in two ways: Firstly, the project follows a transdisciplinary and experimental approach in which different disciplines intermingle on a basis of equality. Secondly, the project focuses on regional and local aspects, specifically the University of Art and Industrial Design in Linz and its artistic and cultural environment, without losing sight of the processes of change that involve society at large. A critical analysis of the concepts and key issues (flexibilisation, creativity, etc.) examines their local and regional significance. The resulting conclusions will give rise to new options for action.
Specific focuses - on gender issues, on the run-up to 2009, when Linz will be Cultural Capital of Europe, specific courses at Johannes Kepler University and the Linz University of Art and Industrial Design, and a number of other events will highlight the issues and stimulate intense debate.
The research project flexible@art is promoted from bm:bwk in the context of the research program TRAFO - transdisciplinary researching in humanities, social and culture sciences.