Simulacra And Simulations

I think what I am trying to express is how difficult it is to find work at the moment, just an ordinary part time job to support my practice would be nice, but it's nearly a year since I graduated, I've applied for loads of work, both to further my practice or to help fund it, but no one seems to want to employ me, and this isn't helping my finances much.

Undergraduates say to me "I'm planning to leave and get a job…" and I tell them it's going to be worse for this year's grads, but they don't seem to listen…

I'm by no means being negative, I'm not a negative person, I'm being honest about the actual situation.

I balance a realistic experience of the current financial climate and how it's affecting us all, with the hope that when things start to pull together it'll all work out just fine.

I've been for a meeting with the local business group I mentioned. Luckily I had forgotten all about the previous days' issues regarding voluntary work / exploitation.

Some interesting issues regarding what local residents regard as art ensued.

They have offered the Lincoln Artist Network a pitch at an upcoming Gala, so I have been collating ideas for that, organising things for the upcoming Lincoln Artist Market, and attending the 2nd year's exhibition at Liquorice Park, where I met with one of the trustees.

I have learnt that if you ask permission from councils and organisations to exhibit work, they seem inherently capable of baffling you with pointless bureaucracy.

In other news, I had to make a presentation for the Lincoln Artist Network for judges for the final part of the Winning Ideas business competition. I now have to wait until 11th May when the winners are announced to find out how much (if any) funding the group can achieve to get things off the ground.

I applied for a residency in Sheffield, and sent the doll proposal, so fingers crossed for all of these efforts.

I will now resort back to the Lady of Shalott doll and related stuff for the Lincoln Artist Market.

If anyone knows of any part time jobs in Lincoln that would be suitable for a single parent (ie no weekends or evenings) I am STILL looking for paid work.

*edited to add* Much support to Emily Speed and Rachel Howfield – keep up the good work, the issues you're raising are vitally important and need to be addressed!

AAAAARRRGH!

Before Easter I applied for the job of Project Officer at the Cathedral – the role would've been ideal to compliment my other work, but I have not been successful despite the fact that I possess all the criteria asked for in the job description.

Career advice offered by Yahoo news detailing recession proof professions, recommends that HR Redundancy skills are highly desirable in the current economic climate – I have therefore been practising firing people….. apparently RBS are the top company for redundancies, so therefore I will apply to work there after a short self-induced training period….. Yes, the world is finally going completely mad!

I went out instead and stuck Lady of Shalott mirrors around the city and photographed them, and a local writer wanted artists to submit images for a magazine, so I've done that in the hope of gaining some publicity…

Because this blog takes so long to upload photos, here is the link to the images on Facebook, which uploads photos instantly from iphoto:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=244266&id=85…

But just now I have received an email from University Opportunities advertising a position for ORGANISER with the local business group – VOLUNTARY. The job description, including hours is worth at least 15k, and I am becoming increasingly angry at adverts such as this trying to exploit undergraduates and graduates.

My mother says that voluntary work is for well off retired people, I would add community service to that. Here is a link to employment rights:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/i…

Need I send them a copy of my student loan repayment criteria? I refuse to be exploited, and I hope no one accepts the job, despite it otherwise being a good opportunity… good enough to pay a living, working wage though.

Now I must carry on with more important business proposals. I have a presentation on Monday and I have no idea how to calculate estimated costs and overheads for an accurate financial projection. I'm not an accountant. But at least the kids are at school again, so I can continue where I left off before.

So I'm starting to feel like a fish out of water, this'll be interesting….

Since I last wrote in here, I've been off for Easter. I really enjoyed my first Easter, post – degree. It was worth reflecting on the fact that last year I never really had a break. I was working on stuff until Good Friday, went away to visit family for Easter and felt irritable because I wasn't working, yet also irritated that no one wanted to celebrate Easter in church.

So this year I've had a proper Easter holiday. I stayed at home with the kids, got up really early to attend a really lovely church service (which in my imagination ended up rather like an episode of Father Ted or The Vicar of Dibley – let's just say the vicar held Communion and then she insisted on sausage sandwiches…!)

I didn't pack in a hurry, I didn't travel anywhere, I didn't spend any money – despite what the curator of a Leicester Space museum said on the news recently, families ARE staying at home because of the credit crunch – my outgoings are still higher than my income despite my efforts to cut back. The more I try, the more likely it is that someone will try to force me to part with a few extra pounds that don't exist. I'm still existing on Income Support, my overdraft will soon hit the limit and I'm so stressed out at the lack of paid job opportunities that I'm no longer sleeping.

Most nights I don't get to sleep until 4am and then I don't wake up until 11.00ish the next day.

The weather is mostly bright and sunny, but all I can do is wait and hope I get the job I recently applied for.

I have hardly done anything creative at all. I've been tinkering about with odd things, but until the kids go back to school I feel too distracted to really do anything.

I'm not even sure if I can afford to hire a stall at the Artist's Market any more. It's my youngest son's 10th birthday at the end of next month and I don't want to be forced to buy lots of expensive toys that he'll play with for five minutes before declaring boredom.

My status has been for the past week: The Physical Impossibility of Poverty In The Mind Of Someone Banking….

I have now reverted to Tennyson quotes – amid the sleeplessness and distraction I am slowly collating ideas and materials for The Lady Of Shalott, dolls, and related thought-provoking mini installations….

I went for a meeting to discuss the next stage of the LAN proposal, a presentation in front of judges after Easter. I wanted to start working on this straight away, but I was invited to go and support some friends who are doing their MA. It was the last chance to speak to arty adults before the onset of the Easter holidays, and I'll be lucky if I get much done with kids at home for two weeks, and my own capacity to get over-emotional knowing the actual significance of Easter as a practising Christian.

So, there's a special section for parents now – as such I would like to point out my delight at reading about Harriet Harman's legislation granting flexible working rights for parents of children over 6:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090406/tuk-flexible-w…

It could offer me some relief in my jobsearching, as I have the even harder task of being a single parent.

I have recently applied for a part time job that would be PERFECT for me, and I'm giving it the Easter holidays to find out if I'm invited to interview.

Otherwise, I've decided to make a new doll. Granted, the doll gallery still needs final touches, but I have several things in mind, one of which is the forthcoming Lincoln Artist's Market. I plan to hire a stall and sell some original illustrated postcards etc.

To tie in with the fact that Lincoln will be celebrating the birth of Alfred Lord Tennyson, I want to make a Lady Of Shalott doll.

John William Waterhouse' original painting will be on loan to The Collection over the summer, and I do love the Pre-Raphaelites – I can't wait to go and see it!

You may remember that over Christmas someone bought me a strange doll thing with a mirror for a head. I've been playing with that, but I will make something less freakish!