FIX09
artist: Hideous Beast
title: ODD JOBS – A Distracting Experiment
date: 29.09.09
duration: 1 Hour
Results
1. What is the nature of the relationship between the work they do under the label of ODD JOBS and art? Does the job they do need to be completed for them to identify it as work and not art.
2. Their work questions the identity of an act; what is the difference when one person experiences an act as art and another experiences it as work?
3. To what extent is an art action separate from a work action in the ODD JOBS context?
4. Is an end product necessary in the context of ODD JOBS, particularly when in some circumstances not many people are aware of the work they carry out?
5. It was a chance to examine their methodology in terms of the meta-politics involved in the project. Would the element of charging for their labour and skills effect upon the issue of ownership of their work?
6. Where does ownership come into play when they are not aware they are taking part in something like a distracting event; particularly when this is traditionally seen as not work.
7. What responsibility is demanded of them to take control of the work as it happens and consequently the level of their input into a creative exercise?
8. How does the experience of unknowingly being part of an art event measure against their experience of knowingly working for others?
These are just some questions raised by the project ODD JOBS and it is a valuable project for this. Thanks to Hideous Beast for taking part in the experiment and for sharing their project. It has provided some intriguing questions on work, the act and their relation to political and social structures. Also the project provided tangible exploration of meta-physical concepts on the nature of the Act and Being. I intend to develop the results of this experiment further and will share this on these pages when completed.
