Getting paid

Rantblog:

Just saw this posted by Art in Liverpool’s Ian Jackson on Facebook

http://www.artinliverpool.com/blog/2009/08/topshop…

Liverpool’s new topshop are looking for an artist to design and paint the walls in both Topshop and Topman. The store is going to be huge (biggest outside London I think) and has taken months to refit/build. In the midst of all this development you don’t think they could manage to leave a bit of cash for the art? No, if you win, it’s even preferable that you have your own team of helpers. Nice. You have 5 days to finish it and although there is no payment, you will get ‘considerable media attention’. Ah really? thanks Topshop, you lovely multi-million pound business you. It doesn’t even say if they will provide the paint/materials – that could make it a very expensive load of media attention if they don’t.

This is incredibly angry-making and is a good example of art being added on for decoration (literally) at the last minute. Would a measly £500 have killed them? Wonder how much the shop fittings cost, and the plastic bags? A lot more than the art for sure.

Paidblog:

Very good news: Intute have found me 10 hours work a month until December :) So glad. This will be mainly reviewing/ updating the mass of old and out of date records, but if you have a good art related website then send me the link and I will add it to the database.

[email protected]

No personal websites I’m afraid, but good critical research or indepth written content very welcome..

http://www.intute.ac.uk/creativearts/

Paidblog:

Alas, still no money through. I guess when a bigger amount is transferred the bank like to hold onto it for a bit longer to make themselves some money.

Linzblog:

An incredible weekend.. to the house of a local artist up north, a gorgeous 18th century cottage with a huge garden and orchards looking out over hills and hills and hills. Beautiful. Also discovered that Stephan is an amazing cook, so we were fed on gourmet titbits all weekend while we lounged on sunbeds and deckchairs reading through his collection of art magazines. Bliss, and a much needed break from the Salzamt. Living and working in the same building is fantastic, intense, productive, but also too much after a while! On Saturday there was a trip to Atterseee (one of the big lakes in the Salzkamergutt area.) and swimming in very clear water followed by smoked makerel from a little wooden hut by the Danube on the way back. Sunday night and Monday I spent in Vienna, while Stephan collected some large prints for the next exhibition here. I went to see Mind Expanders, Performative Bodies – Utopian Architecture at MUMOK

http://www.mumok.at/program/exhibitions/mind-expan…

Very relevant to my work at the moment and really meaty stuff. Very nice to see some work of Austrian/German artists that don’t get shown much in the UK. Valie Export is a new favourite.

http://www.valieexport.com/

Cy Twombly was also on and I was surprised how much I enjoyed that.. especially the sculptures and photographs, or maybe it was the mix of everything. Made me realise I too am guilty of putting artists into neat boxes (it’s just what I am fed, sorry!!).

I also had a good walk round, went into some of the commercial galleries – really nothing I could recommend unfortunately. A walk past the Secession building sent a shudder through me as I relived working at the Tate during the Klimt exhibition last year. Thank god it was closed Mondays so I didn’t have to decided whether to go in or not… although they do have contemporary art as well as the Beethoven frieze! My Tate staff card actually gets me in everywhere free… well almost, somtimes you have to pay 50 cents (tax?). This in incredible, changes the way you look at exhibitions, how long you spend and also saved me at least 40 euros.

Yesterday we spent four hours sorting out the flyer for the upcoming exhibition. Uck. A struggle working with a group of headstrong artists with whom relationships are still fairly new, but we have an image. Just need a title now… oh dear! My cardboard idea for the image was the one we ended up using, so I was very glad about that..

Anxious about time/work/finshing/whether what I’m making is a pile of crap or not, but just doing it now – it’s too late for too much worrying.

Paid in Linz blog:

Just spoke to Holger (thanks H if you are reading this!).. money was paid in yesterday!! Hoorah – more than I thought too, so massive sighs of relief all round. That means on Tuesday next week (perhaps Monday?) I shall be rich! Beyond my wildest dreams. Well, actually I will be buying my sister a really nice 30th birthday present and squirreling away a large amount for my tax bill in 2010! There is enough materials money to make a decent edition of the ‘Grau/Gelb’ book too, which is very exciting. I don’t think I can finish it while I am here unfortunately (a prototype but not a finished edition).. that will involve at least a weeks (maybe two if I make a hardback..) full time work in the print studio and on assembly. But it will be done!! I need another month here! I wish I could have stayed for six infact. That would change everything and it’s interesting (and useless) to think about how the work would continue to develop. I suspect it will be hard to hold onto in the same way when I get back to Liverpool and am in the midst of many stressful workshops for YSP in Wakefield.

Tax blog:

I was just messenging Dan about getting money and he piped up with tax worries.. YSP (the next project) involves a £10,000 bursary, but it is a charity and should be tax free say HMRC, although they won’t say one way or another over the phone until I file it! This is because it is for career development/ training rather than paying a proper rate. It includes 100 days work – £100 per day, but travel, materials and accomodation while in Wakefield are not included, so the actual amount includes a lot of living costs rather than payment. Linz is definately taxable as it is a fee for work done, although I have some confusion about earning the money in Austria rather than the UK (when working in Japan I opted to pay NI, but didn’t have to). But I will declare it of course.. infact earning more on paper is really important this year as I’m sure we will want to try and buy a house at some point in the next few years…. At least that is for next year’s taxes.. I still have to do this years, although they are very simple as I earned bugger all!

Next year’s tax form will involve this ever-increasing pile of receipts/travel costs and much more complicated things. I would like an accountant, but not sure my earnings are going to be enough to warrant it. Liverpool Council/ACME offer free accounts/tax training to self employed types, and so do Train 2000 infact. I shall be going down that route first. This may just give me a true idea of how little I know and lead me to an accountant!

Right, enough tax chat.. more glue guns and cardboard.

blogblog:

Just noticed that a shortlist of 59 proposals for Take the Lead (Cultural Olympiad) has been decided on: http://tinyurl.com/mbzwcu. Some interesting ideas..

Linz blog:

Rain here, the likes of which I haven’t seen since I lived in Japan. It’s nice and warm too so was good to go out, get soaked and then have a swim in the river, in the rain today.

Work still going well.. I am making a costume/wearable sculpture for a performative piece Jens is going to help me document in the attic. Feel very lucky to have the help of such a talented photographer and hope I can repay him in other art favours. Imagine if art-bartering worked so well all the time! I never appear in my work so this is a bit of a strange leap for me, but I feel a bit like no one is watching, so it’s a good time to try something I would normally be too shy/self-conscious to do. Drawings, nets, start, attic and my portrait by Jens all here… He is photographing all the artists in their studios as part of an ongoing project, but I will also use it for the article I WILL write for the neuner (09) managzine… any day…. I don’t look like me.. far too serious (or glazed?!).

Travel money for the first leg of the journey came through, alas, by pure human error the £130 flight was missed off, so all I got was £42 trains… oh dear.. trip to Salzburg is off then! I was pretty fed up when I realised, but I’m so defeated by it, I just feel like what difference will one week make? More studio work at least…