Reaction School #1: LIVING WAGE / THE CAMPAIGN BEGINS HERE

Day #1: LIVING WAGE / THE CAMPAIGN BEGINS HERE
Led by: Magda Fabianczyk (Artists Union England), Rosalie Schweiker 

At the first day of school we investigated the process of campaign production and how to bring action to life. Whilst we addressed practical questions of form and content, we began to focus on Eastside Projects policy commitment to pay a minimum of the real living wage to all employees. We touched upon issues of precarious labour and exploitation and looked at how individuals have the power to make changes.

Class One: 32,204,124, Rosalie Schweiker

The day began with an introduction to voting systems (how we vote), electoral franchise (who can vote) and what cultural workers can do to influence both. The class started by exploring why we vote in a primary school or church and not in a dedicated building. We then looked at petitions relating to voting and learnt more about relevant campaigns, such as Make Votes Matter.

32,204,124 is the number of votes cast in the 2017 general election (estimated UK population is 66,268,303)

Rosalie Schweiker (b. 1985, South Germany. Lives and works in London.) develops low-key infrastructures and uses social exchanges, such as conversations, economic transactions and jokes to position art in everyday life. Most of her work is self-funded and realised in collaborations which are often built on long-term friendships. Recent projects include ‘Why Do It At The Tate If You Could Do It In Your Living Room’, meetings organised with Maria Guggenbichler and Eva Rowson in their living rooms, London and Amsterdam (2014); ‘Britain Is Not An Island’ organised together with Kathrin Böhm (2016); ‘tarot readings only 10CHF’, Manifesta 11 Parallel event (2016)’; ‘Accompaniment’ in collaboration with Rudy Loewe, New York (2015); ’Sleep with a Curator’, in collaboration with Maria Guggenbichler, hosted at The Showroom, London, Kunsthalle, Zurich and Eastside Projects, Birmingham as part of FIERCE festival (2014– 2015).

Class Two: We Hybrids, Magda Fabianczyk (Artists Union England)

In class two we created hypothetical characters based on our own experiences of inequality. Influenced by campaign material from the Artists Union England, and the campaign for fair pay, the masterclass explored how we can influence change. The group worked together to develop a micro-play inspired by techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed. Magda Fabianczyk has been developing this project in collaboration with Ioli Tzanetaki.

Magda Fabianczyk is an artist, mediator and community researcher interested in exploring conflicts related to the misunderstanding of social and cultural behaviours through collaborative artistic practices. She often works in collaborations, such as We Hybrids, a collaborative project she runs with Ioli Tzanetaki, and is a member of Artists Union England. She has participated in exhibitions at The Museum of Romani Culture, Bruno; Studio Voltaire, London; Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India; Mile End Art Pavilion, London. In 2015 she participated in a residency at Fierce Festival in Birmingham and in 2017 she graduated with,  MA Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, London. 

Click HERE for more information about Reaction School#2: 50% women with Phoebe Davies and Liv Wynter.