Cindy Blazevic

A Market Correction

Artist Cindy Blažević investigates objective economic truths, value systems and their related social constructs by repositioning her labour as an artwork. The Artist will make herself available to be hired to perform one act of labour from a set list of “invisible” tasks. Your home or personal space will be her studio. As part of the investigation, Blažević will document the labour or the process or the interaction through photography and/or written ledger, turning each act of labour into a commodifiable artwork. The terms will be made available after you contact the Artist. Key protocols are listed below.

What is the value of invisible labour? Is its value correlated to visibility? How does the value of labour change – and for whom – if it is repositioned , through performance, as a commodifiable object? How does the exchange value of an act of labour change in relation to the gender/social/economic context of who is performing/labouring? Woman, mother, migrant, a corporate figure, a professional expert – or an artist? Whose time is worth what?

The performances and encounters also aim to explore the nuanced social negotiation of this contractual space and the indelible imprints our social relations leave upon each whether we formally acknowledge it or not. How does the value of social exchange fit into our calculations of worth?

This is a durational project with a commitment of 365 days. The Artist will take job orders from May 7 2024 until May 7 2025. 

Being generative, the outcome of the investigation will be the content of the artwork. The negotiation of the fee is a part of the artwork.

THE LABOUR

Choose one (duration: 5 minutes minimum, 6 hours maximum)

• Reading to you out loud

• Baking a cake

• Foisting unsolicited (or solicited) advice upon you

• Soldering 

• Booking appointments / being on terminal hold calls

• Problem-solving

• Mending holes in socks and elbows

• Pulling you out of your doldrums

• Pruning plants and unruly gardens

• Chauffeuring 

• Handling your 311 (local municipal) complaints

• Folding laundry

• Cooking soup

• Making lists

• Gluing broken things back together 

• Making a salad

• Staging interventions (lite! no serious substance abuse issues)

• Convincing children to eat vegetables 

• Tetris-ing (organizing cupboards or bookshelves, loading dishwashers, packing)

• Babysitting

• Overthinking

• Picking up tiny objects off the floor

• Teaching skills: how to thread a needle, how to solder, how to drive stick shift, how to fish..

• Grocery shopping

• Picking out clothes

• Helping you get rid of stuff you don’t need

• Cheerleading: helping you observe your own awesomeness / making you feel good about your life choices

• Holding babies

• Peacekeeping arguments and helping with general unsolved social friction 

• Burning bridges

• Listening - with judgment or without (your choice)

THE PROTOCOLS

• The Artist requires a maximum of 2 degrees of separation to take the job. This means you must know her directly or know one person in common to participate. If you fall outside of these parameters, you may submit a reference for the Artist to consider.

• Your participation is – to an extent – anonymous. Your name will not be published. If the Artist photographs you, the record of the image will be kept separate from the record of the task you chose and the amount of money you paid for it – unless you specifically give permission otherwise.

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  All other protocols will be disclosed and the terms of the performance arranged in subsequent correspondence. Fill out the form to start the process.

ARRANGE A PERFORMANCE