The ABC of the projectariat: Living and working in a precarious art world (Whitworth Manuals)

The ABC of the projectariat contributes new thinking and practical responses to the widespread problem of precarious labour in the field of contemporary art. It works as both a critical analysis and a practical handbook, speaking to and about the vast cohort of artistic freelancers worldwide. In an accessible ABC format, the book strikes a unique balance between the practical and the theoretical: the analysis is backed up by lived experience, the arguments are rooted in concrete examples and there are suggestions for constructive action. Roughly half of the entries expose the structural underpinnings of projects and circulation, isolating traits such as opportunism, neoliberalism, inequality, fear and cynicism at the root of the condition of the projectariat. This discussion is paired with a practical account of different modes of action, such as art strikes, productive withdrawals, political struggles and better social time machines. Just as proletarians had nothing to lose but their chains, the projectarians have nothing to miss but their deadlines. Cover Page The ABC of the projectariat Cover Endorsement Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents Preface Acknowledgements A is for... A is for aftermath (COVID-19 as a forced suspension) A is for Anti-fascist Year A is for application A is for Artyzol A is for assemblage or apparatus A is for art strikes (lessons to be taken) A is for art workers B is for... B is for belt-tightening B is for (no) borders B is for burn-outs (and other pathologies of responsibility) C is for... C is for capital (economic, social and symbolic) C is for capture C is for circulation C is for control C is for co-opetition C is for co-optation C is for curatorial mode of production / revolution C is for cynicism and cliques D is for... D is for dark matter D is for deadline D is for demonstration of paintings E is for... E is for enthusiasm E is for entrepreneurs of the self E is for exclusion E is for exodus E is for expanded field (of art) F is for... F is for fear F is for Free/Slow (University of Warsaw) F is for footprint (or carbon miles) G is for... G is for generosity G is for grant Art (NGO-isation) H is for... H is for herding cats H is for home (office) I is for... I is for independence I is for instituting the commons I is for interdependence K is for... K is for (no) kids L is for... L is for labour of love M is for... M is for mutualising (risks and economies) N is for... N is for neoliberalism N is for networker N is for numbers and measures O is for... O is for one percent O is for opportunism P is for... P is for patainstitutions P is for pollination P is for poor (artists) P is for precarity P is for productive withdrawals P is for project P is for projectariat R is for... R is for radical pragmatism R is for repurposing S is for... S is for seeing everything twice, or the catch 22 of the projectariat S is for semi-peripheries S is for sprint S is for squabbles S is for struggles T is for... T is for time machines T is for trawling T is for turns, or on the vicious cycle T is for twilight, or support structures against exclusion V is for... V is for visibility W is for... W is for wages (for artwork) W is for winner takes it all Y is for... Y is for you are not alone Credits Bibliography The ABC of the projectariat contributes new thinking on and practical responses to the widespread problem of precarious labour in the field of contemporary art. It works as both a critical analysis and a practical handbook, speaking to and about the vast cohort of artistic freelancers worldwide. In an accessible ABC format, the book strikes a unique balance between the practical and the the analysis is backed up by lived experience, the arguments are rooted in concrete examples and there are suggestions for constructive action. Roughly half of the entries expose the structural underpinnings of projects and circulation, isolating traits such as opportunism, neoliberalism, inequality, fear and cynicism at the root of the condition of the projectariat. This discussion is paired with a practical account of different modes of action, such as art strikes, productive withdrawals, political struggles and better social time machines. Just as proletarians had nothing to lose but their chains, the projectarians have nothing to miss but their deadlines.